Member's Travels
The ARC 2023 and crossing the Atlantic from Ken & Ali
THE MOST RECENT POST IS AT THE TOP
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Sun 10/12/23
We've made it, happy and tired, and can now reflect on our amazing experience. We've seen calm seas and huge rogue waves; we've seen boobies and frigate birds, bosun birds, petrels and shearwaters; we've sailed on a luxury cat and a more modest monohull; we've learned to live with comms from the 1920s and 2020s; caught dorados, bonito and tuna; seen dolphins and flying fish; experienced winds from 10 to 40 knots; know that we can cope on 5l of water a day; we've seen exquisite colours, waves and clouds; and we've been happy. The best bit? The people and the extraordinary kindness and generosity that we have been shown. Now, we are sinking into Caribbean island life and enjoying the fruits of our Big Adventure. We are back just before Christmas and are looking forward to sharing salty stories with our lovely family and friends over mulled wine and mince pies. This is Zephyr finally signing out. |
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Sat 9/12/23
We're back ashore now, both wobbling like a pair of drunkards. Nothing to do with the rather fine cocktail menu we have been exploring...
We're back ashore now, both wobbling like a pair of drunkards. Nothing to do with the rather fine cocktail menu we have been exploring...
Received from Ken on Friday 8/12/23 at 16.25
Very brief message to let you know that we got into Grenada last night and are busy reconnecting to the world. More once we have weaned ourselves off SSB!
Note from the Comms Team: That's great news - Congratulations Ali & Ken. Enjoy your time in the Caribbean!
Day 15 Tue 6/12/23
Just to avoid any confusion, this is to let you know that, for the first time, I haven't received an update email overnight from Ken. I'm assuming it's simply a case of the limited comms ability (as he has mentioned more than once previously, or, not least, fatigue on his part!), but Zephyr is well within sight of Granada now, and should arrive tomorrow, where Ken will have proper wifi comms etc.
Day 14 Tue 5/12/23
Nav Data
1200 UTC-3 05-12-23
12deg 58min N; 55deg 55min W
DTR 359NM;24hr DMG 147NM; DMG to date 1812NM
TWS and TWD: 18kts at 080deg
SOG and COG: 6.5kts at 270deg
24h average speed 6.13kts
Overall average speed 5.78kts
Sea 2.5m+
V squally night last night making for a busy watch. Wind 25kts ish and hydrovane struggles. No dried fruit but we still have two pieces of chocolate for tonight's watch plus a courgette and a pepper. Riches! Water doing well if we keep to 5l per day - plus beer ration. Euchre improving but girls winning. Planning to go into Prickly Bay rather than St Georges for immigration, probably Friday morning.
Day 13 Mon 4/12/23
Nav data
1200 UTC-3 04-12-23
13deg 02min N; 53deg 17min W
DTR 506NM;24hr DMG 168NM; DMG to date 1665NM
TWS and TWD: 22kts at 080deg
SOG and COG: 6.8kts at 260deg
24h average speed 7.0kts
Overall average speed 5.74kts
Sea 2.5m+
Longest run in a single day to date in robust conditions with spectacular lightning. Last night a wave hit us beam on and knocked the stern around 45 deg before dumping in the cockpit. I got wet. No bananas, no oranges just a large tin of pineapples. Must be nearly there.
Thanks again for all the remote support.
Very brief message to let you know that we got into Grenada last night and are busy reconnecting to the world. More once we have weaned ourselves off SSB!
Note from the Comms Team: That's great news - Congratulations Ali & Ken. Enjoy your time in the Caribbean!
Day 15 Tue 6/12/23
Just to avoid any confusion, this is to let you know that, for the first time, I haven't received an update email overnight from Ken. I'm assuming it's simply a case of the limited comms ability (as he has mentioned more than once previously, or, not least, fatigue on his part!), but Zephyr is well within sight of Granada now, and should arrive tomorrow, where Ken will have proper wifi comms etc.
Day 14 Tue 5/12/23
Nav Data
1200 UTC-3 05-12-23
12deg 58min N; 55deg 55min W
DTR 359NM;24hr DMG 147NM; DMG to date 1812NM
TWS and TWD: 18kts at 080deg
SOG and COG: 6.5kts at 270deg
24h average speed 6.13kts
Overall average speed 5.78kts
Sea 2.5m+
V squally night last night making for a busy watch. Wind 25kts ish and hydrovane struggles. No dried fruit but we still have two pieces of chocolate for tonight's watch plus a courgette and a pepper. Riches! Water doing well if we keep to 5l per day - plus beer ration. Euchre improving but girls winning. Planning to go into Prickly Bay rather than St Georges for immigration, probably Friday morning.
Day 13 Mon 4/12/23
Nav data
1200 UTC-3 04-12-23
13deg 02min N; 53deg 17min W
DTR 506NM;24hr DMG 168NM; DMG to date 1665NM
TWS and TWD: 22kts at 080deg
SOG and COG: 6.8kts at 260deg
24h average speed 7.0kts
Overall average speed 5.74kts
Sea 2.5m+
Longest run in a single day to date in robust conditions with spectacular lightning. Last night a wave hit us beam on and knocked the stern around 45 deg before dumping in the cockpit. I got wet. No bananas, no oranges just a large tin of pineapples. Must be nearly there.
Thanks again for all the remote support.
Day 12 Sun 3/12/23
Nav data
1200 UTC-3 03-12-23
13deg 21min N; 50deg 35min W
DTR 674NM;24hr DMG 136NM; DMG to date 1497NM
TWS and TWD: 18kts at 075deg
SOG and COG: 7.0kts at 270deg
24h average speed 5.67kts
Overall average speed 5.63kts
Sea 1.5m variable
Out of bananas, one orange and low on SSB email minutes so brief messages only until arrival in 4/5 days. First rain shower so all in kegs only in cockpit enjoying fresh water wash. Rainwater caught in sail has potential for a full bath. All good.
Thanks to Bob for weather info
Nav data
1200 UTC-3 03-12-23
13deg 21min N; 50deg 35min W
DTR 674NM;24hr DMG 136NM; DMG to date 1497NM
TWS and TWD: 18kts at 075deg
SOG and COG: 7.0kts at 270deg
24h average speed 5.67kts
Overall average speed 5.63kts
Sea 1.5m variable
Out of bananas, one orange and low on SSB email minutes so brief messages only until arrival in 4/5 days. First rain shower so all in kegs only in cockpit enjoying fresh water wash. Rainwater caught in sail has potential for a full bath. All good.
Thanks to Bob for weather info
Day 11 Sat 2/12/23
Nav data
1200 UTC-3 02-12-23
13deg 25min N; 48deg 16min W
DTR 810NM;24hr DMG 129NM; DMG to date 1361NM
TWS and TWD: 14kts at 080deg
SOG and COG: 5.4kts at 270deg
24h average speed 5.38kts
Overall average speed 5.62kts
Sea 0.5m variable
At our latitude we should be in the west going equatorial current, which runs at between 0.5 and 1 knot all the way across the Atlantic, driven by the Trade winds. Further south there is a counter current taking all the water back from whence it came. Head too far South and instead of being helped across by the current, you find yourself punching 1 knot of counter current.
In addition to avoiding the contrary winds below depressions forming to the North of us, we also have to plot a course which keeps us in the good currents. During the crossing, the helpful current has not been particularly evident and in places we have seen what looks remarkably like wind over tide, with very sporty seas and lots of short sharp breaking waves, a bit like the Lizard at the wrong moment. We're going West and the wind is going West which means in these rough bits the surface current is going East. It shouldn't be like that but out here you just have to plough through it.
This all leads to a theory about the Sargasso weed. We think that the west bound equatorial current this year is running to the north of us and we are partially in the swirly bit between the west and east going current, hence the wind over tide conditions. Swirly bits also mean that the water, on a grand scale, is trapped in a 2000 mile gyratory dead end, allowing the weed to amass in vast quantities. Sounds like conditions in the Sargasso sea...
This morning we broke out of a swirl and had, for the first time, a 1 knot favourable tide - and no weed. Unfortunately it didn't last and we are back in zero current and loadsa weed. The theory is interesting but it doesn't stop the fishing line getting overwhelmed.
Exercise, I can hear you ask, what do you do about exercise? Riding the bike around the deck would not be a fruitful way forward so we take it in turns to use an improvised gym at the bottom of the companionway steps. This is only about 1.5m long so I can do a full stretch plank. Ali can be seen doing a special balancing version of yoga and Pilates, Beck has a high intensity training app on her phone, Colin does press ups and pull ups off the companionway hatch. I approximate to the circuit training I normally do in the gym with Grace but no wobbly balls are needed and anything involving standing on one leg is off the agenda. I guess it's better than nothing and it certainly eases the conscience.
Another film night tonight, hurrah! Hope it's better than the last one.
Just two oranges and two bananas left so we must be nearly there.
Nav data
1200 UTC-3 02-12-23
13deg 25min N; 48deg 16min W
DTR 810NM;24hr DMG 129NM; DMG to date 1361NM
TWS and TWD: 14kts at 080deg
SOG and COG: 5.4kts at 270deg
24h average speed 5.38kts
Overall average speed 5.62kts
Sea 0.5m variable
At our latitude we should be in the west going equatorial current, which runs at between 0.5 and 1 knot all the way across the Atlantic, driven by the Trade winds. Further south there is a counter current taking all the water back from whence it came. Head too far South and instead of being helped across by the current, you find yourself punching 1 knot of counter current.
In addition to avoiding the contrary winds below depressions forming to the North of us, we also have to plot a course which keeps us in the good currents. During the crossing, the helpful current has not been particularly evident and in places we have seen what looks remarkably like wind over tide, with very sporty seas and lots of short sharp breaking waves, a bit like the Lizard at the wrong moment. We're going West and the wind is going West which means in these rough bits the surface current is going East. It shouldn't be like that but out here you just have to plough through it.
This all leads to a theory about the Sargasso weed. We think that the west bound equatorial current this year is running to the north of us and we are partially in the swirly bit between the west and east going current, hence the wind over tide conditions. Swirly bits also mean that the water, on a grand scale, is trapped in a 2000 mile gyratory dead end, allowing the weed to amass in vast quantities. Sounds like conditions in the Sargasso sea...
This morning we broke out of a swirl and had, for the first time, a 1 knot favourable tide - and no weed. Unfortunately it didn't last and we are back in zero current and loadsa weed. The theory is interesting but it doesn't stop the fishing line getting overwhelmed.
Exercise, I can hear you ask, what do you do about exercise? Riding the bike around the deck would not be a fruitful way forward so we take it in turns to use an improvised gym at the bottom of the companionway steps. This is only about 1.5m long so I can do a full stretch plank. Ali can be seen doing a special balancing version of yoga and Pilates, Beck has a high intensity training app on her phone, Colin does press ups and pull ups off the companionway hatch. I approximate to the circuit training I normally do in the gym with Grace but no wobbly balls are needed and anything involving standing on one leg is off the agenda. I guess it's better than nothing and it certainly eases the conscience.
Another film night tonight, hurrah! Hope it's better than the last one.
Just two oranges and two bananas left so we must be nearly there.
Day 10 Fri 1/12/23
Nav data
1200 UTC-3 01-12-23
13deg 34min N; 46deg 49min W
DTR 939NM;24hr DMG 134NM; DMG to date 1232NM
TWS and TWD: 19kts at 090deg
SOG and COG: 5.8kts at 270deg
24h average speed 5.58kts
Overall average speed 5.65kts
Sea 1m variable
It's Friday so it ought to be fish for dinner but we are plagued with enormous mats of Sargasso weed. This is rather beautiful but a complete pain, building up in great clumps on all appendages, including the fishing line. Probably more important, it is preventing our wind vane steering from working and we have had to fall back on to the electronic autopilot. Even this is struggling and we suspect that the main rudder is also clagged with weed. This stuff has to be seen to be believed but the pictures will have to wait until we re-enter the world. I'm sure there is a business here somewhere; anything that harnesses the sun this efficiently has got to be exploitable.
Last night we had our first euchre lessons by the light of the mosquito repelling lamp. The lamp worked really well, with not a mosquito to be seen all night, but there is room for improvement in the euchre; I'm sure that alcohol would help. We also saw our first ship for days, passing close down the starboard side in the middle of the night. The Sonangel Cazenga, bound for Guyana, with a cargo of Arianne rockets maybe?
We are well inside the 1000 mile mark today with only the equivalent of two Biscay crossings to go. Tonight is party night and we plan to break open the extra special bottle of rum that we bought on Santa Antao, which seems like a lifetime ago. At €7 a bottle, expectations are high.
Down to the last three oranges and the last three bananas so tinned fruit only after tomorrow. We are also beginning to dig deep into the store cupboard but still a few weeks off hard tack. Water is holding out but we would no longer be welcome in polite company....
A demain
Zephyr out
Nav data
1200 UTC-3 01-12-23
13deg 34min N; 46deg 49min W
DTR 939NM;24hr DMG 134NM; DMG to date 1232NM
TWS and TWD: 19kts at 090deg
SOG and COG: 5.8kts at 270deg
24h average speed 5.58kts
Overall average speed 5.65kts
Sea 1m variable
It's Friday so it ought to be fish for dinner but we are plagued with enormous mats of Sargasso weed. This is rather beautiful but a complete pain, building up in great clumps on all appendages, including the fishing line. Probably more important, it is preventing our wind vane steering from working and we have had to fall back on to the electronic autopilot. Even this is struggling and we suspect that the main rudder is also clagged with weed. This stuff has to be seen to be believed but the pictures will have to wait until we re-enter the world. I'm sure there is a business here somewhere; anything that harnesses the sun this efficiently has got to be exploitable.
Last night we had our first euchre lessons by the light of the mosquito repelling lamp. The lamp worked really well, with not a mosquito to be seen all night, but there is room for improvement in the euchre; I'm sure that alcohol would help. We also saw our first ship for days, passing close down the starboard side in the middle of the night. The Sonangel Cazenga, bound for Guyana, with a cargo of Arianne rockets maybe?
We are well inside the 1000 mile mark today with only the equivalent of two Biscay crossings to go. Tonight is party night and we plan to break open the extra special bottle of rum that we bought on Santa Antao, which seems like a lifetime ago. At €7 a bottle, expectations are high.
Down to the last three oranges and the last three bananas so tinned fruit only after tomorrow. We are also beginning to dig deep into the store cupboard but still a few weeks off hard tack. Water is holding out but we would no longer be welcome in polite company....
A demain
Zephyr out
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Day 9 Thurs 30/11/23
Nav data 1200 UTC-3 30-11-23 13deg 24min N; 43deg 40min W DTR 1073NM;24 hr DMG 146NM; DMG to date 1098NM TWS and TWD: 16kts at 075deg SOG and COG: 6.0kts at 275deg 24h average speed 5.84kts Overall average speed 5.66kts Sea 1m variable |
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Last night was film night! After supper, just as the sun was setting, we settled into the cockpit cushions to watch a wholly inappropriate film on a 12v screen propped up on the companionway hatch. This was the most surreal experience; high definition, high volume American I know not what, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on a small sailing boat. An episode of Lonely Planet would have been more fitting but on a boat, you can't shop around for what you haven't got, so an all action American massacre movie it was. It was so bad we're going to do it again.
Time has changed once more at the whim of man, and ship's time is now UTC -3. The whole nature of time gets called into question every time we do this....
You will have noticed, I am sure, that we are now just over half way and tomorrow we will celebrate having less than 1000 miles to go. Our ETA in St George's Grenada is beginning to firm up, disasters not withstanding, as December 7th/8th just a few days after the ARC.
We have seen more white tropic birds, also known as bosun's birds, shearwaters and boobies, and increasing amounts of sargasso weed. This effectively makes fishing with a line impossible as all that we can catch is weed. There are still hundreds of flying fish during the day, leaping out of the water as we approach. I have noticed that as they lose height, they immerse their lower tail fin in the water and wiggle it like mad to get themselves airborne once more. No wonder Darwin got so excited by these waters.
Bye for now
Zephyr
Day 8 Weds 29/11/23
Nav data
1200 UTC-2 29-11-23
13deg 35min N; 41deg 05min W
DTR 1215NM;24 hr DMG 160NM; DMG to date 952NM
TWS and TWD: 18kts at 060deg
SOG and COG: 6.5kts at 265deg
24h average speed 6.67kts
Overall average speed 5.63kts
Sea 1.5m variable
Another beautiful day in paradise, wall to wall sunshine, gentle sea breezes, air temperature about 28C, water temperature about the same. The sea state is good - 1-2m - with no horrible rogue waves as the boat rolls on. Best run yet in the last 24 hours (160NM)despite all of the forecasts saying that the wind is going to die off. At between 15 and 20 kts of breeze, Zephyr picks up her heels and charges on at around 7 knots, eating up the miles. At this speed, we have another 8 days or so to Grenada.
The days are gradually falling into an easy and relaxed routine. Supper (and beer) is at 17.00 so that we are finished and cleared away by sunset at 18.30 skipper's/boat's/local time. The first watch starts at 19.00 and runs through to 01.00, the second then runs until 07.00. Each couple takes a watch, managing the time as they see fit. At 07.00 the off watch yawns into sight for an early morning chat and catch up then breakfast about 09.00, elevenses at elevens, lunch at 13.00 then an afternoon of chores. Ali can be heard in the forepeak practising her French, Beck and Colin in the cockpit making a game of Kubb (??) and me tapping on the computer. We still have another set of fishing lures (modest) to make up before the end of the afternoon, Colin's diving kit to sort out and more emails to write. Plus tonight is film night. The plan is to balance the laptop on the companionway hatch and hope to be able to see enough of the rolling screen to follow the plot. Might also mean extra beers to help eke out our meagre water ration. Life is easy and very relaxed.
Before signing off, some more wildlife info. Last night we had another spectacular sunset and I am convinced I saw the fabled "green flash" just as the sun sank below the waves. We followed the golden path that the sun had laid and just as we were about to start the nightly routine, a pod of 20 or so dolphins started to perform in the final remnants of daylight. We were treated to a fast and furious display of athleticism as they raced, jumped and rolled in the pressure wave ahead of the bow. Compared to our dolphins these were smaller, faster and more athletic, no notable markings and were a more or less uniform mottled grey in colour. The dorsal fin was scimitar shaped and quite small. Google help needed here please!
We are also running into more sargasso weed, which looks rather beautiful against the brilliant blue glow of the ocean. I suspect it will not look so attractive when we have to clear it out of the heads inlet valve.
Thst's it for now, lots of jobs to do, busy, busy, busy......
Zephyr out
Nav data
1200 UTC-2 29-11-23
13deg 35min N; 41deg 05min W
DTR 1215NM;24 hr DMG 160NM; DMG to date 952NM
TWS and TWD: 18kts at 060deg
SOG and COG: 6.5kts at 265deg
24h average speed 6.67kts
Overall average speed 5.63kts
Sea 1.5m variable
Another beautiful day in paradise, wall to wall sunshine, gentle sea breezes, air temperature about 28C, water temperature about the same. The sea state is good - 1-2m - with no horrible rogue waves as the boat rolls on. Best run yet in the last 24 hours (160NM)despite all of the forecasts saying that the wind is going to die off. At between 15 and 20 kts of breeze, Zephyr picks up her heels and charges on at around 7 knots, eating up the miles. At this speed, we have another 8 days or so to Grenada.
The days are gradually falling into an easy and relaxed routine. Supper (and beer) is at 17.00 so that we are finished and cleared away by sunset at 18.30 skipper's/boat's/local time. The first watch starts at 19.00 and runs through to 01.00, the second then runs until 07.00. Each couple takes a watch, managing the time as they see fit. At 07.00 the off watch yawns into sight for an early morning chat and catch up then breakfast about 09.00, elevenses at elevens, lunch at 13.00 then an afternoon of chores. Ali can be heard in the forepeak practising her French, Beck and Colin in the cockpit making a game of Kubb (??) and me tapping on the computer. We still have another set of fishing lures (modest) to make up before the end of the afternoon, Colin's diving kit to sort out and more emails to write. Plus tonight is film night. The plan is to balance the laptop on the companionway hatch and hope to be able to see enough of the rolling screen to follow the plot. Might also mean extra beers to help eke out our meagre water ration. Life is easy and very relaxed.
Before signing off, some more wildlife info. Last night we had another spectacular sunset and I am convinced I saw the fabled "green flash" just as the sun sank below the waves. We followed the golden path that the sun had laid and just as we were about to start the nightly routine, a pod of 20 or so dolphins started to perform in the final remnants of daylight. We were treated to a fast and furious display of athleticism as they raced, jumped and rolled in the pressure wave ahead of the bow. Compared to our dolphins these were smaller, faster and more athletic, no notable markings and were a more or less uniform mottled grey in colour. The dorsal fin was scimitar shaped and quite small. Google help needed here please!
We are also running into more sargasso weed, which looks rather beautiful against the brilliant blue glow of the ocean. I suspect it will not look so attractive when we have to clear it out of the heads inlet valve.
Thst's it for now, lots of jobs to do, busy, busy, busy......
Zephyr out
Day 7 Tues 28/11/23
Nav data
1200 UTC-2 28-11-23
13deg 53min N38deg 26min W
DTR 1509NM;24 hr DMG 122NM; DMG to date 792NM
TWS and TWD: 16kts at 055deg
SOG and COG: 6.5kts at 265deg
24h average speed 5.08kts
Overall average speed 5.46kts
Sea 1m
After the trauma of trying to land a whale yesterday (which left us all rather battered and bruised) we have decided to have a day off from fishing. We will have another go tomorrow but target fish, not leviathans; smaller lures more in keeping with our abilities to catch, land, fillet and ultimately consume. What would we have done with 20kg of mahi mahi?
Progress is slowing as we move further West with the wind continuing to reduce gradually. The wind vane steering likes a reasonably strong and steady breeze and needs "managing" at lower wind speeds. It also reacts to the apparent wind, which changes speed and direction as the boat speed changes and it all gets a bit difficult in light airs. Nevertheless we continue to make good progress and are looking at another 12 days or so until landfall.
Big plans are afoot for the mid point party when I suspect we may break out the brutal rum that we bought from the distillery in Santo Antao. Not sure about fancy dress with our limited resources but I would be amazed if Neptune doesn't turn up in some form.
Water: our latest audit shows that we have consumed 54l in the last 3 days, which is 4.5l per person per day, more or less where we needed to be. Total remaining in the tank is 260l so with 12 days to run and 5l a day, we will have a completely empty water tank by the time we arrive. We still have the 100l reserve on deck which would give us another 5 days before we have to resort to drinking just beer. There is always an upside!
Bye for now
Zephyr
Nav data
1200 UTC-2 28-11-23
13deg 53min N38deg 26min W
DTR 1509NM;24 hr DMG 122NM; DMG to date 792NM
TWS and TWD: 16kts at 055deg
SOG and COG: 6.5kts at 265deg
24h average speed 5.08kts
Overall average speed 5.46kts
Sea 1m
After the trauma of trying to land a whale yesterday (which left us all rather battered and bruised) we have decided to have a day off from fishing. We will have another go tomorrow but target fish, not leviathans; smaller lures more in keeping with our abilities to catch, land, fillet and ultimately consume. What would we have done with 20kg of mahi mahi?
Progress is slowing as we move further West with the wind continuing to reduce gradually. The wind vane steering likes a reasonably strong and steady breeze and needs "managing" at lower wind speeds. It also reacts to the apparent wind, which changes speed and direction as the boat speed changes and it all gets a bit difficult in light airs. Nevertheless we continue to make good progress and are looking at another 12 days or so until landfall.
Big plans are afoot for the mid point party when I suspect we may break out the brutal rum that we bought from the distillery in Santo Antao. Not sure about fancy dress with our limited resources but I would be amazed if Neptune doesn't turn up in some form.
Water: our latest audit shows that we have consumed 54l in the last 3 days, which is 4.5l per person per day, more or less where we needed to be. Total remaining in the tank is 260l so with 12 days to run and 5l a day, we will have a completely empty water tank by the time we arrive. We still have the 100l reserve on deck which would give us another 5 days before we have to resort to drinking just beer. There is always an upside!
Bye for now
Zephyr
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Day 6 Mon 27/11/23
Nav data 1200 UTC-2 27-11-23 14deg 04min N;36deg 13min W DTR 1501NM;24 hr DMG 102NM; DMG to date 670NM TWS and TWD: 18kts at 080deg SOG and COG: 5.8kts at 265deg 24h average speed 4.25kts Overall average speed 5.54kts Sea 1.5m |
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Having gybed yesterday morning we stuck with our more southerly course overnight, making good speed directly towards the Amazon. I was happy because that's where the parrots live, but it is not so good if you are going to Grenada so we gybed back again at first light this morning and are now making good speed once more towards the Caribbean. The logged distance in the nav data is distance made good towards our destination, hence the low numbers. Tomorrow will be better.
Comms: another thing we take for granted at home. All of our long distance communication is via SSB radio, a technique first refined in the 1920s. In practical terms it means selecting a short wave radio frequency from the few designated for comms and then selecting a shore station capable of receiving and processing the data stream. Depending on the atmospheric conditions, it may be necessary to try several scattered around the world before you can transmit a relatively error free message. Yesterday, our transmission was very late because atmospheric conditions were not good - we tried Ostend, Panama 1, Panama 2, Trinidad and Halifax Nova Scotia before locking on to a station in West Virginia. Then the process has to be repeated for the receive cycle.
For the geeks, a good transmission speed for the boat is 6000 bits per minute, or 100 bits/s. A single character is 8 bits so on a good day our transmit/receive rate is about 12 characters a second. High speed broadband in your home will be around 20M bits/s which is 60,000 times faster than on board. We are a long way off live streaming a Netflix movie.
With this in mind, a quick reminder that any emails sent to the boat must not be a reply to the original email but a new email with no attachments. If not, we have to use our precious time connected to West Virginia or wherever to receive back the message we have already sent.
Food and water: 4 days of oranges left, no more cake or bought bread (very sad face emoji) and minimum water. The two big hands of green bananas hanging in the nets on the stern are beginning to ripen so we are in for a serious banana fest in the coming couple of days.
Comms: another thing we take for granted at home. All of our long distance communication is via SSB radio, a technique first refined in the 1920s. In practical terms it means selecting a short wave radio frequency from the few designated for comms and then selecting a shore station capable of receiving and processing the data stream. Depending on the atmospheric conditions, it may be necessary to try several scattered around the world before you can transmit a relatively error free message. Yesterday, our transmission was very late because atmospheric conditions were not good - we tried Ostend, Panama 1, Panama 2, Trinidad and Halifax Nova Scotia before locking on to a station in West Virginia. Then the process has to be repeated for the receive cycle.
For the geeks, a good transmission speed for the boat is 6000 bits per minute, or 100 bits/s. A single character is 8 bits so on a good day our transmit/receive rate is about 12 characters a second. High speed broadband in your home will be around 20M bits/s which is 60,000 times faster than on board. We are a long way off live streaming a Netflix movie.
With this in mind, a quick reminder that any emails sent to the boat must not be a reply to the original email but a new email with no attachments. If not, we have to use our precious time connected to West Virginia or wherever to receive back the message we have already sent.
Food and water: 4 days of oranges left, no more cake or bought bread (very sad face emoji) and minimum water. The two big hands of green bananas hanging in the nets on the stern are beginning to ripen so we are in for a serious banana fest in the coming couple of days.
STOP PRESS
An hour ago our fishing reel screamed and we were into a major fishing event. We had hooked an enormous mahi mahi (dorado) and it was very angry. It was tail walking about 50m from the boat, trying to shake off the hook. Colin was on the rod and I was on the stern platform trying to sweat in the line because the reel alone simply couldn't handle it. Pull on the line, reel in the slack; pull, reel; pull, reel - until the fish decided to make a break for it. The line screamed, and cut straight through my gloves like a hot knife through butter and straight into my index finger and the palm of my hand. Very early in your sailing career you are told never to haul in a line by wrapping it around your hand; fortunately I had learned that lesson and escaped with just a couple of flesh wounds. For the next hour we worked together and slowly, slowly, slowly reeled it in, Colin pulling in a loop of line with the boat hook and me on the rod reeling in the slack. It took us an hour to get it to the boat by which time it had lost most of its fight. It was the most beautiful fish, all the colours of the ocean and quite majestic. In the final moments, just as the line started to take the full weight of this giant fish, one of the swivels snapped and our gorgeous fish slipped back into the ocean and headed for the deep.
We reckon it was about 1.5m in length and probably 20 kilos or more in weight; on board I think we all secretly heaved a sigh of relief that it was this one that got away.
An exhausted Zephyr signing out.
An hour ago our fishing reel screamed and we were into a major fishing event. We had hooked an enormous mahi mahi (dorado) and it was very angry. It was tail walking about 50m from the boat, trying to shake off the hook. Colin was on the rod and I was on the stern platform trying to sweat in the line because the reel alone simply couldn't handle it. Pull on the line, reel in the slack; pull, reel; pull, reel - until the fish decided to make a break for it. The line screamed, and cut straight through my gloves like a hot knife through butter and straight into my index finger and the palm of my hand. Very early in your sailing career you are told never to haul in a line by wrapping it around your hand; fortunately I had learned that lesson and escaped with just a couple of flesh wounds. For the next hour we worked together and slowly, slowly, slowly reeled it in, Colin pulling in a loop of line with the boat hook and me on the rod reeling in the slack. It took us an hour to get it to the boat by which time it had lost most of its fight. It was the most beautiful fish, all the colours of the ocean and quite majestic. In the final moments, just as the line started to take the full weight of this giant fish, one of the swivels snapped and our gorgeous fish slipped back into the ocean and headed for the deep.
We reckon it was about 1.5m in length and probably 20 kilos or more in weight; on board I think we all secretly heaved a sigh of relief that it was this one that got away.
An exhausted Zephyr signing out.
Day 5 Sat 25/11/23
Nav data
1200 UTC-2 25-11-23
15deg 12min N;34deg 31min W
DTR 1611NM;24hr DMG 141NM; DMG to date 568NM
TWS and TWD: 12kts at 090deg
SOG and COG: 5.0kts at 245deg
24h average speed 5.88kts
Overall average speed 5.86kts
Sea 1.5m
Weather: there is not as much of it here as we have at home but it is so much more important. Out here it is not just about what to wear when you go out but is the foundation of your comfort and safety. Food, water and general well being all depend on having good information and knowing how to use it.
We receive our basic weather data (GRIB files) daily over the SSB and we also have Bob in Gibraltar watching our back for any potential tropical storms developing South and East of us. Both sources (Bob and GRB) noted quite s significant wind shift heading our way over night. With twin headsails poled out and a heavily braked mainsail, the sail plan going into the night is what you more or less have to live with until sunrise. Sure enough the wind veered overnight as predicted and by day break we were heading about 40 degrees North of our course. 40 degrees over 1000 miles would give us a landfall somewhere on the East coast of the USA and I want to see parrots, so at sunrise it was all hands to gybe so that we can dive South again. South is where the wind is, where the Caribbean is, and where the parrots live.
Water: this kind of sailing highlights in dramatic fashion, how much we normally take for granted. Consider water - Zephyr carries 430 litres of water in one tank and we have another 100l on deck. We are four on board and the absolute minimum per person per day is 3.5 litres, 2 of that for drinking and the rest for washing and cooking. That is pretty hardcore so 5 is a better number if the boat and crew are to arrive in a "sanitary" condition. 4 people * 5l = 20l per day for up to 20 days = 400l or just about one tank full, with the deck canisters as a reserve. At the end of day 3 we had used 114l or double what we had planned. That means to maintain a reserve we need to drop back to the "hardcore" consumption of 3.5l. From memory - no google - I believe the water companies use an average of 50l per day per person, meaning that we will be operating at less than 10% of the water that we would use at home. And so back to weather. If we don't get the navigational strategy right, the journey will be longer and the crew much thirstier.
Wildlife and fishing: I have been amazed by the number of birds that we have seen including frigate birds, pink footed boobies and shearwaters. This morning we had a booby circling above us for an hour or so and it appeared to be hunting for the flying fish that Zephyr is disturbing. Shortly afterwards a shearwater turned up and then we had an exquisite white bird with a long single tail feather joining the hunt. No google, help needed on the id! Then, a couple of minutes later, there was a screech from the fishing rod and we had hooked our biggest fish yet. Colin tussled with it for about 10 minutes, but then, probably when it was close enough to see the boat, it went straight down and snapped a 110lb breaking strain line. A good job we didn't land that one.
More tomorrow.
Zephyr out.
Nav data
1200 UTC-2 25-11-23
15deg 12min N;34deg 31min W
DTR 1611NM;24hr DMG 141NM; DMG to date 568NM
TWS and TWD: 12kts at 090deg
SOG and COG: 5.0kts at 245deg
24h average speed 5.88kts
Overall average speed 5.86kts
Sea 1.5m
Weather: there is not as much of it here as we have at home but it is so much more important. Out here it is not just about what to wear when you go out but is the foundation of your comfort and safety. Food, water and general well being all depend on having good information and knowing how to use it.
We receive our basic weather data (GRIB files) daily over the SSB and we also have Bob in Gibraltar watching our back for any potential tropical storms developing South and East of us. Both sources (Bob and GRB) noted quite s significant wind shift heading our way over night. With twin headsails poled out and a heavily braked mainsail, the sail plan going into the night is what you more or less have to live with until sunrise. Sure enough the wind veered overnight as predicted and by day break we were heading about 40 degrees North of our course. 40 degrees over 1000 miles would give us a landfall somewhere on the East coast of the USA and I want to see parrots, so at sunrise it was all hands to gybe so that we can dive South again. South is where the wind is, where the Caribbean is, and where the parrots live.
Water: this kind of sailing highlights in dramatic fashion, how much we normally take for granted. Consider water - Zephyr carries 430 litres of water in one tank and we have another 100l on deck. We are four on board and the absolute minimum per person per day is 3.5 litres, 2 of that for drinking and the rest for washing and cooking. That is pretty hardcore so 5 is a better number if the boat and crew are to arrive in a "sanitary" condition. 4 people * 5l = 20l per day for up to 20 days = 400l or just about one tank full, with the deck canisters as a reserve. At the end of day 3 we had used 114l or double what we had planned. That means to maintain a reserve we need to drop back to the "hardcore" consumption of 3.5l. From memory - no google - I believe the water companies use an average of 50l per day per person, meaning that we will be operating at less than 10% of the water that we would use at home. And so back to weather. If we don't get the navigational strategy right, the journey will be longer and the crew much thirstier.
Wildlife and fishing: I have been amazed by the number of birds that we have seen including frigate birds, pink footed boobies and shearwaters. This morning we had a booby circling above us for an hour or so and it appeared to be hunting for the flying fish that Zephyr is disturbing. Shortly afterwards a shearwater turned up and then we had an exquisite white bird with a long single tail feather joining the hunt. No google, help needed on the id! Then, a couple of minutes later, there was a screech from the fishing rod and we had hooked our biggest fish yet. Colin tussled with it for about 10 minutes, but then, probably when it was close enough to see the boat, it went straight down and snapped a 110lb breaking strain line. A good job we didn't land that one.
More tomorrow.
Zephyr out.
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Day 4 Fri 24/11
1200 UTC-2 24-11-23 15deg 27min N;32deg 17min W DTR 1752NM;DMG 140NM TWS and TWD 11kts at 065deg SOG and COG 6.5kts at 262deg Daily average speed 5.83kts Overall average speed 5.85kts Sea 1m |
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Another day, another good run of 140 miles. Last night's barbecue was great and the evening was one of those moments when you realise how lucky you are. Hundreds of miles from anywhere, dining on fresh tuna in beautiful weather and with great company.
We had a beautiful sunset and an almost full moon overnight, the boat faithfully chewing up the miles and following the bright silver road laid by the moon.
Yesterday's forecast showed the winds dropping for the next 48 hours or so, so at first light this morning we hoisted the spinnaker to try and keep our speed above 5 knots. Always a tense moment, especially when you know that whatever happens out here, you are entirely on your own.
Normally we fly twin headsails and main, all knitted together in a cat's cradle of sheets, guys, halyards and various tweakers and shapers. The spinnaker is even worse!
One of the other Cornish boats ahead of us, Distraction, an Oyster 52, has had a nightmare few days culminating in a shredded spinnaker and various mechanical and electrical failures. Like Giramonda, she is a complex boat and it is the complexity and interdependence of the various systems that seems to be the cause of these major failures. Zephyr is simple and (hopefully) much less prone to cascade failure.
Bakery chores have been postponed until tomorrow so that we can eat the (now) rather stale bread that remains, so farewell for the moment from a sundrenched, tiny bubble of humanity somewhere in the Atlantic.
We had a beautiful sunset and an almost full moon overnight, the boat faithfully chewing up the miles and following the bright silver road laid by the moon.
Yesterday's forecast showed the winds dropping for the next 48 hours or so, so at first light this morning we hoisted the spinnaker to try and keep our speed above 5 knots. Always a tense moment, especially when you know that whatever happens out here, you are entirely on your own.
Normally we fly twin headsails and main, all knitted together in a cat's cradle of sheets, guys, halyards and various tweakers and shapers. The spinnaker is even worse!
One of the other Cornish boats ahead of us, Distraction, an Oyster 52, has had a nightmare few days culminating in a shredded spinnaker and various mechanical and electrical failures. Like Giramonda, she is a complex boat and it is the complexity and interdependence of the various systems that seems to be the cause of these major failures. Zephyr is simple and (hopefully) much less prone to cascade failure.
Bakery chores have been postponed until tomorrow so that we can eat the (now) rather stale bread that remains, so farewell for the moment from a sundrenched, tiny bubble of humanity somewhere in the Atlantic.
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Day 3 Thurs 23/11/23
1200 UTC-2 23-11-23 15deg 46min N;27deg 12min W DTR 1892NM;DMG 139NM TWS and TWD 18kts at 150deg (relative to ship's head) SOG and COG 6.4kts at 264deg Sea 1.5m |
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A good day's run just south of the rhumb line. The Trade winds continue to perform predictably; all we need to do is sit here and get blown to the other side. ETA Grenada 12 days..... It's a bit like the Camino, just keep on walking till you get there,
Had our first tuna just before sunset last night, very exciting. A little bonito/skipjack(?) - can't google it - perfect for four. Last night we had a tuna sushi starter with ginger, sesame oil, lime juice, white wine vinegar and honey, and dinner tonight will be barbecued tuna steak.
Lots of flying fish, trying to get away from the tuna, and a booby. Didn't catch the booby, rather it caught us, hitching a lift overnight on the solar panels. It left this morning having completely obscured the panels in booby crap.
Laundry day today, salt water wash followed by a fresh water rinse, and a ship's time change at midday today. We are now two hours behind UTC, basically following the sun and ensuring that sundowners are at sundown. Changed the watch system last night so that each couple now takes a 6 hour slot: 2000 to 0200 and 0200 to 0800. This is luxury, giving each individual 3 hours on and 9 off. Not sure what to do with all those ZZZzzz...s.
Cake is lasting well but nearly out of bread so we will need to start the bakery tomorrow. Oranges, limes, lemons and green bananas hanging on and should be good for another couple of days before we drop back to tinned produce. We eat well at the moment, trying to keep ahead of the inevitable degradation of the the fresh food.
Had our first tuna just before sunset last night, very exciting. A little bonito/skipjack(?) - can't google it - perfect for four. Last night we had a tuna sushi starter with ginger, sesame oil, lime juice, white wine vinegar and honey, and dinner tonight will be barbecued tuna steak.
Lots of flying fish, trying to get away from the tuna, and a booby. Didn't catch the booby, rather it caught us, hitching a lift overnight on the solar panels. It left this morning having completely obscured the panels in booby crap.
Laundry day today, salt water wash followed by a fresh water rinse, and a ship's time change at midday today. We are now two hours behind UTC, basically following the sun and ensuring that sundowners are at sundown. Changed the watch system last night so that each couple now takes a 6 hour slot: 2000 to 0200 and 0200 to 0800. This is luxury, giving each individual 3 hours on and 9 off. Not sure what to do with all those ZZZzzz...s.
Cake is lasting well but nearly out of bread so we will need to start the bakery tomorrow. Oranges, limes, lemons and green bananas hanging on and should be good for another couple of days before we drop back to tinned produce. We eat well at the moment, trying to keep ahead of the inevitable degradation of the the fresh food.
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Day 2 Weds 22/11/23
1200 UTC 21-11-23 Distance to run DTR 2179 nautical miles Lat and long 16deg 53min N; 25deg 00min W 1200 UTC 22-11-23 16deg 17min N;27deg 12min W DTR 2031NM; Distance Made Good (DMG)148NM True wind speed and direction (TWS and TWD) 15kts at 050deg Speed over ground and course over ground (SOG and COG) 5.8kts at 255deg Sea 1m |
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We left Mindelo yesterday just before noon and enjoyed a gentle downwind sail between Sao Vicente and Santo Antao and then around the South coast and into the Atlantic proper. Good winds all the way and good speed. Flying twin head sails. occasional staysail and full main with preventer.
Doubled up on watches overnight, to assist novice crew, but the wind is steady and the sailing easy so will drop back to single watches tonight - 3 on 9 off, instead of 3 on 3 off, a big improvement.
We have flying fish and boobies for company, no other vessels on radar or AIS.
Last pineapple today, still have oranges, limes and lemons plus bought bread and cakes for a couple more days before we have to start making our own. All good here!
Doubled up on watches overnight, to assist novice crew, but the wind is steady and the sailing easy so will drop back to single watches tonight - 3 on 9 off, instead of 3 on 3 off, a big improvement.
We have flying fish and boobies for company, no other vessels on radar or AIS.
Last pineapple today, still have oranges, limes and lemons plus bought bread and cakes for a couple more days before we have to start making our own. All good here!
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Tues 21/11/23
We leave tomorrow as planned and have now checked out of Cape Verde, therefore officially of no fixed abode. We have filled our water tanks with bottled water, filled our gas bottles, filled our fuel tanks and our larder. All we need now is for the Trades to set back in and we're off. Life here continues as if this is normal and the jolly lady who shells peas all day is still there shelling peas. We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay here but now the sea and distant shores call; it's time to go. Before we do, I have one more conundrum for the non mariners: when is a straight line between two points not the shortest route, and why? This is Zephyr signing off. A la prochaine. |
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Mon 20/11/23.
Still here, still planning not to be tomorrow or Wednesday. Tail end Charlie's on the ARC have fallen into the wind hole that we have been trying to avoid. I have an conundrum: Conundrum - how would you manage time on a boat heading West? Fixed time (like UTC) across a geographical area is an artifical construct to help us to make railway timetables. There are no trains on the ocean, so what is ship's time? When hitchhiking, you always put the good looking one out front |
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Sun 19/11/23
Our new vessel is Zephyr, an Ovni 392, aluminium, lifting keel sloop, much loved by adventurers everywhere. She is owned and skippered by Colin and Beck Campbell, both of whom have enormous sailing experience, including 3 AZABs. They are on a 2 year circumnavigation and we are very fortunate to be able to hitch a ride with them. We will not be troubled by generator or watermaker problems, nor will we be concerned by autopilot or hydraulics failure. This boat has none of those things, using a hydrovane for steering, and solar and wind for power generation. Water for the crossing is stored in tanks and - many - plastic containers both above and below deck. No Starlink either so essentially we are completely "off grid" for the passage. Apart from EPIRBs and a satellite phone for emergencies, all communication will be by SSB radio only and this is strictly limited to position data out and weather data in, once a day. We are leaving our (fourth!) shoreside accommodation to join the boat tomorrow and the forecast still looks good for a Wednesday start. Distance to travel is around 2200 miles so around 15 days to our first pina colada if we can make 140 miles a day. This a massively different experience from a large luxury cat and we are both very excited. These daily posts will continue for another couple of days - then silence.... |
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Ali in her new lair. Someone had just mentioned sundowners@
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Rig check. Chafe is a constant problem
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Sat 18/11/23
It's fascinating to watch the fleet progress and to see the impact their decisions are having. We decided to leave after the main fleet, partly for practical reasons and partly because there is a large depression winding up just North of here. This is the breeding ground of Atlantic depressions and hurricanes, which start with a little wrinkle in the isobars and then feed on the warm waters to build, or not, into the storms that both we and the Caribbean are so familiar with. Returning to the skippers' decisions, immediately below a depression the winds are strong and from the West. Below that there is an area of very light winds, and further South again, the trade winds blow. This weekend and early next week, Cape Verde is in the area of light, or no, winds, hence our decision to stay. Just North the winds should swing to the West, not great for Trade wind sailing, and further South they will be East once more. The ARC skippers who went North are riding strong Easterlies now but are likely to be headed later with doldrums between them and theTrades. Those who headed South have taken an early hit but should benefit later. We shall see. Meanwhile we have been shopping for tuna. |
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Fri 17/11/23
It was very exciting to be on the dock when 96 boats slipped for the Transatlantic crossing. There were boats from all nations; crew of all ages from young children to the rather more mature and all types and sizes of boat. Look closely at the video, which I hope captures some of the excitement. And then they were gone - although not quite. Giramonda, our previous boat, slipped with the others but was back a couple of hours later, cause as yet unknown. |
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Thurs 16/11/23
The ARC leaves tomorrow and the atmosphere is rather tense. Activity in the marina is frenetic, particularly because, from yesterday, there is no drinkable water on the pontoons. 96 boats preparing for a 14 to 20 day ocean crossing, all unable to fill their tanks with water. To fill the gap, everybody is trying to make up the deficit with bottled water - say an average of 500l per boat, about 100 boats, that makes 10,000 5l bottles. Carnage, especially for those who depend on fresh water to flush the heads. We understand, and this may be pontoon prattle, that the neighbouring island of Santo Antao will be shipping water across to help. Kind of ironic as they rely on fresh water being shipped in by sea. Sailing is a real leveller and today it is not about luxury but drinking water and toilets.
The ARC leaves tomorrow and the atmosphere is rather tense. Activity in the marina is frenetic, particularly because, from yesterday, there is no drinkable water on the pontoons. 96 boats preparing for a 14 to 20 day ocean crossing, all unable to fill their tanks with water. To fill the gap, everybody is trying to make up the deficit with bottled water - say an average of 500l per boat, about 100 boats, that makes 10,000 5l bottles. Carnage, especially for those who depend on fresh water to flush the heads. We understand, and this may be pontoon prattle, that the neighbouring island of Santo Antao will be shipping water across to help. Kind of ironic as they rely on fresh water being shipped in by sea. Sailing is a real leveller and today it is not about luxury but drinking water and toilets.
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Weds 15/11/23
Wednesday. Today was turtle day, a two boats' crew trip to San Pedro where there is a large colony of female loggerhead turtles. This is all most unlikely, with the fishing community living at the end of the runway in pretty basic accommodation. They launch their highly coloured traditional boats from the beach, carefully judging the moment to get out through the heavy shore dump. The turtles are only a few hundred metres offshore but the guys have to get a boatful of tourists out through the shore dump without trashing them. It took about 10 young lads to lift and push the boat, with us in it, through the sand and out through the waves. No photographs because I was imagining the worst. Once moored over the colony, it was over the side to drift for an hour watching these amazing creatures. There is a strict no touching policy but the turtles don't know that and will regularly brush down your side with their feet and carapace. Beautiful. When completely turtled out it was back to the beach but the boats can't land with a full load of tourists so it was over the side once more to swim to the beach. The whole experience was uplifting- no development, no infrastructure, just a small fishing community imaginatively exploiting the natural resources on their doorstep. |
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Tues 14/11/23
Now that our passage across the Atlantic is secure, we have been spending some time exploring this extraordinary place. Cape Verde is an archipelago of 12 volcanic islands, spread across 200 miles of ocean and just 16 degrees above the equator. The next port is Dakar in Senegal, 500 miles to the West. It is very isolated. Mindelo is on the island of Sao Vicente in the North West corner and yesterday we took a ferry to Santa Antao, the neighbouring island, about an hour to the West. The Eastern side of Santa Antao is utterly barren, a parched lunar landscape of broken rock and deep ravines. Turn the corner on to the Western flank and you are suddenly faced with lush green valleys bursting with life. Volcanic rock structures soar to nearly 1000m above you and the big swells of the Atlantic thunder on to black basaltic beaches. It is magnificent and, so far, untouched by mass tourism. For sheer variety and drama, this is superb! |
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Sugar cane thrives here and where there is sugar cane there is rum. And the school run.
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But no it's not, it's a new start. Ken & Ali will be setting off for Grenada.
Sun 12/11/23
If I were writing a novel, I would not have written this next part because it sounds too improbable, but sometimes life is stranger than fiction. As we sailed in yesterday on Giramonda, I noticed an Ovni 392 at anchor off the marina, which looked just like our friends' boat Zephyr. They saw us coming in, got in touch and within a couple of hours of leaving Giramonda, they had offered us passage to Grenada aboard Zephyr. Today we accepted and the adventure is back on. No need to hire a camel! Zephyr is the kind of sailing that we know and love without the dependence on fickle technology that luxury brings. We are relieved and delighted to be back on track, sailing on a well found boat with lovely people. For the next few days we plan to poke around Cape Verde (ashore) and will set sail for Grenada just after the departure of the ARC. All these twists and turns are a bit of an emotional roller coaster but as I commented earlier, adventures cannot be controlled!
If I were writing a novel, I would not have written this next part because it sounds too improbable, but sometimes life is stranger than fiction. As we sailed in yesterday on Giramonda, I noticed an Ovni 392 at anchor off the marina, which looked just like our friends' boat Zephyr. They saw us coming in, got in touch and within a couple of hours of leaving Giramonda, they had offered us passage to Grenada aboard Zephyr. Today we accepted and the adventure is back on. No need to hire a camel! Zephyr is the kind of sailing that we know and love without the dependence on fickle technology that luxury brings. We are relieved and delighted to be back on track, sailing on a well found boat with lovely people. For the next few days we plan to poke around Cape Verde (ashore) and will set sail for Grenada just after the departure of the ARC. All these twists and turns are a bit of an emotional roller coaster but as I commented earlier, adventures cannot be controlled!
But is this the end of the road for Ken & Ali?
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Sat 11/11/23 - LANDFALL DAY
Cape Verde but it looks as if this is the end of the road, for us at least. We were absolutely fine to get into Mindelo but the boat cannot sail on until the engineering problems are fixed. No generator and no watermaker are show stoppers for a boat this complex and Cape Verde is a bit of a technical desert. The skipper has decided to "let his crew go" until such time as they have amps and water once more. We're very sad not to be able to continue but we're now embarking on another adventure, hitch hiking home from a small bunch of rocks just off the coast of Africa. I'm trying to hire a camel..... |
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And for those of us whose knowledge of far flung flags is a little patchy, this is the Cape Verde courtesy flag proudly hoisted on our starboard spreader. Not terribly exciting I know.....
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The early morning sweep of the deck for dessicated flying fish revealed this upsetting sight. A family outing which ended in tragedy....
These guys have big wings! |
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After a busy night watch - lots of boats converging on Mindelo - Ali and I awoke to an unusual smell. A soft, pleasant, slightly salty smell..... the butter, IT'S MELTED! This was a magical moment and as I write this in the dawn light, in T shirt and shorts, Mindelo is just 30 miles away. We have no wind, no generator and no watermaker but, over the smell of the liquid butter, I'm sure there is the faint aroma of cold beer. Marvellous!
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Thurs 9/11/23
Technical boats are, well, technical and we all know how reliable technology is. Our generator is still playing up and this morning it appears that the watermaker is not making drinkable water any more. Bottled water has around 200ppm of salts, ours has gone up to 1200, not drinkable. Both tanks are contaminated so bottled water from here in. The good news is that the toilets still flush.... On the positive side, the seas have reduced and we are making good speed, with just 150 miles to run, eta Mindelo tomorrow afternoon. I have been working on the principle that you should know your enemy, and for the last few days, waves have been the enemy. A couple of pictures follow which show that they are actually rather beautiful. |
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Still big winds (30+ at times) and big seas but we're making steady progress South. 540 miles so far and 340 to go. Our speed is basically limited by crew comfort; faster = noisier and more uncomfortable and at night we have to slow down so we can get some decent sleep. We are essentially a fly by wire vessel with a lot of stuff on board, all needing electrical power. A boat is the ultimate in off grid living and you have to provide everything yourself - water, chilled food storage, lights, self steering, navigation, loos, comms - everything. At the heart of all of this is the generator, and last night ours failed. Tricky moment. We ran overnight on batteries and this morning I climbed down the hole and changed the main fuel filter and we are back up and running again. A salutary reminder of our dependence on technology and the fact that adventures are exactly that, adventures, and you have no idea where they may lead. |
One or smaller fellow traveller this afternoon.
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Weds 8/11/23
More of the same at the beginning of last night. With the chance of the occasional rogue wave, the skipper decided to double up on watch keepers overnight. This means each couple doing a 3-hour stint, turn and turn about, which is hard to maintain for long periods. All good though, no more rogue waves and by this morning we had lost most of storm Ciara's legacy waves. We're making steady progress South with an eta of late Saturday or early Sunday.
More of the same at the beginning of last night. With the chance of the occasional rogue wave, the skipper decided to double up on watch keepers overnight. This means each couple doing a 3-hour stint, turn and turn about, which is hard to maintain for long periods. All good though, no more rogue waves and by this morning we had lost most of storm Ciara's legacy waves. We're making steady progress South with an eta of late Saturday or early Sunday.
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We're in a place where fish fly, but don't always land back in the water. The trampoline at the front of the catamaran acts like a giant fish seive!
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Tues 7/11/23
Today has started more energetically. Storm Ciara is just a memory to most but she has left a legacy of a very large swell, 5m or more. This has now found its way to us, arriving from the NW. The NE trades are a sporty 30kts at the moment, kicking up a 3m swell. We are in the middle. 3m + 5m makes more than 8m and we just got caught by one of these rogue waves. The skipper reckons it was more than10m high and breaking. We surfed down the face, swung beam on and rolled more than 30 degrees before the skipper grabbed the wheel and drove us downhill. Given that you get worried at over 4 degrees when sailing on a cat, this was a tricky moment. At the bottom she recovered fully, leaving us to breathe once more and begin clearing up the chaos below.
Fortunately, the only fatality was the potted plant and we sail on.
Today has started more energetically. Storm Ciara is just a memory to most but she has left a legacy of a very large swell, 5m or more. This has now found its way to us, arriving from the NW. The NE trades are a sporty 30kts at the moment, kicking up a 3m swell. We are in the middle. 3m + 5m makes more than 8m and we just got caught by one of these rogue waves. The skipper reckons it was more than10m high and breaking. We surfed down the face, swung beam on and rolled more than 30 degrees before the skipper grabbed the wheel and drove us downhill. Given that you get worried at over 4 degrees when sailing on a cat, this was a tricky moment. At the bottom she recovered fully, leaving us to breathe once more and begin clearing up the chaos below.
Fortunately, the only fatality was the potted plant and we sail on.
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The face of a happy fisherman! First full day at sea. Still troubled by squalls but it eventually settled to a steady 20kt trade wind with big rolling seas. Only one or two boats occasionally visible on the horizon otherwise we have the ocean to ourselves. The surface, that is. Below us, it's busy, and we were visited by a very large pod of dolphins. 40 or 50, including little ones jumping completely clear of the water. Where there are dolphins, there are fish and we landed our first Mahi Mahi this afternoon. A couple of feet long and a beautiful iridescent blue and green. Dinner last night was Mahi Mahi sushi, a rather surreal experience! |
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Mon 6/11/23
I thought a squall was a short, sharp event, a bit aggravating, but gone as quickly as it came. Out here they are big, bad, horizon filling events filled with strong, chaotic winds. Hence the four gybes, or maybe six, I lost track, and the very wobbly, erratic course last night. Gybing a big cat with trade wind sails is not straightforward and doing it in the dark with big rolly seas adds an element of spice. Trucking along now though and checking the butter regularly - soft but not melted yet. |
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Sun 5/11/23
Kinda busy out here
Kinda busy out here
Just look at that! And they're all behind us.....
And this was the start. 96 boats, lots of excitement but no drama.
Tangible tension here with a couple hours to the start. Everything is stowed, first day's food prepared, sailing gear laid out, grab bag at the ready, all way points on the chart. Distance to run on this leg is 880nm, earliest eta Mindelo is early Friday. After all the chat and preparation we now just have to do it. Comms are hit and miss at sea but hopefully I will get some messages out. Keep us in your thoughts!
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4/11/23 Tracking info. The easiest way to track the boat is by downloading an app called YB Races on to your phone. It will ask you to choose your race; select Atlantic Rally for Cruisers 2023 (ARC 2023) and then ARC plus. At the bottom of the screen, press the button called teams and look for Giramonda. Simples! You can also find the fleet tracker on the World Cruising Club website. Much excitement here. You can hear squeals of excitement coming from beneath the piles of vegetables! |
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Our quarters, very shiny!
We are not alone in Las Palmas, these are Big Big And of course the farewell party. Ali was on a mission. |
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Another busy day, mainly hunting down fresh fruit and veg. Lovely, but there are two problems: the climate means that anything fresh goes off really quickly and - cucarachas, cockroaches. We don't have cockroaches on board and don't want them, so all paper and card packaging has to be removed from the provisions. They harbour the beasties themselves and their eggs so it all has to go. Then you don't know what's in the tins so every tin of tomatoes has to have the contents written it. Lots of opportunities for mischief... As for the fruit, its outside in a net. And then there was the farewell party last night. |
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Partying & Provisioning
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2/11/23
Too much to tell in too few words. Took the boat out for a sail yesterday and was somewhat overwhelmed by the power and the speed. 9.3kts in 18kts of breeze is very impressive, and only 3 degrees of heel, which feels weird. Today I serviced both engines and helped to fit the second headsail while Ali and Janine went shopping. This is not normal shopping, provisioning a large boat for a major voyage is a huge undertaking. You also have to take measures to ensure that the endemic cockroaches don't find their way on to the boat, so no packagng on board. And then there's the sun down party. We're going to need a rest after this... |
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1/11/23
Day two: the excitement grows with frenetic activity in the marina - specialists from all the major boatbuilders and equipment manufacturers are here to provide hands on support to their end users. Remarkable! We have changed the mainsail, fitted our life jackets with trackers and are going for a shakedown sail later today. This really is a big bash. Meanwhile, Ali is learning the ropes. |
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31/10/23
We made it to Las Palmas safely last night and today's first job was to prepare the masthead for the new sails. The view, and the heat, was impressive. Ali has been doing the managing emergencies course, bluewater fishing seminar this afternoon and then double booked for parties tonight. It's tough..... |
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26/10/23
Dear friends,
Ali and I are off on an adventure in a few days' time and hope that you might like to share some of it with us. We are crewing on a catamaran called Giramonda, which will be leaving Las Palmas on November 5th, bound for Mindelo in Cap Verde and then onwards to Grenada in the Southern Caribbean. We leave Fowey on Monday and plan to be back around Christmas. We will be part of an organised event called ARC+ organised by the World Cruising Club and you will find more details on their Web site.
This message is a "broadcast" which means everybody on the list sees it. Your replies to us, however, are completely private, so you will be replying (if you wish) on a one to one basis.
Much more to come, and we hope you will enjoy the ride!
Dear friends,
Ali and I are off on an adventure in a few days' time and hope that you might like to share some of it with us. We are crewing on a catamaran called Giramonda, which will be leaving Las Palmas on November 5th, bound for Mindelo in Cap Verde and then onwards to Grenada in the Southern Caribbean. We leave Fowey on Monday and plan to be back around Christmas. We will be part of an organised event called ARC+ organised by the World Cruising Club and you will find more details on their Web site.
This message is a "broadcast" which means everybody on the list sees it. Your replies to us, however, are completely private, so you will be replying (if you wish) on a one to one basis.
Much more to come, and we hope you will enjoy the ride!
