We set off on our Atlantic crossing with high hopes for a classic downwind passage, and while we did have a few great days, on the whole the wind was just too light to keep the sails full, leading to flapping of the sails when the wind spilled out of them and jerking of the sails, deck fittings and rigging. We were surprised by how relatively flat the sea was, and equally surprised by how a such a sea can still create an uncomfortable roll, especially if the waves are coming at the boat side on, rather than following it. These conditions took their toll on us by making sleeping difficult, and by our anticipation of breakages made more likely by the sudden changes in stress and strain on the boat. By the time we arrived in Barbados, we were simply relived that it was over.

We sailed 2,115 nm (equivalent to 3,917 kms) in just under 14 full days, an average of 153 nm per day at 6.4 kts per hour -rather slower than the 7-8 kts that we were expecting with stronger wind. On our slowest day we covered 91 nm, and on our best day we covered 185 nm.

For those who are interested in the daily blog, read on, but if the summary is enough for you then thanks for reading this far.

Departure day had finally arrived, as they always do eventually. We waited to get the latest weather update, sent messages out to family and friends, and then weighed anchor and we were off. 

The wind was a bit lighter than we would have liked to start with but it improved a bit during the afternoon. Waves were small so it was a reasonable ride. We stuck with our strategy to avoid the wind shadow of Sao Antao by heading south of the rhumb line. The upside of this is that wind was on port quarter so a lovely downwind sailing angle.

There were a number of other yachts that left Mindelo the same morning so we had a few of them within sight today which provided some entertainment during the afternoon. On my watch that night we were surrounded by yachts- two that had crossed in front of us and went off to our port and disappeared over the course of the night; two on our starboard; one behind us; and one just appearing abeam of us on our port side. One came a bit close for comfort but they gybed just as I was about to jump on the radio and call them. They too headed off in a different direction and disappeared. By the time Phil got up around midnight, all but one was gone from sight. The rest of the night passed uneventfully with a beautiful half-moon rising. 

I was just about to write that day 2 was very routine -sleep, eat, read, repeat, when Phil went to check out an unusual noise at the mast and discovered that the spinnaker pole track had started detaching from the mast. Not a good situation when downwind sailing and needing to use the pole to hold the headsail out. In about half an hour Phil had fashioned a temporary fix in that he had screwed the track back on where the pop rivets had broken, and also lashed the track to the mast for good measure. Then we were back to normal with the headsail poled out again, scooting along at 7-8 knots. The second night was uneventful-good sleeps for both of us. No traffic.

“No stress” seemed to be an unofficial motto in the Cape Verdes. We saw it on signs, T shirts, souvenirs and the locals frequently quoted it to us. Along with our last fresh food provisions, I think we brought a bucket of no stress with us from there. It could easily have been our motto for day 3 on passage, as it was definitely no stress sailing. With the amazingly flat seas (less than 0.5M), and a quiet 15 knots of breeze on our aft quarter, it was easy to forget at times that we were actually sailing. We had a magical hour or so in the cockpit at sundown listening to some music and just gliding along. I had a bit of excitement on my watch that night, as I saw another boat! We hadn’t seen one since that first night. 

Day 4 -plodded along wishing for more wind. Fairly cloudy each day so far which has not been helpful for charging the batteries. We had a bit of a messy night as Phil had difficulty sleeping so my watch was cut short and my morning watch started earlier than normal. We had more wind which was welcome but at the same time the waves, while not big, were giving us a bit of the “washing machine” treatment, making for some discomfort. 

Day 5– milestone day as we passed the one third mark! We are hoping to make good progress today as the forecast is for stronger winds. After a more starry night than we have had so far, I was hoping for clearer skies today too but the morning is just grey, grey, grey -it’s a bit depressing really. I’ll have to call up that song “Always take the weather with you” and get some sunshine into my mood. That mood would be helped if the jerking and banging would stop. The combination of gusty wind and the “washing machine” is jerking and pulling on the deck pulleys and the sheets creating an irregular stream of bangs and taps on the deck. These are not ideal conditions for sleeping. Phil has done his best to tie things up here and there so it has lessened it, but it can’t be completely eradicated. 

We had a shower of rain late this afternoon and looks like there might be more ahead later. Seems to be normal rain clouds rather than a tropical squall which can occur in these latitudes. The closer we get to our destination, the more likely it is that we will encounter a squall. These are not forecast and nor does the barometer indicate their approach. They have a distinct appearance and can be seen by eye, and by radar. The problem with squalls is the sudden increase in wind which can be an issue if you don’t see it coming. The four boats ahead of us have each had one or two squalls at some point. 

Speaking of our friends, we heard today that Adrian and Marianna (Anthem) have already arrived, Dani and Al (Let’s Go) arrive today, Jack and Jan (US Anthem) are due to arrive midnight tomorrow and Ken and Ei Loo (Antares) will arrive the day after that. They have taken between 11 1/2 days and 15 days. 

The dawn of day 6 broke, after an uneventful night, and provided some of the strangest cloud formations I have seen. I took some photos but they don’t really show it well. There was a strange mixture of white puffy and dark grey clouds around most of the horizon, and a heavy and potentially threatening set of cloud in the east from where those squalls typically develop.

By mid-morning, these had pretty much dissipated leaving white whispy cloud and SUNSHINE! How lovely to have sunny skies for a change. We continued on making the most of the stronger wind which had finally arrived late yesterday. In my research for this trip, I had read that some years the waves on this trip cause more complaints than the wind. I had thought that this was referring to big swell and waves but now I think it is about this “washing machine” action. It’s still here today, due to a cross swell, providing us with a jostly ride. I’d hate to be in it though if the swell was of any size as that added to the washing machine would be truly untenable. 

People often ask what we do about food on these passages. Some yachties go all out with gourmet meals but we keep things pretty simple. I usually cook a couple of main meals ahead of time to make the first few nights easier. This time I did a beef curry which we had for two nights, and a bolognese sauce which did a pasta, tacos (with the addition of tinned kidney beans), and will go over some potatoes for tonight, along with some fresh corn (vacuum packed). So far this passage I have only cooked one main meal from scratch -tofu stir fry. Lunches are salad with protein (eggs, tuna, sardines), soup (home-made preferably), or leftovers from the night before. We jazz the salads up with avocado (bought heaps because they were a good price), nuts, and different dressings. As this passage is relatively short, our store of fresh vegetables and fruit should last the distance. And then there are the midnight snacks for the night watches -chocolate, peanuts, dried figs. 

It’s the evening of day 6 and the wind has dropped so now we are back to slap slap jerk jerk. The wind at 12-15 knots is just not strong enough for us going down wind. At least the swell is small. Unless the wind picks up it’s going to be a long night. 

Well the wind did pick up which was great news. Unfortunately there was a cross swell also which makes for rocking and rolling -and not much sleep. It was however a beautiful starry night -the clearest night sky we have had, so there was something to enjoy out in the cockpit. The moon is now just a crescent. It will be a shame when we lose that sliver of moonlight. 

We were a pair of tired puppies on the morning of day 7, as all that rocking and rolling had robbed both of us of decent sleep. I think our bucket of no stress sailing has run out. Still we soldiered on -not much other option really. The wind picked up to around 30 knots and so we put a reef in the main for the first time this trip. We had a few issues to work around in order to put the reef in. First the strapping that Phil had put on the spinnaker track as a fail-safe measure in case the track comes away from the mast again looked like it might be in the way -but on closer consideration Phil decided that it wouldn’t be an issue. Second, the shackle holding on the topping lift had come undone during the night and we hadn’t had the opportunity (ie some calmer seas and wind) to put it back on. The topping lift holds up the non-mast end of the boom when the main is not hoisted. Releasing the main halyard somewhat to put the reef in might lower the non-mast end of the boom a little, but as this was right out over the water, we thought this should be ok. So we got the reef in and rolled in some of the headsail and got a much better ride. Wouldn’t you know though that an hour later, the wind dropped and we had to take the reef out! 

In the course of Phil’s checking of all things on deck this morning, he discovered that the main halyard has been wearing right up at the top of the mast. We are expecting lighter winds over the next few days so we will drop the main and re-tie the halyard at some point. 

It’s now the morning of day 8 at sea and we are surrounded by rain so it will be surprising if we don’t get a wash at some point.

Yesterday evening and night was -ah how shall I say – bloody awful. We were rocking and rolling like you wouldn’t believe making it just impossible to sleep. Boat speed was ok at 6-7 knots and the seas were slight to moderate but for some reason there was an almighty roll coming through. We think we might be susceptible to rolling due to our shallow draft. Despite sailing downwind we did put down our the centre board for a while which made a small difference. Phil hardly got any sleep so I tried to let him go as long as possible but we had not slept well the previous night either and by midnight I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I crashed and slept until 5am, when I got up but Phil sent me back saying he had been napping in the cockpit (waking every 20 mins to do a check) so at 6.30am I surfaced again and then it was his turn to crash. The roll has moderated a lot for some reason so here’s hoping for a good sleep for him. 

Feeling refreshed after catching up on some sleep, and with light conditions, we re-attached the topping lift shackle onto the end of the boom, and did some adjusting to the foot of the main while it was within reach. 

The light winds are starting to make it difficult for us to sail a direct course as there is insufficient wind to keep the sails full. So this means we have to start tacking downwind doing a zig zag course if you like. The second half of this trip looks like it’s going to take longer than the first. We had a couple of light showers of rain. Only just enough to give the deck and windows a wash. 

It’s been very quiet on the radio and we haven’t seen another vessel for days. Quite amazing when you think that there are probably 100 or so boats crossing the Atlantic-just goes to show, it’s a big expanse of water. 

We had a bit of a disturbed night with the light winds causing the sails to slap, plus there was a bit of roll happening also. We gybed on the shift change so we could get a better angle to the wind. Phil put the centre board down and hey presto the ride was sooo much better. 

The morning of day 9 brought us lots of clouds again and showers around us but that cleared to a glorious day of sunny skies, flat seas and comfortable sailing on a direct course. The wind has become SE which is very uncharacteristic for this time of year but it gave us a lucky break. 

We used the good conditions to make some changes to prevent further wear of the mainsail halyard. This involved dropping the mainsail, retying the halyard and securing a piece of leather around it where the chaffing has been happening. Hopefully this should hold it until we get to Barbados where we can properly investigate what’s going on at the top of the mast. The rest of the day was passed by reading, sleeping, cooking, and listening to music. We haven’t seen any other vessels for two days now nor have we heard anything on the radio. 

It’s now the morning of day 10, and we yet again had an uncomfortable sleep deprived night due to the return of the “washing machine”. However things have improved somewhat as we had gybed and are now sailing on the rhumb line with the wind on our aft quarter. The wind is a bit stronger than forecast so we are happy about that. There is a three hour time difference between Cape Verdes and Barbados. Normally on passage we don’t bother changing the clocks and we just deal with any time change when we get there. However we thought we would give it a go this time. I adjusted the clocks by one hour a few days ago and we will do it again today and that will give us just one hour to deal with when we get there. 

There is not much wildlife out here. We have seen a few flying fish (some have landed on the deck), a few birds, a couple of dolphins off in the distance. But today we saw a FLY on the boat! How far can a fly fly? Well about 500 nm unless this fly hitched a ride with one of the birds. 

Here we are on the morning of day 11, after a quiet night. The wind was a bit too gentle at 10-12 knots but was just enough to keep the sails full most of the time. However as the day progressed the winds became lighter and we had a slow, hot and frustrating day-followed by a similar night, except it cooled off. When we left the Cape Verdes, there were patches of light wind predicted for the area approaching Barbados but we were confident that we would beat that given our expected boat speed for the forecast wind up to that point. But for whatever reason-wind was a bit less than forecast, boat is heavier as we are carrying extra water -we didn’t meet our anticipated boat speed and hence we are caught in this area of light wind. If we weren’t so despondent about this, the night of day 11 would have been very enjoyable. It was a very clear night so lots of stars twinkling away in the heavens, and very little swell so we were ghosting along on smooth water.  But the serenity was interrupted by the slap slap jerk jerk of the sails in the light winds. 

It’s now the morning of day 12, and the log confirms our experience -in the previous 24 hours we only managed 91nm for an average of 3.8 kts per hour, our slowest day so far. Don’t get me wrong, slow is ok if there is absolutely no swell. Let’s hope that the forecast stronger wind for today does in fact eventuate otherwise we will be out here for another three nights and I’ll be scratching my head for creative menu options. We have plenty of food, it’s just how to combine it into something interesting. 

The big news from today is that we saw another yacht! It was way behind us and disappeared from view fairly quickly. 

The stronger wind did not eventuate but we did have a nice run for an hour or so thanks to some wind associated with a couple of rain bands that came our way. But about 3pm today we gave in to the frustration of trying to sail downwind when the wind is light, and started the engine. The need to adjust sails and course was relentless today and in the end we were trying to do the impossible. So we could be in for a quiet night in terms of dealing with the sails and wind. Phil’s has just gone to bed and I’m on first watch as usual. 

The wind came up conveniently just on change of shift time -yeeeha! Sails up and we are off again, and on the morning of day 13 it looks like it’s here to stay. As it’s stronger, we are able to run straight down the rhumb line -Barbados here we come! 244 nm to go. Looks like we might get two good days with sunny skies to finish. It would be good to end with some comfortable downwind sailing to somewhat offset our overall disappointment with the passage. In retrospect we should have waited a bit longer, even a few more weeks, for the trade winds to strengthen a bit more. 

It’s now day14 (on this passage, a day officially started at 9am and went through to 9am the following morning) and the prospect of two good days has disappeared thanks to the wind direction now pushing us north of the rhumb line which means we are going to spend our last day tacking back and forth downwind having to move the pole from side to side each time so we can bring the headsail around and pole it out. It’s very tedious and somewhat difficult work for Phil on the foredeck working around the dinghy which is stored up there for the trip. By the early hours of the morning, we were approaching the southern point of Barbados, and decided to motor the rest of the way. We inched our way into Carlise Bay, Bridgetown and anchored. Rather than feeling elated that we had crossed the Atlantic, we were simply relieved that the light wind torture was over. It was very disappointing that we didn’t have the downwind sleigh ride for which this passage is famous as it is one of the classic ocean crossings. It would be a few days before we could put it behind us and turn our attention to enjoying new horizons.