Atlantic crossing 2011/2012

Most of you will have been kept up to date during our Atlantic Crossing on our other blog – www.blog.mailasail.com/yachtbandit

 
I don’t plan on repeating it – so check that blog out.  All I will say here is that we had a pretty swift crossing – 13 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes to be precise, an average speed of 6.3knots, covering 2110miles. We left Mindelo Cape Verdes on December 21 and arrived in Barbados on January 4. That meant of course we had both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day at sea.  Christmas dinner was roast lamb and veges served in bowls as it was very rough.  Christmas breakfast ended up all over the galley bench when a rogue wave hit – not much fun for the cook!!
 

I’d like to say it was a breeze but we had a few scruffy days that were trying.  But….sailors have short memories and as we sit in the anchorage at Carlisle Bay, Barbados, sipping rum punches, the nighttime squalls, strong winds, big seas and grey gloomy days are all in the past!
 
We didn’t take many photos – it was all too hard to get the camera out, try and keep it from getting wet, balance yourself etc.  But here are a few.  And why is it that the damn sea flattens out in photos – noone would believe we had 3m swells!!
                      
flying fish on deck – bad pilots!                    skipper’s breakfast – flying fish!

                                     
         celebratory rum on arrival in Barbados – rum never tasted so good!!!

Mind boggling Mindelo

Ringed by amazingly sculpted mountains, Mindelo, in the Cape Verde islands, looms out of the twilight and appears to be a spectacular anchorage. We’ve had a boisterous sail from the nearby island of Sao Nicolau in 30knots with a lumpy swell. The island greets us with sheer cliffs, an amazingly rugged skyline and some spectacular looking surf beaches 

We’re here to provision, catch our breath and refocus before heading out for the next stage of our Atlantic crossing….the biggie….two weeks (give or take a day or two) and 2000odd nautical miles to Barbados. Mindelo is on the island of Sao Vicente and is the biggest town on the island. After Sal, we’re not expecting great things which is just as well. As we get closer we see that Mindelo Bay is full of rusting hulks as well as sunken and partially sunken ships, fishing boats and abandoned yachts. We are disappointed to find what could be a spectacular spot is marred by such eyesores

      

After a good night’s sleep we head ashore and the delightful town revives our sagging spirits – it’s bright and colourful and full of intriguing characters. Women wandering along with bowls of produce balanced beautifully on their heads, men dragging huge mahimahi and wahu around (presumably to sell), brightly dressed girls selling bowls of banana and papaya on the footpath.

                 

                                 street scenes - Mindelo

It’s a sensory delight – our ears are assaulted with reggae music blasting from speakers in the local square, the aroma of freshly baked bread is overwhelming and our eyes are on stalks at the wonderful array of produce on offer by the most colourful characters we’ve ever seen. Pitch black faces with heads swathed in bright scarves, knitted hats (it’s 30 degrees plus!) and women wearing the most amazing clothes.

       

The buildings are glorious. Portuguese colonial style architecture accentuated by the use of some intriguing colour combinations – obviously painted by someone not scared to experiment. There’s lime green edge with orange or canary yellow; royal blue with deep parrot green and pastel pink teamed with white to look like a birthday cake decoration. Some are recently painted, others are distinctly shabby - it’s all a feast for the eyes.

                              

Provisioning is a headache. Prices are eye wateringly high and there seems little movement – cruisers are seen as cash cows obviously. Sticking to the local specialties (cabbage, sweet potato, oranges, banana, papaya and green pepper) means we can stay on budget and at the local fish market mahimahi, swordfish and tuna is as cheap as we’ve ever seen it. Tempted as we are to buy, the Bandit fishing machine has done well lately and we’ve still got tuna in the freezer.

      

Cruisers tend to collect in Mindelo and it’s fun catching up with some we haven’t seen since the Med. We have a fun meal out with Ventana and Resolute but the pizza is nothing remotely like an Italian one – think cheddar cheese, tomato ketchup and sweet corn (the menu wasn’t in English!).

We’re keen to get going and Mindelo isn’t the place one lingers (well we didn’t feel like lingering). Internet connection is appallingly slow…..I’m sure I bring the entire island to a grinding halt when I attempt to send a story and pix to the Marlborough Express! It takes an hour and I only get three photos sent. So frustrating when we are used to high speed connection…..is this a good or bad thing? We debate the topic for some time with  no conclusion.

                     

                Wahu at the Mindelo fish market

Frustration sets in again when we head off to collect the laundry. It was dropped off at 10 to be ready at 4pm but when we arrive it’s still sitting there unwashed. A Lost in Translation incident no doubt……but it causes much anxiety. Paying in advance may be the key so I fork out $8 and return in two hours to find it all beautifully washed, ironed and folded.

   

Final provisioning becomes a nightmare when we find massive queues at the handful of money machines – they’d been closed the day before as it was a public holiday and the entire population (it seems) is out to withdraw cash today. I stand in line for ages and when my turn comes am so stressed that I press an extra 0 and extract the equivalent of 200 euros instead of 20. I’m almost in tears and curse my stupidity. Believe me there is nothing in Mindelo I can spend the money on (except overpriced food) so I queue again at the bank to exchange it into US dollars. A frustrating morning over, provisioning done, we have Mark and Amanda from Balvenie onboard for coffee (they’ve just arrived from the Canary Islands) and head away. Moonshadow (Richard and Alexandra) and Inammorata (Steve and Carol) leave with us and it’s a wonderful feeling to see three sets of sails heading away from the island, bows firmly pointed west. Barbados here we come!

Our Atlantic Crossing

 
Barbados is a blur.
An amazingly colourful blur of coal black faces wearing wide smiles with ultra-white teeth; happy women and men with dreadlocked and cornrowed hair dressed in brightly coloured Caribbean clothes.  Sadly, we’re seeing this through a hazy blur of tiredness having just arrived after a 14 day Atlantic crossing punctuated by rough conditions and broken sleep.

On December 21, we left Mindelo in the Cape Verde islands with four other yachts including friends Carol and Steve on Innamorata and Richard and Alex on Moonshadow. Within hours their sails had disappeared over the horizon as we took different routes with us opting to head south to about 12 degrees where, in previous years, trade winds had been more consistent.

We’d like to say it was a breeze, but at times conditions tested us to our limits. Systems in the north Atlantic pushed up confused swells that made life difficult – it was not the typical trade wind sailing we had anticipated.  

Doing simple everyday chores such as cleaning teeth, washing dishes and showering became an exercise in stamina and athleticism. Sleeping in a rolling berth was a mission, but knowing how vital it was we willed ourselves into it using ear plugs and eye masks to snatch a few hours.

Deck work was challenging in heavy seas so we kept our sail plan simple with twin headsails, one poled to windward or a heavily reefed mainsail and a poled headsail. Preparing food resulted in much swearing from the galley – I just didn’t have enough hands to hold on to everything and several times food and crockery went flying went an awkward wave hit.

Christmas Day was one we won’t forget. Deteriorating conditions forced us to stay down below doing watches by instrument. I lost my sense of humour completely when a wave sent supper all over the saloon floor and I had to scramble on hands and knees to clear up the mess!

As we edged closer to the Caribbean night time squalls kept us on our toes; the black clouds seemed to come out of nowhere accompanied by winds gusting up to 40 knots and torrential rain, which at least gave us a sparkling clean boat.
But let’s not forget those perfect trade wind days where the sky was deep blue with puffy white clouds, the normally grey Atlantic took on an azure tinge and we had dolphins alongside – magic! The few calm and clear nights were a delight and we never tired of gazing at the southern cross – it’s a long time since we’ve seen that!
                                    
Our only real hiccup came five days out of Barbados, when Zak, our autopilot, died choosing one of the darkest and windiest nights to do so. Cruising sailors rely almost entirely on their autopilots on long passages so the thought of doing without Zak all the way to Barbados was a nightmare.
It was bad enough hand steering for 12 hours while trying to find and fix the problem. After a few hours of snatched sleep and a very strong coffee, David’s brain began to function normally and he soon found the problem – a loose wire in the switchboard. The relief was enormous.
                                  
 Skipper sleeping on saloon floor during really rough day!!!!
  Highlight of our day was getting email through the satellite phone – a huge boost. It was wonderful to get so many supportive emails from family and friends tracking our progress. Daily contact also came with our morning and evening SSB (single side band radio) check ins with fellow cruisers.   It was great to chat, plot everyone’s position on the chart and know someone was keeping an eye on ours.
As Barbados came into sight excitement levels rose, tinged with relief; we’d done it, we’d crossed the Atlantic dual-handed, on our own boat and in good time – 13 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes at an average speed of 6.3 knots. We beat the other boats we left with by a day, confirmation that our southern route was the right one.

We anchored just on dusk and poured ourselves a huge rum punch then fell into bed but, wouldn’t you know it, we continued to wake at our appointed watch times!  Anchored in the startling turquoise water of Carlisle Bay, Barbados, the spilt food, broken crockery, bruised bodies and broken sleep are fading into the background – sailors have short memories for a reason.

Cape Verdes–Sal

 

Teenage mothers with babies on hips or slung over backs, mangy flea ridden dogs roaming the streets, smiley faced kids waiting to tie up our tender (for a fee!), reggae music thumping from scruffy open air bars, women selling fruit and vegetables on the roadside. Welcome to Palmeira, our first port of call on the island of Sal, a low lying (apart from a few volcanic cones) windswept and barren island in the Cape Verde archipelago.

                               

The Cape Verdes lie 325 mils off the African coast and consist of 14 islands – all volcanic including one, Ilha do Fogo, still active. Palmeira, on Sal, is one of three places in the Verdes where yachts can clear in, so it was our first port of call after our six day sail down from the Canary Islands. We dropped anchor at sunset and, after a good night’s sleep, headed off with the necessary documents (passports, boat papers including insurance and ownership).

                        

Clearing in is often long and involved and even more difficult when you don’t speak the language – in this case Crioulo which is a spoken only dialect of Portugese. We stumbled by in basic French, filling in numerous pieces of paper, got our passports stamped and then hit a snag – the fee was 10 euro and we only had five. No problem – catch a local taxi to the nearest town, three miles away, where there is a money machine. The taxis are hilarious – mini vans in a state of disrepair with a driver in an equally abysmal state. He spent 10 mins driving around the town, hanging out of his window whistling and yelling trying to drum up more business….giving us a free tour of the backstreets. Then the music was turned up to the max and off we shot, driving through semi desert at high speed in a van that would never pass WOF in New Zealand to the town of Vila de Espargos.

 

                 trying to get internet                 local children

Sunday is Sunday anywhere in the world and there was little happening in this ramshackle town. The streets were deserted and the only sound was the delightful music coming from the church. We got our money and headed back to the van…..and sat there for 10 mins as it filled with immaculately dressed churchgoers clutching bibles and babies. The people are very dark skinned and the women have long hair either plaited Bo Derek style or wrapped in turbans. The children are absolutely gorgeous and not too shy to ask for money from visitors. 

                                       

We found and paid the port policeman and wandered the scruffy streets past some amazing buildings, many adorned with colourful murals. Fishermen were busy salting their catch at the water’s edge while the local bar was beginning to fill with an assortment of weird and wonderful, but definitely colourful, looking locals.

                                 

banana for our boat boy                                                    woman and baby

                                    

Next day, being Monday, we headed back up to Espargos to get a few supplies and internet.  Buying bananas and papaya from a woman sitting on the kerb became exasperating – she wouldn’t budge on a ridiculously high price and insisted we buy two kilos!  We were probably her best customers of the day!  The town was full of people either sitting or milling around…..not the friendliest people we’ve come across, but with poverty and employment rife who can blame them. 

Sal has a population of about 10,000 mostly of mixed African and European descent. It relies heavily on foreign aid as, like all the islands, is poor despite being basically agricultural and producing crops of maize, fruit, sugar cane, beans and potatoes. Tourism is becoming increasingly popular and the south of the island is very tourist orientated with hotels and resorts – many people are attracted to the white sandy beaches and good windsurfing.

                          

Literacy here is 77% but even so, unemployment and poverty are major problems. Few yachtsman visit Sal – most preferring to go straight to Sao Vicente where there is a marina and far better provisioning. Many of those in Sal are en route to Senegal or the Gambia. We were the only New Zealand boat in the anchorage amongst mostly French, German and Dutch boats. After three days in Palmeira we moved to Baia de Mordeira – a long stretch of white sandy beach and crystal clear water.  Unfortunately it was blowing and we were sick of the haze and fine dust that coast everything and reduces visibility.  So after a windy night we upped anchor at 3am and headed to the next island Sao Nicolau, catching a huge dorado en route!

Gran Canaria

 

Our proposed “few days” in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, turned into 10. Same old story – waiting for parts, then waiting for weather and then Brenda goes and breaks a tooth!. After leaving Lanzarote we sailed down the east coast of Feurteventura, anchoring overnight in Las Playitis…with a sleepy fishing village on one side of the bay and a huge German resort on the other. You could hear the pilates orders coming over the loudspeaker and drifting out to us! We left on sunrise for the long day sail to Gran Canaria with conditions gradually worsening as we got further south. The winds here tend to accelerate at the bottom of the islands and the swell is confused – we knew all that but conditions were still worse than we expected with 30knot winds and short, sharp swells. Not much fun, but we were thrilled with how Bandit performed and anchored in Las Palmas just on dark.

                                 

The anchorage was full of cruising boats including two Kiwi boats – Awaroa and Tuatara. The next day Balvenie, a former Picton boat, rocked on in – we’d been chasing them around the Med for several years and finally got to meet Amanda and Mark. The marina was also full of cruising boats preparing for the crossing so it was a very social time with beach parties, dinners/drinks ashore and on various boats….which made our stay there really enjoyable…..but we still just wanted to get going!

 

                                

Spinnaker up……………………………………….spinnaker down in forward cabin!!

The weather window for a passage to the Cape Verdes looked good for Monday so, after a fantastic farewell dinner on Balvenie and fun night with Mark, Amanda and Tony off Tactical Directions, we were out of there. Earlier plans to visit neighbouring islands of Tenerife and Gomera went out the window - we were anxious to get this next stage of our Atlantic crossing underway.

First two days were pretty scruffy – 30 knots of wind with a big swell made for  uncomfortable days and nights – we made up a bed on the saloon floor as it was the only reasonable place to snatch sleep. The only good thing was Bandit’s speed – she rocketed along averaging 7 knots – hitting top speed of 12 at one scary stage! But once the wind eased and the swell dropped we had some fantastic sailing on virtually flat seas – much kinder and far less spillage and swearing involved and we still flew along.

                       

Skipper sleeping on saloon floor.                Skipper dealing with tangled mess

Now, for those who haven’t read our daily blog (www.blog.mailasail.com/yachtbandit) I will relate a story about our new towed generator, the skipper and a fishing line.  By just reading those few words you have probably got the general idea.  The generator is towed behind Bandit on a 20m length of spinning rope……and no, it is not a good idea to put the fishing line out at the same time.  But…we did and the photo shows the aftermath.  What you can’t hear are the swearwords coming out of the skipper’s mouth!!!  Needless to say, from now on Willy the Worm (the generator) does his duty at night and we fish during the day!

                           

On day five we got the spinnaker up and left it up all night. Naturally, when we came to take it down we had issues (what is it with this damn sail??) and we were just pleased there were no onlookers. We even caught a fish on the last day. We anchored in Palmeira Bay on the island of Sal, poured ourselves a big rum and cooked up delicious mahimahi.

Preparing for the Atlantic crossing

 
Rolled oats; tick. Tea and coffee; tick. Long-life milk; tick. Books (dozens of them); tick. Enough fresh fruit and vegetables for three weeks; tick. A freezer full of prepared meals for rough days; tick. Loo paper; double tick - imagine running out of that mid-Atlantic!

Preparing and provisioning for a three week Atlantic crossing is a mission. In theory (and mentally) we’ve been doing it for five years and are confident Bandit is fully stocked, well equipped and ready to go, but I can’t help having a last minute panic. There just seem to be so many last minute things to do even though we consider ourselves fairly organised.        
                                         
A blue water ocean passage is always a challenge, especially shorthanded, but our shake down passage from Gibraltar to the Canary Islands (via Morocco) brought smiles to our faces. In a stiff breeze Bandit went better and faster than we expected. A solid boat weighing 18 tonnes (and that was before the Turkish rugs, Italian marble ware , Sicilian pottery, Moroccan tagine dishes, 20 kg of Italian pasta and 20 litres of Spanish olive oil went on) she proved she had the legs to cope with the strong wind and big swells.
               
The only aspect we found difficult was adapting to broken sleep…..although our night watches (four hours off/on) were made easy at times with pilot whales and dolphins accompanying us.   For those who know nothing about sailing…..no, we cannot anchor at night, yes will go three weeks (give or take a day or two) without \seeing anything but ocean and no, the Atlantic isn’t a frightening prospect – it’s far safer than driving down State Highway One.

 
Will we get bored? Strange as it seems – there probably won’t be time. There’s navigating, (David navigates by the stars with a sextant as well as GPS), constant watches, meals to prepare, the boat to keep clean and tidy, emails and blogs to write and of course all those books to read as well as snatching sleep whenever possible.

While we’ve done two Atlantic crossings before, we feel complete novices (and a little nervous) going into this one but are looking forward to the challenge. And, once out there on the blue Atlantic with those lazy swells rolling by, the days getting warmer and catching plenty of tuna and mahi-mahi, we’re confident it will be bliss.