tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-216293513723079232024-03-07T23:38:55.616+01:00The Road to the HorizonLife as a serial expat, addicted traveller, desperate adventurer, wannabe sailor and passionate aidworkerPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.comBlogger1628125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-45501913356251623052024-01-31T17:47:00.043+01:002024-02-16T05:04:47.403+01:00Sailing across the Atlantic - the 2023 version This blog is mostly a cut and paste from my microblogs published during our transatlantic passage. Apologies for the typoes.<br/> Some of the blogs are hard-core sailing bits, and some are.. well... witness to our minds drifting off into absurdness.... <br/>We will go from -almost- a transat sailing tutorial, to a story of stolen ladies' underwear, smoking mushroom soup and sea weed, to tracking the International Space Station, and locking up our 15 sailing trainees - all 18 years old - who did not want to adhere to the minimum boat's dress code of wearing at least a thong...<br/><br/> Enjoy, though!<br/>
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<h1>Prelude</h1>
Back in May 2023, Lana, my oldest daughter and I started talking about going sailing together. At that point, Lana was planning a 6 months' backpacking trip, starting in November. So we thought: "Why not doing a transatlantic trip together?". After all, Lana had sailed, with our family, for a couple of seasons on summer charter trips, so she "knew" what it is to live on a yacht for a month, knew the basics of sailing, and understood what it means to live in "close quarters", on a boat...<br/>
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So, in June, I published a post on several Facebook groups:<br/>
<br/><i>Daughter-father sailing combo looking for crewing positions in the next season’s transatlantic (Southern EU to Caribbean), preferably leaving early/mid November.<br/>
Lana holds a Master in psychology, sailed dinghies from an early age and spent 5 summer holidays on a yacht (Caribbean, Seychelles, Greece) when she was a bit younger. Feels confident as “competent crew” or to keep watch. This transat leg would be the start of a longer globetrotter’s trip. She loves sailing, feels comfortable on the water and likes adventures.<br/>
Peter recently retired from the UN working in telecoms/IT, and now spends 50% of his time on yachts. Very fit and has skippered yachts for 20 years in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, North/South Europe. He is an RYA Offshore Yachtmaster, holds an RYA Powerboat instructor’s certificate and is a licensed ham operator. Peter has 35,000 Nm under his keel with 3 transatlantic and 2 part-Pacific crossing as crew/first mate. Last year’s crossing was as first mate on a 72ft Jongert 2200S racing cruiser, sailing from Gibraltar via Las Palmas and Cabo Verdes to Barbados, part of which was sailed with only 2 people. He was responsible for setting up the watch schedule, coordinate the provisioning, weather routing, passage planning and comms.<br/>
Beyond watch keeping/sailing, both are eager to share all boat chores (including cooking, cleaning,,..), contribute to the common trip costs (fuel, mooring fees, food,..) and pay for their transport to/from the boat. We speak Dutch, French and English and get along with people easily.<br/>
Videos of past sailing on Instagram (@theroadtothehorizon) or Youtube (@petercasier).<br/>
Please PM if interested.</i><br/>
<br/>In a week, I got about 5 responses. Some interesting, some not. One contact stood out: Dee and Ian, a pilot/flight attendant couple living in the UK, had a 45 foot Lagoon catamaran, which they bought two years ago. "Sturdeee" (yep, with 3 "e"'s!), was a sailing vessel of about 4-5 years old. Ian and Dee had been working for the past two years, preparing the boat to fulfill their dream of sailing across the Atlantic and cruising the Caribbean - and possibly further on.<br/>
<br/>Two days after our initial contact, I had a chat with them. It felt "right" from the first call. While not fulltime sailors, they had thought things through, and seemed to have prepared the boat and their trip well: there was a water maker onboard, satellite communications, and Ian, being a pilot, had a solid approach for safety onboard. A day later, they had a chat with Lana, who also felt good about "the partnership". I told Ian and Dee "we have a deal": Lana and me could contribute as crew, plus with my previous transat crossings, I could contribute to the preparations, weather routing, etc.... From my end, I could also learn, as I had never sailed a catamaran yacht before, so I would also learn and extend my experience. <br/>
<br/>We agreed we would meet up in Las Palmas, late October, and sail with Sturdeee in the "ARC" (the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), a yearly organized "migration" of a large number of cruisers from the Canaries to the Caribbean. Actually, we would participate in the "ARC+", a slightly smaller rally than the ARC, of +- 100 boats which would sail from Las Palmas to Cape Verde (with a short stop-over in Mindelo), and then onwards to Grenada. I had done the ARC back in 2006 with a 57ft Beneteau. "Lady Providence" would have it that I would meet up Mark, the skipper of our ARC 2006 boat, in Las Palmas, where he was crewing on a boat, also part of the ARC+ -, yet another renewal of old friendships, which continues even for future adventures.
<br/><br/><h1>Change of plans</h1>
<br/>Late August, Ian called me. They had been sailing Sturdeee from the UK down to Portugal, but were delayed in their crossing to the Canaries, due to some weather issues, and were changing their crew. I suggested I would join them in Faro, South Portugal, early September, to help in the crossing to the Canaries. <br/>
<br/>So said, so done. I packed my bags and on September 11th, I flew to Faro, and joined Ian, Dee and Nigel (our fourth crew as Lana could not join for this leg) for the crossing to Lanzarote in the Canaries. I would then leave the boat, and re-join Sturdeee, with Lana, late October in Las Palmas for the crossing. We had a good weather window to leave the next morning, Sept 12th. There was not much wind in the forecast, but we had to move the boat South, as North Atlantic depressions were coming in regularly and furiously. <br/>
<br/>Date: 12-September-2023<br>
Position: Faro, Portugal<br/>
<br/>I have sailed on quite a few boats, with an equal number of different skippers and crew, and I have learned that "first impressions" of both boat and crew, tell me 90% of the boat and how she is "managed". And impressed I was, with Sturdeee! The boat looked new and shiny, very well organized and super tidy. I told Dee, it felt like stepping into an Airbnb apartment: even the bunks were nicely set out with a duvet and towels arranged as one would see, when stepping into a hotel room. <br/>
<br/>
You would be surprised on how many boats I have cast off for an ocean passage without a proper briefing and safety run-through. I guess, a lot of that goes back to Ian being an airline pilot and Dee being a flight attendant: well organized, systematic, risk adverse,... All of that gave me "a good and fuzzy" feeling, in anticipation for Lana to join us for the next leg: Las Palmas to Cabo Verdes and Grenada. That "good and fuzzy" feeling, and the good first impressions continued to dominate my feeling up to today.<br/>
<br/>As predicted, in the first hours of this trip, we did not have much wind. But that is ok: there is a lot of cargo traffic coming in and out of the Gibraltar straight, so running under engine makes it easier to dodge these sea monsters. This was my 3rd crossing of this stretch of water, and I have to say: I never saw cargo traffic this dense. It was a continuous "thriller in slow motion": deciding how we would dodge the traffic: "ok, this vessel, we will cross astern of them, which will give us time to cross over the bow of the next vessel, then we can run a bit more westerly, and cross astern of that vessel, depending on what this sailing vessel ahead of us, and that fishing trawler will do"... Our AIS plotter was full of "targets". It was... eh.. a bit intense. Ian ran his shift with Nigel, I ran my shift with Dee - 4 hours on and four hours off. I stayed on deck for some extra shifts, to assist Ian and Nigel, as the traffic was really dense.<br/>
<br/>As we set off in little wind, motoring South/South-West, we passed through an area notorious for orcas attacking sail boats over the past years, so we kept a good "orca watch". No orcas were seen, though we had several pods of dolphins joining us on our bow - always a good sign. I love dolphins. Having a pod joining a sailboat, and playing around the bow is a sign, which never grows old. I love how they play, interact with each other, and swim on their side to look at the boat and its crew waving at them. <br/>
<br/>I did not tell Ian at the time, but this Gibraltar crossing was much more busy than the previous occasions I crossed this maritime stretch, making it a very busy and intense first 24 hours aboard Sturdeee... Until... Until... Until our navigation screen seemed to be cleared by cargo vessels, as the wind picked up, and we raised the sails, and finally... we could enjoy this sail, as we should, during an ocean passage... <br/>
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<br/>And at that moment, I pushed the pause-button, as we glided into another "mode of passage". The "mode of passage" that sailors dream of, and non-sailors think of, as "this is how sailing is like, should be like, every day"....<br/>
There was "a new moon" (which means: "there was no moon"), so the sky at night was super-super dark. There seemed to be little humidity in the air, so the stars were clear and present in the thousands... Eh... let me correct that: ...."in the millions." Some stars were so bright, they reflected on the water. It was the first time in many years where I could see the Milky Way so clearly, as I leaned over backwards, from the helming position, and looked up to gaze at the sky. This... was sailing at its best... These were the moments, all of the hard work Ian and Dee put into this boat for the past two years, preparing this passage, paid off... These were the moments for all to enjoy. We saw shooting stars rushing over our bow, we saw the International Space Station (ISS) passing right overhead, at a speed of 28,000 km/h, stars raising in the East and setting in the West, with the wind in our face, realizing, we were far away from land, and on our own. Ian, Dee, Nigel and myself, were on our own, with nobody and nothing around us, apart from the occasional cargo or fishing vessel we could see...<br/>
<br/>The daytime watches were equally enjoyable. As we got into the open ocean, the water turned into a bright blue colour, with a steady and moderate swell. As predicted, the wind was rather light, so we raised and dropped sails, dependent on the wind, motoring in between lulls. But we had plenty of company: dolphins visited us every day. One pod consisted of hundreds of dolphins, jumping the waves, flipping up side down as they swam from the horizon towards Sturdeee. We saw whales spouting on several occasions, and one time, saw a swordfish jumping out of the water, as it was chasing its breakfast. One morning, we saw a cuttlefish had landed in front of the helming position during the night, and had died a un-notorious death on deck. Still a mystery to me, how a cuttlefish could jump up and land on a platform, 3 meters above the water, but I guess this is one of the ocean's secrets...<br/>
<br/>And that, is what I started to realize: no matter how many times one sails across oceans or in the open sea: this part of the world, the oceans, are still -and should remain- untamed. And, protected. And while sailing these oceans, I, as a more seasoned sailor, need to continue to remind myself, to be aware, I am a "guest" of these untamed areas of the world, show respect and enjoy every single occasion I venture into these waters. Realizing that only few people have the privilege to experience this: being in the middle of nowhere, on a boat, with three other people I have never met before.<br/>
<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK59ZBu8Dq6vT0dc0whcf_tMa_-OZ3QSTQfVoq_0iVCHKAYz8U1jV2vhP4VwkvS9kzMbjwNMqbiWopSqpXQRoAmzJm6nLKMd-qz7dnysmxTekflMi6ajKgkpbbGH1RKTNC8aiCt75mDrzneL_D0s2hoHgL70Ad0DaZGf-GMNyq9feXNqeBo6OzkYyYzLo/s2000/peter%20and%20dee.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="2000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK59ZBu8Dq6vT0dc0whcf_tMa_-OZ3QSTQfVoq_0iVCHKAYz8U1jV2vhP4VwkvS9kzMbjwNMqbiWopSqpXQRoAmzJm6nLKMd-qz7dnysmxTekflMi6ajKgkpbbGH1RKTNC8aiCt75mDrzneL_D0s2hoHgL70Ad0DaZGf-GMNyq9feXNqeBo6OzkYyYzLo/s400/peter%20and%20dee.JPG"/></a></div>A passage in time and space, which I had the privilege to share with Dee, my watch mate, with Ian and Nigel, and a passage as a prelude for our next step, to Cabo Verdes, and then the great 2-3 weeks adventure sailing across the Atlantic.<br/>
<br/>
No matter, how many times I sail on the open oceans, I continue to be amazed by the open space, how small we are: a small speck on the ocean, a small speck in the universe. And I continue to be grateful of the opportunity to experience this unique moment; with three other people I did not know, prior to our longer passage.<br/>
<br/>This passage was heaven. And I was looking forward to experience our next steps, to sail Sturdeee onto Grenada. I could not wait!
<br/><br/><h1>Lanzarote</h1>
<br/>
Date: 16-September-2023<br>
Position: Lanzarote, Canary Islands<br/>
<br/>
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We safely arrived in the marina, in Lanzarote, just before midnight. We did a short "ship-shape" - converting the boat "open ocean passage" to "marina mode" - after all, a yacht is like a lady: she wants to look pretty when "on show", on shore. We had a few anchor/mooring drinks and the next day, cleaned the boat, did a short provisioning run, walked around the marina, had great Indian food dinner, and I left the boat on Sept 18th, flying back to Rome. <br/>
<br/>I would not see Sturdeee for a month, until I joined her, and Ian + Dee, in Las Palmas late October.<br/>When I left the boat, I gave a hug to Nigel, our 4th crew member, who I got to like a lot, not knowing, at that point, he would not join us for the transatlantic. In the weeks following our passage from Faro, Nigel told the team he needed more experience before he felt ready for a longer ocean crossing, and I can not blame him. I would miss his wicked humour and smile, though!<br/>
<br/>
In the mean time, Ian identified a fifth crew member, Michelle from South Africa: a seasoned sailor, skipper and RYA yachtmaster instructor. Michelle would join us in Las Palmas, for the actual transat crossing. With the five of us, we had a solid crew contingent. And just as I felt a bond with Nigel, I would find an equal bond with Michelle as we would share many watches together. This also meant, this would be my first crossing with a "couple" (Ian and Dee), and my first crossing with three ladies (Dee, Michelle and Lana) on board, "outweighing" the male component of Ian and me. And that turned out to be a good thing!
<br/><br/><h1>Back on board!</h1>
<br/>
Date: 23-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/>
<br/>
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After a little more than a month, I am back on board of Sturdeee, in the marina of Las Palmas, where I spent a week back in 2006, about a month in 2021, and a week or so last year… So most of it is déjà vu, but a nice déjà vu!<br/><br/>
As we are preparing the passage in Las Palmas, our crew starts to arrive.
So we have Ian (the skipper), Dee (his partner), and myself. Michelle will arrive on the Oct 28th…<br/><br/>
On Oct 24th, one (to me) very special crew member arrived in Las Palmas: My oldest daughter Lana.<br/><br/>
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This transatlantic will be the first step of a 6 months’ backpacking trip for Lana, taking her through Central and South America and Japan.<br/><br/>
While our family at the time, sailed quite a bit in Greece, Caribbean and Seychelles 2004-2008, Lana was still young then. So it will be her first sailing since more or less 15 years, and her first open ocean passage.<br/><br/>
So, after a crew dinner last night, today was Lana’s first (re-)induction into sailing. Today’s “training programme” was about weather/wind predictions, her safety gear, standing and running rigging (with all associated gear like winches, cleats and clutches), and knots, loads of knots…<br/><br/>
And she absorbed it all like a charm.<br/><br/>
Today was also the day the ARC+ offices/events opened up here in Las Palmas marina, where we are. – This year, we do this ocean crossing as part of an organized cruisers’ event, called the “ARC+”. “ARC” stands for “Atlantic Rally for Cruisers”. There is one crossing, called “ARC” leaving late November which sails with about 150 boats from Las Palmas to Saint Lucia. We are part of the “ARC+”, which sails about 100 boats from Las Palmas to Cape Verde - where the ARC+ does some events for 5-6 days - and then sails from Cape Verde to Grenada in the Caribbean.<br/><br/>
So… as the song goes: “The heat is on!”<br/><br/>
Date: 25-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/>
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On Sturdeee, our boat, safety comes first. Today was the day where we fitted Lana’s “PFD”. “PFD”= “Personal Flotation Device” - or “life jacket” in landlubber terms.<br/>
<br/>I do think only young ladies make PFDs look that good.<br/>
<br/>Lana’s PFD is a top-of-the-line Spinlock 6D 170N deckvest, with a MOB1 (“Man Over Board”) intra-fitted.<br/>
<br/>What does that mean? Well, “Spinlock” is - in my humble opinion - the best PFD on the market. It is a “170N” - or “170 Newton”, which defines the flotation force. So this lifejacket can keep a person afloat with full-weather gear. It inflates automatically, when a person hits the water. (my own PFD is a heavier “Spinlock 275N”, as I do some heavy weather sailing with “heavy weather gear and boots”, and I am heavier than Lana, so I need more “flotation-power”).<br/>
<br/>With it, goes a “tether” or “lifeline”, which clips onto the PFD on one end, and is clipped onto the boat on the other end. Our tethers have “quick release” levers, allowing us to detach from the boat fast, if we would go over-board, but are dragged under water by the boat, in fear of drowning.<br/>
<br/>Lana’s PFD (like mine) is fitted with an Ocean Signal MOB1 device, which is activated automatically, and transmits a “Man Over Board” AIS (“Automated Identification System”) signal automatically to all vessels in a 5-10 Nmile range (the VHF radio range). Beyond that, on Sturdeee, for night sailing, we also use a satellite “MOB” (“Man Over Board”) device (manually activated), which transmits a satellite MOB signal to a coastal rescue station of choice, in our case, Falmouth in the UK. So we are well covered.<br/>
<br/>
Date: 26-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/>
<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuapkR5JDyJYC9cIjhOjxQ7Wmk7Bydysr3STypSlNK-FkZqb764GLIr1NOpUQW0gB6hswRN-3sjS3JQEd-yLmkgKQdRBy96I9SoL5VRxLE1EriQSuDVmoChf_HACMHt0z2WfAiretUoT7u61o76kudEtp_2tFxnjRYsFATFEHI3S8SUcenxKJDNovmBk/s2049/st6.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2049" data-original-width="1536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuapkR5JDyJYC9cIjhOjxQ7Wmk7Bydysr3STypSlNK-FkZqb764GLIr1NOpUQW0gB6hswRN-3sjS3JQEd-yLmkgKQdRBy96I9SoL5VRxLE1EriQSuDVmoChf_HACMHt0z2WfAiretUoT7u61o76kudEtp_2tFxnjRYsFATFEHI3S8SUcenxKJDNovmBk/s400/st6.jpeg"/></a></div>Part of the preparation of an ocean passage is “provisioning”: buying food, drinks, etc…<br/>
<br/>
Dee had already done one provisioning run, and today, we did another provisioning run, partially to buy some of the longer term storage food stuff (milk, soda, canned stuff) and non-food stuff (toilet paper, kitchen paper towels, etc…). We also bought fresh food stuff for the meals we want to pre-cook and freeze for the passage.
So we ended up with a €400 provisioning run, and as of tomorrow, we will start our 2-3 days cook-out to pre-cook a lot of the meals for the passage.<br/>
<br/>
Looking at the menus, Dee has planned and pulled together, we will have quite a gourmet passage!
Meanwhile check out the blog of Dee and Ian on: https://www.ourodyssey.co.uk/
<br/>
<br/><h1>Las Palmas: Gas bottles, push-up bras, and more</h1>
<br/>
Date: 27-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_zJ53ziLLtiJWVzJDyW8Cw_XhBkZbXouvtFktUTdAYD79BRzHbaSoVGmnIx3vjE46dQPZv2HYibkuJB2vGfSfOzDZZ3d3G6JPnWi-LVHnwg3OIZeZ6mp0-K1UPanIrcqSrmvZuCi5WV7Yamuy8Yv4m_tAbI1kggV_w1rI3TwpyiZUT0fxYsetXI16WiU/s2048/IMG_1501.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_zJ53ziLLtiJWVzJDyW8Cw_XhBkZbXouvtFktUTdAYD79BRzHbaSoVGmnIx3vjE46dQPZv2HYibkuJB2vGfSfOzDZZ3d3G6JPnWi-LVHnwg3OIZeZ6mp0-K1UPanIrcqSrmvZuCi5WV7Yamuy8Yv4m_tAbI1kggV_w1rI3TwpyiZUT0fxYsetXI16WiU/s400/IMG_1501.JPG"/></a></div>
<br/>
While Michelle is still to join the boat in a few day, the ARC+ group is starting to take shape: 95 boats and about 400 crew are preparing to cross the Atlantic. This rally is well organized and structured. In the run-up of us leaving next week, there are a number of social events (sunset drinks, day trips,...) set up. All skippers and crew are assembled in a couple of Whatsapp groups. I could not resist to put up some spicy jokes in that group:<br/>
<i>General announcement to the ARC+ fleet><br/>
During the drink tonight we have learned many ARC+ sailors have problems to get non-Spanish gas bottles refilled.<br/>
<br/>
We are happy to inform that Lana and Dee, part of our 15 crew of 18-23 year old female sailing trainees on our yacht, have, so far, had a 100% success rate to get any bottles refilled, due to their natural charm, combined with high heels, push-up bras and short skirts. Rumour has it, that they even had water bottles filled with cooking gas.<br/>
<br/>
So if anyone has problems to refill gas bottles, we are now happy to announce that SV Sturdeee is now offering this service to other boats. The going rate for this service, is now 10 camels per gas bottle, though due to the expected raise in demand, the service rate might go up to 10 camels and 10 goats.<br/>
<br/>
For details, please see Ian, the skipper of SV Sturdeee.<br/></i>
<br/>
To my surprise some of the other crew/skippers thought I was serious (little did they know), and offered all kinds of compensations for our ladies to refill their gas bottles... In my next life, I will make a business out of that, I think!
<br/><br/>
Date: 28-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/>
<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKOwXWE6TbFo9ypwYd8IRPAtuyHYvbcQpHSlsMUAgNet5bIFulKVvYm_O09SU33OwxYDbR5upIrEc0lFBJaq-L24iVkh7dMInWnLyVE7Fm_d2PF5GsHjLfKdXa1svEQyJ5RJ7Aojkr_X_gUBfobwBWrF0E9aKASp8gCNyQnihISXTysdH2H4XQmndMVA/s4032/st7.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKOwXWE6TbFo9ypwYd8IRPAtuyHYvbcQpHSlsMUAgNet5bIFulKVvYm_O09SU33OwxYDbR5upIrEc0lFBJaq-L24iVkh7dMInWnLyVE7Fm_d2PF5GsHjLfKdXa1svEQyJ5RJ7Aojkr_X_gUBfobwBWrF0E9aKASp8gCNyQnihISXTysdH2H4XQmndMVA/s400/st7.jpeg"/></a></div>
My ashes are stored next to garbage bin on the boat.<br/>
<br/>
"My ashes",... but it is not what you think. There are no plans to cremate me (yet) :slight_smile:<br/>
<br/>
My only vice in life is that I smoke.<br/>
On a boat I am really careful where I smoke, so it does not bother other people (I hate other’s people smoke too). But we also agreed that I would store the ashes of my cigarettes in a recycled container, so it is not put in the general trash container and start smelling.<br/>
<br/>
So, “my ashes” now have their dedicated place, in this container, on our boat<br/>
<br/>
<h1>ARC+ starts!</h1>
<br/>
Date: 29-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/>
<br/>
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Lana and I are the only Belgian sailors in this year’s ARC+…<br/>
<br/>
The “ARC” or “Transatlantic Rally for Cruisers” is the annually organised group of boats that cross the Atlantic starting at a given date. They sail from Las Palmas to Saint Lucia. This year, there are about 160 boats and 1,000 crew in the ARC.
Since a few years back, they also organize an “ARC+”, a slightly smaller group - this year 100 boats, 400 crew - which leaves 2-3 weeks earlier than the ARC, and has a stop-over in Cape Verde before sailing to Grenada.<br/>
<br/>
We are part of the ARC+ this year.<br/>
<br/>
And today’s flag parade was the official opening ceremony. Lana and I had the honour of carrying the Belgian flag.<br/>
And I know many of you are not sailors… But an ocean crossing is a major “thing”. A transatlantic crossing is, for many people, their first open ocean crossing (after sailing for years in Europe…). Las Palmas is a key stop for many, before hopping over the ocean, and particularly the marina we are in, Las Palmas, is for many the starting point. So there are a massive amount of boats here (ARC, ARC+ or non-ARC boats), ready to cross the Atlantic.<br/>
<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpbBmhdd4rm-u6rhs_Luzueh005GaH_ghvt6ooG6BjnvbS9PxkjNY8EIMFRmzipAyU1H6vO56UweKW8Q06Gn5FeIeyG0neu6JdA7PoLX80RqtAFbiC7xysPSHNJ1Mv15bYx0Rh11for2If6JUVikAiz5UEhDWmdXyR6JNBuMiyjgSICKtbjPzL6m0xCo/s2048/st9.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpbBmhdd4rm-u6rhs_Luzueh005GaH_ghvt6ooG6BjnvbS9PxkjNY8EIMFRmzipAyU1H6vO56UweKW8Q06Gn5FeIeyG0neu6JdA7PoLX80RqtAFbiC7xysPSHNJ1Mv15bYx0Rh11for2If6JUVikAiz5UEhDWmdXyR6JNBuMiyjgSICKtbjPzL6m0xCo/s400/st9.jpeg"/></a></div>
So I can hardly describe the overall feeling on the pontoons of this marina, from all boats, and all crew, before most of them endeavour on their first-ever ocean crossing.<br/>
<br/>
And to add to the hype of it all, within the ARC and ARC+, there are a lot of social events, learning webinars, safety checks, etc… to ensure all boats are ready to cross the ocean in a safe way.<br/>
<br/>
So do I need to add anything more, to say that the overall feeling in this marina, is that of “anticipation”, spread between “excitement” and slight “oh what did I get myself into now?”<br/>
<br/>
Oh, and the ARC organizers told us today, they would not be able to handle more Belgians than Lana and me. We’re building up quite a reputation in the fleet here! :slight_smile:<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Date: 29-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/>
Subject: "The Pretty Officer!"<br/>
<br/>
Our skipper (Ian) and partner (Dee) are certified hilarious.<br/>
<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlw7a0zJmmmmOeOP7jhpnFgSr87MXP9hZ-BcP-4KicUS9pYSlbPevcIjqSWi3k0udnnailBxpDFgfZqL99S4X3ff8kfM2AwXqi-hnyqM4CyItOK2I_chZVNynhT8m9RkxgoSeFluM9MUBuSlsGaHlFP2YQmGsZpR69NhFCpQFfS14lfK5VaiT-d77anB0/s4032/st10.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlw7a0zJmmmmOeOP7jhpnFgSr87MXP9hZ-BcP-4KicUS9pYSlbPevcIjqSWi3k0udnnailBxpDFgfZqL99S4X3ff8kfM2AwXqi-hnyqM4CyItOK2I_chZVNynhT8m9RkxgoSeFluM9MUBuSlsGaHlFP2YQmGsZpR69NhFCpQFfS14lfK5VaiT-d77anB0/s400/st10.jpeg"/></a></div>
Dee has a Tshirt saying “pretty officer” on her sleeve - a tongue-in-cheek for the nautical term of “Petty Officer”.<br/>
<br/>
She is also the shortest and lightest (and loudest) of our crew, so up the mast she went yesterday, to put “noodles” on the shrouds, to protect the main sail from friction with the spreaders when sailing downwind.<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0hFmGJtyLhnahjwSIN_GUsrH5bv15EUpCJ7AyvXiHxdt179u6fcHMYpNEEevqk9vwp7iRFYzG-6OgVZs2O-C2ngb8foWIDnX-M1C61abcBpJxoch5qy9jLRMpPyQfkFTN-nzxLh6y1D_op5on5U5zYkAWdqBj1cr6Mq16pdWTDW-l291pRHVeK4PCaM/s2048/st11.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0hFmGJtyLhnahjwSIN_GUsrH5bv15EUpCJ7AyvXiHxdt179u6fcHMYpNEEevqk9vwp7iRFYzG-6OgVZs2O-C2ngb8foWIDnX-M1C61abcBpJxoch5qy9jLRMpPyQfkFTN-nzxLh6y1D_op5on5U5zYkAWdqBj1cr6Mq16pdWTDW-l291pRHVeK4PCaM/s400/st11.jpeg"/></a></div>
<br/>
Date: 30-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/>
Subject: "Food, food, food"<br/>
<br/>
One week to go before we leave and our food prep is starting!<br/>
The crew is starting to pre-cook some meals, vacuum seal and freeze them, so it is easier to prepare food while on passage.<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJNlETEo_RnfPq7dNGLnEevfHy2dLpRp09gZdyxz-002UI_J9VPMe2VHb5RH327mhOqVG3KgPgGcUCDNb6bmafBZzxwtqfaQ8fyZua6Y3CxXSJUE6HRokwRLhmuVGSCKHh6i9Je5aQHUKBzupq_VuYtjKELNoOJhZbluIHstHgPnX0xE_gGFXuzZqRQs/s4032/st12.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJNlETEo_RnfPq7dNGLnEevfHy2dLpRp09gZdyxz-002UI_J9VPMe2VHb5RH327mhOqVG3KgPgGcUCDNb6bmafBZzxwtqfaQ8fyZua6Y3CxXSJUE6HRokwRLhmuVGSCKHh6i9Je5aQHUKBzupq_VuYtjKELNoOJhZbluIHstHgPnX0xE_gGFXuzZqRQs/s400/st12.jpeg"/></a></div>
Today, the spaghetti sauce and spice pumpkin soup (with meat balls), were sealed and frozen! Oh, and meet Michelle, our 5th crew member (in the picture on the right) who arrived some days ago!<br/>
<br/>
<h1>Getting serious!</h1><br>
Date: 30-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/><br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtX8Xc7qpIJx76tAaTLih7k9HT1viE1wgA1nRchV_GaxHOlzHr2JK-SH38HJsHHL8Pb2i0NMAljkX1y1f76ZdTBYkPeSYOjn0hKQAuxEnYead-8BSHb_r_uaLkkLBpjQEEJGdrnJjZ5YDbOdSnvHkoTUdWe2VlxLucaUjRJhmXDNs39_lil0CPZm5x_X0/s2436/st14.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2436" data-original-width="1125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtX8Xc7qpIJx76tAaTLih7k9HT1viE1wgA1nRchV_GaxHOlzHr2JK-SH38HJsHHL8Pb2i0NMAljkX1y1f76ZdTBYkPeSYOjn0hKQAuxEnYead-8BSHb_r_uaLkkLBpjQEEJGdrnJjZ5YDbOdSnvHkoTUdWe2VlxLucaUjRJhmXDNs39_lil0CPZm5x_X0/s400/st14.jpeg"/></a></div><br>
We have 6 days to go before we leave Las Palmas, so as of now, the weather predictions for our crossing, start to come in.<br/>
While mainland Europe and the North Atlantic have been battered by storm after storm over the past weeks, it looks like we are just south of all this nastiness…<br/>
The predictions for our passage look good. We will start on Sunday Nov 5th at noon, and will, if all goes well, have a 5-6 day passage to Mindelo in Cape Verde.<br/>
For the sailors amongst you: Distance is 900Nm. No motoring predicted. Predicted average SOG 6.9 kts, min wind speed 14 kts, max wind 25 kts, avg wind 16 kts. Max gust 26 kts. TWA from ± 160° port to 180° aft. Max CAPE = 61 (so, not much chance for thunderstorms), rain max 02 mm/hr (so not much rain). 2-3 m waves from starboard aft.<br/>
So, as of now, we’re going to analyze the weather daily and see if anything changes… Based on the predictions, we will decide the route we will take. While the whole ARC+ fleet will sail in the same direction, there are still some choices to be made how exactly we will sail off the coast of the Canaries (avoiding acceleration zones and wind shadows from the islands), and if we will take an easterly or more westerly course on our way to Mindelo... On the latter: at that moment in time, we did not realize yet, that the choice of staying closer to the African coast or stay further west would determine the difference between 25 kts and 35 kts of wind...<br/><br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMASXLBNhoO9FShKzJba1TrtsQHB-C56566dqUlNe5EfNVMznsbojok9zq6rx_fBDzDpSvmfVy2Nx9pPIlviFwalrlIWQQq_x5bAkomVRogNGaq6L1kgPeJme3_70oX1vcRFo-R5970UbbP9KNe_-N5NrLkxx_P1it9Nhyphenhyphen2QQhDj0GNriFhIE-sxtiOoU/s4032/st15.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMASXLBNhoO9FShKzJba1TrtsQHB-C56566dqUlNe5EfNVMznsbojok9zq6rx_fBDzDpSvmfVy2Nx9pPIlviFwalrlIWQQq_x5bAkomVRogNGaq6L1kgPeJme3_70oX1vcRFo-R5970UbbP9KNe_-N5NrLkxx_P1it9Nhyphenhyphen2QQhDj0GNriFhIE-sxtiOoU/s400/st15.jpeg"/></a></div><br/>
The ARC/ARC+ in which we are participating is very well organized and packed with events. For the next days, they have introductory webinars on just about anything one needs to know for ocean passages and passage planning.<br/>
Attended a few today, inbetween dinner cooking and the crew working on replacing the batteries of the boat<br/>
Our ship’s batteries were 5 years old, so it was time to replace them.
In came (I think) 6 or 7 pieces of 140 Ah (I think) ship’s batteries, which the skipper and Lana fitted.<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLgEimhir3enoCKthWpJo-_3L7blg0rgIDGjQUx2rOIwQmcv2q6m6a1Tj82DFKSiXqF34HYAeJlt19Rp5LsnOEPcZ68vo_XPjF6ffTT3NDUKsuvSjbiiiigq835Dv9FXdVpIYGSGuqwftWwS7y2Eo15Z0rHu1KjeNuWJsccpVzbvShIUcaFx1ASXuVtg/s4032/st16.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLgEimhir3enoCKthWpJo-_3L7blg0rgIDGjQUx2rOIwQmcv2q6m6a1Tj82DFKSiXqF34HYAeJlt19Rp5LsnOEPcZ68vo_XPjF6ffTT3NDUKsuvSjbiiiigq835Dv9FXdVpIYGSGuqwftWwS7y2Eo15Z0rHu1KjeNuWJsccpVzbvShIUcaFx1ASXuVtg/s400/st16.jpeg"/></a></div><br/>
Last safety inspection by the ARC+ staff (“the Yellow Shirts") are done, with Ian, our skipper<br/>
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The ARC/ARC+ has strict safety rules, and each boat is inspected individually.
We had a thorough check a few days ago. We needed to tweak some minor things today, and now have a clean “bill-of-health”.<br/>
Safety wise, we are ready. Still 3 days more minor work to be done (last minute provisioning of fresh food, filling up emergency fuel canisters and backup fresh water bladders,…), and we are done. Ready to leave on Sunday at noon.<br/><br/>
On the topic of communications: <br/>
It was only a year ago, when I read first reports of someone using Starlink for a transat satellite communications, and now I see dozens of boat with a Starlink dish, only on our dock!<br/>
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Starlink gives a high bandwidth internet connection at a reasonable price (about US$2/Gigabyte), from most places in the world right now. So many cruisers use it now. And so do we.<br/>
So, if everything goes well, we should be able to use whatsapp or Facebook while on the ocean, and be able to download weather forecasts fast. Quite a luxery, but also an extra safety measure for us!<br/>
Beyond that, we also have a small Iridium Go satellite device which allows us to make calls, send SMS, send text emails and download weather data, as a backup.<br/><br/>
<br/>
<h1>Man overboard and where did we store that instant soup? </h1><br>
Date: 30-October-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/><br/>
Well, more like “man under board”…<br/><br/>
One of the last minute things we needed to get done: get some sea weed and growth off the little paddle wheel on our keel, which measures the speed of our boat through the water.<br/>
Sure we track our “actual speed” via satellite, but we also need to measure how fast we move, over a carpet of water, which moves, in mass, by itself.<br/>
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And that little paddlewheel, in all boats, gets stuck with growth.<br/>
So today, in went a diver for 5 minutes to clear the little wheel.<br/><br/>
But then again, Dee dived deep into the boat's bilges to check "where we stored those instant soups again?"
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<br/>
<h1>Off we go!</h1><br>
Date: 5-November-2023<br>
Position: Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/><br/>
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Finally.. we left Las Palmas, on the start of the ARC+, on the start of our transatlantic passage<br/><br/>
To state we were eager to leave Las Palmas, is an understatement. To say we were eager to get going: absolutely! To say we were slightly anxious: honestly, sure!<br/><br/>
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We left Las Palmas marina with 95 other boats, and 400 other crew. Nobody knew what was ahead of us. For most of the crews, this was their first ocean passage. For most, this was the first pace into a dream of cruising around the world.<br/><br/>
As we navigated out of Las Palmas, I was excited. But I knew what was in ahead of us. According to the weather predictions, it was going to be a rough first couple of days, and then, hopefully, some weeks of tradewind sailing. But the first days were going to be rough...<br/><br/>
<h1>First hours. This girl. And her first time! </h1><br>
Date: 5-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Off Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/><br/>
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This is Lana. My oldest daughter. Her and Hannah, my oldest, are my pride.<br/><br/>
Lana is joining me on this transatlantic trip. She used to sail with us in summers, when she was younger (Greece, Caribbean, Indian Ocean), but that was a long time ago. She also sailed dinghies.<br/><br/>
So last night, her first night on the boat off the dock, her first time to sail at night, and the first time she was on the ocean,… She did very well. Not squeezy, happy, excited, curious. She found sailing “logical” and fun.<br/>
And to be honest, i love sharing my watches with her, as she is a good set of 2nd eyes (“do you see that cargo ship on our port stern yet?”, a good conscience check (“What do you think this vessel will do?”), and just good company…<br/><br/>
I loved it, and so did she.<br/><br/>
We had a light and slow start from the ARC+ but ended up towards to the end of the fleet, sailing mostly easterly, as we wanted to avoid the acceleration zone next to Gran Canarias, and the “no wind” zone south of Gran Canaria.<br/>
And it worked: by evening, we were “screaaaaamingly along fast”, while many were becalmed in the wind shades of Gran Canaria: we clocked over 10 kts boat speed, catching up with everyone.<br/><br/>
Sailing and life is good.<br/><br/>
<h1>Rock and roll!</h1><br>
Date: 6-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Off Las Palmas, Canary Islands<br/><br/>
As predicted, winds (and waves) picked up today, and will continue until tomorrow evening.<br/><br/>
In the weather prediction software we used, winds closer to the African coast were to be stronger, so we opted to stay on the Western side of the ARC+ fleet.<br/><br/>
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And our choice proved to be the right one: on Sturdeee, we are not racing but aim for crew comfort and boat safety. We had “only” up to 25 kts of wind today, chasing our
boat speed up to 9-10 kts. The Eastern part of the fleet had 30+kts of wind...
Not our idea of fun!<br/><br/>
Sturdeee handles the wind and waves well. A catamaran like Sturdeee sails downwind with far less rolling and pitching than a monohull.<br/><br/>
It is still pretty sporty sailing though!<br/><br/>
<h1>Big waves</h1><br>
Date: 7-Nov-2023<br>
Position: On the way to Cape Verde<br/><br/>
Our helming position is on the flight deck, about 4 meters above the horizon.<br/><br/>
50% of the waves today come up higher than the horizon. This means 50% of the waves must be higher than 4 meters.<br/><br/>
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Sturdeee handles waves at this angle really well<br/><br/>
Glad to be on this boat! And with this crew!<br/><br/>
<h1>Humor, getting into the grove, and "That’s what she said!"</h1><br>
Date: 7-Nov-2023<br>
Position: On the way to Cape Verde<br/><br/>
We have a “That’s what she said” rage on Sturdeee.<br/>
It is a “tongue in cheek” thing where someone, while doing anything on the boat, would say something, and at any random time and on any random topic, and someone would add “ That’s what she said”.<br/><br/>
Which often turns out to be hilarious (and addictive) most of the times.<br/><br/>
It often starts with the classics:<br/><br/>
Someone is trying to fit a bolt, and says “it needs to be bigger”<br/>
And of course someone answers: “That’s what she said!”<br/><br/>
Or another classic where we might patch up a bended piece of metal.
And dares to utter “It is the wrong angle”<br/>
Followed of course from someone on the other side of the saloon answering:
“ That’s what she said!”<br/><br/>
There are also variations:<br/>
We are tightening a screw. And someone dares to say:<br/>
“It needs to be tighter”<br/>
“ That’s what she said!”<br/>
“Nono, hat’s what HE said!”<br/><br/>
In the end, you can add it to just about anything:<br/><br/>
It is not hot enough<br/>
“That’s what she said!”<br/><br/>
Can you do that again?<br/>
“That’s what she said!”<br/><br/>
Ooooh I will make myself a cup of soup.<br/>
“That’s what she said!”<br/><br/>
What's that?<br/>
“That’s what she said!”<br/><br/>
Nono, to starboard<br/>
That’s what she said<br/><br/>
Let’s try this again, shall we?<br/>
“That’s what she said!”<br/><br/>
:slight_smile:<br/><br/>
Anyways, it is blowing 20 kts, we’re smoking at 7.5 kts wing-on-wing triple reefed. Boat moves a bit but is stable.
Dee and Michelle are on watch, and it is time to start my watch.<br/>
Il est six heures, Paris s’élève.<br/><br/>
Signed<br/>
Peter Pan<br/><br/>
<h1>Aliens and clad dressed girls</h1>
Date: 8-Nov-2023<br>
Position: On the way to Cape Verde<br/><br/>
We have an ARC+ whatsapp chat, and there were comments on a very bright light beaming across the sky last night.<br/><br/>
Soneone commented:
“<i>Saw it. It looked like a shooting star but 5 times the size and the light that came from it, was big. We saw the light first and I thought owhh lightning then I saw this big bright ball and the tail of light after it.
I’m guessing space junk falling back to earth or the aliens have come back”</i><br/><br/>
To which I answered:<br/>
I want me a nice alien as I feel lonely. All nice to have good company on Sturdeee, but we agreed after 2 days passage, we need to meet other people.<br/><br/>
No luck on VHF. Nobody wants to talk to me on VHF, except Bluemoona and Moyfrid. Not even on cha 72 VHF ARC+ net at 10:00 and 21:00z.<br/>
Can only talk on VHF to the Sturdeee bow cabin crew, the 15 sailing trainees (all female 18-21 yrs old), which we had to lock up in bow cabin as punishment, due to too little clothing worn on deck yesterday. Skipper’s rules dictate to at least wear panties on deck.<br/>
So we talk to them on cha 72 VHF every morning at 10:00GMT.
They will be released, pending good behaviour, tomorrow.<br/><br/>
Signed: Peter Pan<br/>
<br/><br/>
<h1>Sounds and things</h1>
Date: 9-Nov-2023<br>
Position: On the way to Cape Verde<br/><br/>
… or maybe it is just a bit of lack of sleep.<br/><br/>
I had this on every ocean passage.<br/><br/>
Sometimes the boat makes a random noise which resembles something else. It freaks me out sometimes.<br/><br/>
It might be a squeek from the goose neck (where the mast connects to the boom), which resembles the high pitched tone of a lady’s voice.<br/>
Or the sink gurggles, with a hiss, resembling someone saying “Shhht!”<br/>
Just now on the aft deck a wave hit the stern and the deck drain made a deep sound, like someone saying “Whaaaat?!’”<br/>
Freaky<br/><br/>
I need more sleep.<br/>
Thats what she said!<br/><br/>
Peter Pan <br/><br/>
<h1>Jesus</h1>
Date: 9-Nov-2023<br>
Position: On the way to Cape Verde<br/><br/>
Jesus is showing me the way!<br/>
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A sign of God!<br/>
Unfortunately, we’re not going THAT way…<br/><br/>
<h1>There are hoses and hoses!</h1>
Date: 9-Nov-2023<br>
Position: On the way to Cape Verde<br/><br/>
When i suggested to buy some hoses which we could slice and put over sheets and guardrails to protect them from shafing, i did not expect someone to bring me a hose from their last colonoscopy….<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJ1VZi4CuYarN2BhUmYGc-TLWzw2aBmSXTK3wAMRfQDMcUrTsHaNv6EzjrahYo9mrK9y54lq2xrc4me46xdKHvSXrZ-EpbQrh7STefnzxi2ijZPe2SV20vfGk-n_BnfQsMwIRZmv74LXyzfDIEbYrA_wIlfm9FU24QN6Oj78N21BpUiFtpt8ZGRBVr3w/s4032/st27.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJ1VZi4CuYarN2BhUmYGc-TLWzw2aBmSXTK3wAMRfQDMcUrTsHaNv6EzjrahYo9mrK9y54lq2xrc4me46xdKHvSXrZ-EpbQrh7STefnzxi2ijZPe2SV20vfGk-n_BnfQsMwIRZmv74LXyzfDIEbYrA_wIlfm9FU24QN6Oj78N21BpUiFtpt8ZGRBVr3w/s400/st27.jpeg"/></a></div><br/>
<h1>About cats</h1>
Date: 9-Nov-2023<br>
Position: On the way to Cape Verde<br/><br/>
Sturdeee is a catamaran: a boat with two hulls and a horizontal platform between them.<br/>
“Catamaran” or “cat”., as sailors call it.<br/>
And she has the traits of a cat. I mean "a feline".<br/><br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PMMZIT7Qwl6i1sYcS8ccROL5BoS7tHrImrGoWJMZ1xuTdxaD0Q0qntGtiUCmcwDJS88Elxhfuc95J-HCohe25ops0JeXMhHVniFzQeutOlK8YYXDHU0pOptvaZ3MkjNZZlYTPBzvzIUvYTYt0BDYz8mGmVprmqnCd0uCmQwKMs9578GXBKsBVLYv9s8/s4032/st28.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PMMZIT7Qwl6i1sYcS8ccROL5BoS7tHrImrGoWJMZ1xuTdxaD0Q0qntGtiUCmcwDJS88Elxhfuc95J-HCohe25ops0JeXMhHVniFzQeutOlK8YYXDHU0pOptvaZ3MkjNZZlYTPBzvzIUvYTYt0BDYz8mGmVprmqnCd0uCmQwKMs9578GXBKsBVLYv9s8/s400/st28.jpeg"/></a></div>Once I stayed with a lady and she was babysitting her daughter’s cat. We were sitting on the sofa and the cat did not like it. She wanted attention. She jumped up on a stool which had a vase with flowers on it, and started pushing the vase a bit. Each time looking if we were paying attention now…<br/>
For a minute or two, she was challenging us, until the vase, with the flowers, was pushed down the stool, scattered on the floor, but not before smashing some wine bottles stacked in the floor.<br/>
RED wine bottles. WHITE wall, STONE tiles. A mess. The cat had our attention now, and dashed off into a dark corner, hiding while we were cleaning up for an hour.<br/><br/>
Sturdeee is a cat. She wants attention, and has streaks.<br/><br/> Talk to your
watchmate how steady the foresail is, and within seconds, she will flap the sail.<br/><br/>
Lose attention, and look at the sky, and she’ll have waves smashing her side, splashing the deck with a bang.<br/><br/>
She would sail very very quiet for a while, up to the point, you think “are we slowing down?” and before you know it, she will pick up a wave and start screaming down the surf at 11 kts, up to the point where Bob, the autopilot loses his breath.<br/><br/>
And if violence does not help to get your attention, she will start making very faint sweet noises, typically around the goose neck. High pitched noises, almost like meowing.<br/><br/>
Yep, Sturdeee is a cat. And she has not made up her mind yet if she likes me or not.<br/><br/>
But like with any cat: if I pretend not to pay attention to her, she will end up cuddling next to me.<br/><br/>
PS: sorry for the typies/typoes (hint to "Allo-allo!"). It is 6AM, pitch dark, blowing 24 knots and the cat is bucking.<br/><br/>
<h1>The Edge</h1>
Date: 10-Nov-2023<br>
Position: On the way to Cape Verde<br/><br/>
Sailing is a constant balancing on the edge of excitement and being kinda worried… Not "badly worried", but more like "...being alert". <br/><br/>
Last night was one of them. At least for me. Our (Lana and me) shift was from 20:00 to midnight. It was a dark night. No moon yet. Dark clouds moving over which we could only see approaching as they covered raising Jupiter. (Jupiter was that
bright, it reflected in the water).<br/><br/>
Wind was a constant 22-25 knots gusting to 29 knots. We were sailing at an 172° angle to the wind (pretty much sailing dead down wind - in “goose wing” or “wing-on-wing” with main sail and genoa triple reefed on different tacks).
Surfing up and down the waves, the boat speed would vary between 5 knots (going up a wave) and 9-10 knots (surfing down the waves).<br/><br/>
I reckon I am a pretty seasoned sailor and don't get worried easily, but at a certain moment, I went like: “Hmm, this feels like a lotta wind.”<br/><br/>
But then I realized:<br/>
On Sturdeee we are helming from the
flightdeck, about 4 m above the water, the sensation of wind is very different from sailing down in a more sheltered cockpit from a mono-hull (as I did so far).<br/>
And looking at the figures on the screen, the apparent wind was "only" 19-20 kts, which is lower than rough winds I sailed before. It was only because we were sitting that high, on the flight deck, 4m above the water, we got the wrong impression of the wind speed....<br/><br/>
That was the moment, Lana and I smiled, leaned back and starting looking at the stars.<br/><br/>
Sailing on the edge of life, we often are.<br/><br/>
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Here is a picture of a gorgeous sunrise today, combining a waning moon and Venus.
And we saw the ISS flying by too!
<br/><br/>
<h1>Lost and found </h1>
10-Nov-2023<br>
Position: On the way to Cape Verde<br/><br/>
Lost and found: Skipper at stern off boat looking at the wide horizon with rod in hand.</br>
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If he is yours, please send us a
message. :-) <br>
<br/>
<h1>Ode to the skipper</h1>
Date: 10-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between the Canaries and Cape Verde<br/><br>
Ian is the owner and skipper of Sturdeee.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiBPgpunAXS_S4ZvWuJOV6zSDQoqfOB_sOWAJK8Dh4tQw31LlMRKdguVsINHPjqFcMTaKClx35-hdg204k9XqrRqucvwzlXKuG440UAzlmgUUx648ra75NT-hiY0VzKm5s0y4UAZzeTFmGzRXgC_DCtYl28YLDQrJW62grwdior_iEYje1a2Xi-oulpT8/s4032/st31.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiBPgpunAXS_S4ZvWuJOV6zSDQoqfOB_sOWAJK8Dh4tQw31LlMRKdguVsINHPjqFcMTaKClx35-hdg204k9XqrRqucvwzlXKuG440UAzlmgUUx648ra75NT-hiY0VzKm5s0y4UAZzeTFmGzRXgC_DCtYl28YLDQrJW62grwdior_iEYje1a2Xi-oulpT8/s400/st31.jpeg"/></a></div>Both Michelle and I have skippered yachts before. Both of us understand the pressure on a skipper, any skipper, the more for Ian, as this is not a day sailing cocktail cruise, but an open ocean passage.<br><br>
Thus the skipper’s ordeal, as for any skipper, is to worry about crew, ship, practical issues, administrative issues, sailing plans, arrival documents…, while we, the crew, concentrate on "just" sailing, cooking and resting...<br><br>
The skipper's worries vary from “when do we switch the fridges off to conserve electricity?”, to “when should we run the generators to top off the
batteries?”, "should we gybe the foresail now so we can run more stable wing on wing, or wait for another hour?”… "How is our cooking gas consumption?”, “what is the bang we heard in the aft locker?”, “Is the leech now shafing or what?”, “I hope we arrive during the day time, so we don't have to negotiate that tricky harbour entrance at night”…<br><br>
Loads of pressure and sleepless nights!<br><br>
So let’s raise our glasses (of non-alcoholic beers for the moment) to our skipper (and all skippers in the ARC+ fleet)!<br>
Cheers, Ian!<br>
<br/>
<h1>Extract from our daily update to ARC+ chat</h1>
Date: 10-Nov-2023<br>
Position: 19°07N 23°13W<br><br>
In close and good company of Moana and Giramondo since days.<br><br>
Yesterday up to late afternoon we had some very significant waves, but it is calmer now.<br>
Wind 16-22 kts - 043 TWD. Back to wing-on-wing foresail and mainsail, still both triple reefed.<br><br>
Contemplating to shake out a reef
of the main, but never done this before, on this boat, while sailing downwind.<br><br>
A bit worred about the sail will bag up and battons getting stuck/bend on the lazy jacks.<br><br>
Anyways, good progress still at 6-7 kts BTS.<br>
Last 24 hrs was great. about 160 Nm with
max surfing speed of 16 kts, according to the electronic log.<br><br>
Had pancakes for breakfast yesterday, followed by sandwiches for lunch, chili con carne for dinner. and a massive
bowl of instant noodles mixed with instant soup (ever tried that? Njammie graveyard watch snack!)<br><br>
All good on Sturdeee. We’re running the watermaker at this
moment.<br><br>
Three cheers for skipper Ian who is keeping us safe !
And pretty officer Dee for most of the
cooking, and watchmates Lana and Michelle.<br><br>
PS: we let the 15 sail trainees (all female between 18-23 yrs) out of the port sail locker. Unfortunately they insist to wear clothing very sparingly, despite many warnings that this would attract too many other boats to come sailing close to us. We locked them up again.<br>
Sturdeee now on CTS (“Course to Sun”)<br><br>
<h1>Doing naughty things</h1>
Date: 10-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between the Canaries and Cape Verde<br/><br/>
Today we all participated well-willingly in naughty things: we shook out 2 reefs of the mainsail while sailing downwind.<br><br>
Normally, raising or dropping the mainsail, taking in or shaking out reefs in the mainsail, is done the safest when going upwind, as it de-powers the mainsail.<br><br>
But while on a downwind passage as we are, it is a pain to put the boat against the wind: genoa needs to be furled, we need to go upwind (and against the waves) under engine, shake out the reefs while the boat is rocking up the waves…. etc…<br><br>
So we were naughty: Ian came on deck and said “Rrrright, let’s shake out some reefs.”
We discussed with all crew how to go about it. Ian allocated roles for each of us and off we went:<br>
Ian at the helm and at winches of the halyard and mainsheet (all located on the same corner of the flightdeck). Michelle controlled the boom preventers and checked the
mainsail (does it get stuck on the shrouds? Which reefing line is stuck? Are the battons free from the lazy jacks?..) Lana fed the reefing lines from the cockpit. Dee was at the mast, feeding the reefing lines. I sat aft of the mast, pulling the main halyard up, so Ian could take in the slack from the cockpit (which is also an easy way to check the tension in the halyard).<br><br>
And BANG! Job done. We are now running wing on wings under full genoa, 1st reef main at 166° AWA 15kts wind, at 6.4 kts boat speed.<br><br>
Life is good. About 1 day to Mindelo, Cabo Verde.<br><br>
<h1>High as a kite!</h1>
Date: 10-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between the Canaries and Cape Verde<br/><br/>
And… we’re now flying the kite! Or call it a spinnaker. Or a gennaker. Or a Parasailor…<br>
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Lighter wind = light sail. A power house, this Parasailor, she is... And for many sailors, like any spinnaker, a source of cursing.<br><br>
Fast sailing at the moment!<br>
<br>
<h1>Land Ahoy!</h1>
Date: 11-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Approaching Cape Verde<br/><br>
There is land in front of us. We know, as we can see it on the charts: 13 Nm ahead is Cabo Verde.<br>
And we know it is there, as we can pick up 3G phone signals.<br><br>
But we can not see it yet... Just like last year, the visibility is very poor: the air is filled with fine Sahara dust. <br>
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Last night was "heavy": not much sleep. Wind dropped to 14 kts in the afternoon so we flew the kite, but had to drop it in the dark around 22:00 as the breeze picked up to 18-19-20-21 kts.<br>
After that we sailed on a small foresail only and snail-paced thru the night.<br>
At sunrise it was all hands on deck to raise the kite again but around 11:00 we dropped it as the wind was falling to 6-7 knots. At times, the boat, through its momentum and pushed by the waves coming from aft, ran over the spinnaker. Not healthy...<br>
We are now motoring towards Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente… ETA in 3-4 hours. Though just a few miles off the islands, we still can hardly distinguish any shape of the islands.<br><br>
Looking forward to a cold beer, and a good rest.<br><br>
<h1>Arrived in Mindelo</h1>
Date: 11-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Mindelo<br/><br/>
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We arrived in Mindelo, Cape Verde, around 15:00 local time. All good. We did a perfect mooring in the marina!<br>
Beer time!<br>
<br>
<h1>Cleaning!</h1>
Date: 12-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Mindelo, Cape Verde<br><br>
After a crew dinner and some liquid last night after arrival, we had a good night’s sleep.<br>
Today it was boat cleaning day: cleaning the galley, deck, washing off all the salt from the stainless steel etc.
Dee just went up the mast for a rig inspection.<br><br>
And we are now ready to enjoy the island!<br>
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Picture of Michelle — “Born to clean”.
<br>
<br>
<h1>Weather predictions for our next passage</h1>
Date: 16-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Mindelo, Cape Verde<br><br>
Ok, we are getting ready to leave tomorrow (Friday) at noon.<br><br>
We have been watching the weather predictions since we arrived in Mindelo. – We use several applications which not only predict wind (speed/directions), waves (directions, height, period), rain, lightning, etc… but also calculate the best routing, based on the parameters of our boat (how fast she sails at different angles), and our preferences (e.g. what wave angles to avoid etc…)<br><br>
As we come closer to the start of our leg Mindelo-St Georges (Grenada), the predictions become more precise. We now have pretty reliable prediction models up to Nov 27-28th, and rough predictions up to the end of our trip.<br>
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<br>
Synopsis: (with input from Mats)<br><br/>
Week 1: Make progress West as much as possible (course WSW). Don’t go further south than 12° N<br>
Week 2: Beginning week 2 decide if we stay around 12° N or go further south. Seems best to start to go SSW to 10°N - so we can dive under the vacuum building up further west (to be confirmed when we have more accurate weather reports).<br>
As of Nov 28th, wind is filling in to 15-20kts ENE.<br>
This will be a 2300 Nm passage. 16-17 days - minimum wind 8 kts max 20 kts, gusts max 21 kts waves max 3 meters.<br><br>
So… in summary it looks like “an easier passage”. First week a bit light winds. 2nd week need to decide to go further south or stay north. As of end 2nd week, wind fills in and should be a good sail in mostly 15 (up to 20 kts) kts to Grenada…<br><br>
<h1>Last preparations</h1><br>
Date: 16-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Mindelo, Cape Verde<br><br>
Almost all boat systems are checked. Still need to make some minor sail repairs.<br>
Food is mostly pre-cooked and in the freezer.<br>
Today, the last provisions are bought, and we should be ready.<br><br>
Tonight, we have the ARC+ skippers briefing, our own crew briefing, a good meal, and we should be ready.<br>
Our watch schedule for our passage to Grenada is ready:<br>
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3 hour watches, rotating over 3 days. (4th day is rhe same as day 1), including motherwatches for dinner.
At night, we have dual watches with one watch leader and a backup, during the day we have single watches....
<br>
<br>
<h1>Lost, found but never returned... </h1>
Date: 16-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Mindelo, Cape Verde<br><br>
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Extract from the ARC+ group chat on Whatsapp...<br><br>
... Sorry.. I could not resist.<br><br>
<h1>One step beyond</h1>
Date: 16-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Mindelo, Cape Verde<br><br>
I am sitting on the flightdeck of Sturdeee, in the marina of Mindelo, Cape Verde.<br>
It is close to midnight.<br>
The crew went to sleep.<br><br>
I am sitting here, thinking. Meshmerizing. Contemplating.<br>
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Tomorrow around 10 AM we cast off, and will sail for 16-17 days over the Atlantic, in the middle of nowhere.<br>
We will leave with 100
boats together. Some have done this
passage before, most have not. All will experience a passage of a life time. Sailing in the middle of
nowhere.<br><br>
We wish all sailors a good and safe passage. And wish they will enjoy being in the middle of the “nothing”.<br><br>
Enjoy it all, everyone!<br>
Enjoy the moment…<br><br>
------<br>
My message shared with our fellow ARC+ members:<br><br>
<i>Can I share something deeply personal with you all? I lead the UN fast intervention team for 10 years. Wars, flooding, earthquakes,… was “our business” I was the expedition leader for 2 Antarctic expeditions. And this is
my 9th ocean passage. My message, before we start the work (or project, or passage), sailing or expeditions alike, to my team members (or fellow crew) was always the same:<br><br>
It will be tough. You will lack sleep. The environment will be harsh. You might get sick or highly uncomfortable. You will at times, come to thoughts of “why did I decide to do this?”<br><br>
But unless, in the
midst of the hard times, you stop for a moment, and look around you, and take in “where you are and the extra-ordinary thing you are doing at that very moment”, it will be all over before you know it. And when it is over, unless you stopped to enjoy the pain and hardship, for ever you will regret you did not enjoy that moment of extra-ordinarity. Doing that with the few other people in the world who are also privileged to share this adventure and experience this. (in our case: sailing an ocean)…<br><br>
So… enjoy the moment, no matter how tough it is, enjoy the extra ordinary adventure all of us are embarking on.<br><br>
Signed: Peter Pan.
</i>
<br><br>
<h1>Re-start in Mindelo</h1>
date: 18-Nov-2023</br>
Position: Mindelo, Cape Verde<br><br>
Noon on Friday 100 boats of our fleet started the leg from Mindelo to Grenada.
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Have a safe passage everyone!
<br><br>
<h1>Our first 24 hours to Grenada</h1>
Date: 18-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Off Mindelo, Cape Verde<br><br>
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We left Mindelo for our leg to Grenada, with 100 other boats, now 24 hours ago.<br><br>
We had a very nice run with 15-20 kts in the acceleration zone between the two islands of Sao Vicente and Sao Anton. Pretty interesting with 100 boats all zigzagging between each other within 5-10 miles…<br><br>
As soon as we came out of the straight between the two islands, the fleet dispersed. Some went pretty west, while we sailed SW to SSW, as we wanted to avoid the wind shadow of Sao Anton (which stretches out for 50-100 miles). A lot of other boats followed the same course as us, so it was a pretty busy night with still a dozen boats quite close to us (some passing only 500m from us). One boat was like a 100m from us.<br><br>
But we are all monitoring the AIS (the automatic identification system) on our navigation screen, and everyone monitors the radio. So several times per hour we called other boats close to us on the VHF radio, to discuss how we would cross: “Will you cross our bow, or our stern? Or would you prefer we pass you on starboard or port?”. All very civilized and done in an amicable way.<br><br>
So we sailed with white sails, wing on wing (full genoa and single reefed mainsail) for quite a while. Very nice course, good wind angle, good speed…<br><br>
Towards the late afternoon, the swell picked up a bit, and gradually the wind became more frickle. Our main challenge was to keep the sails happy (keep them from flapping, caused by the waves coming in from an angle, and rocking the boat, thus deflating and re-inflating the sails with a bang). Flapping can cause sail and rigging damage (or at least wear and tear).<br><br>
And as the wind was slowly dropping to 11-10-9 knots, each watch team was struggling with sail configurations: wing on wing, both sails on same tack, gybe the whole lot, gybe again… In the end we took another reef in the main sail so it would not have that much force when it flapped (there is not much we can do about the flapping: it is just the deflating and re-inflating of the sail as the boat rocks a bit left-right as the waves hit from either side of aft - depending on our tack. But it surely is not "nice to hear", that banging of the sail.).<br><br>
When Lana and I came on watch at 8:30 this morning, the wind had dropped to a 7-8 kts whisper. Ian and Michelle had taken down the main during the night, as the flapping was just too nasty. At that point we were sailing on a single reefed genoa only, at a mere 2-3 knots of boat speed. Most of the gain we had built up in the first 24 hours was lost in just a few hours. But as usual, cruising transatlantic is a compromise between speed, crew comfort, protecting the boat from wear and tear, and overall, the "state of the crew". …<br><br>
We could have raised our big parasailor kite last night, but Ian made the right call that the crew was just too tired after the hectic first 24 hours since the re-start in Mindelo. So we only raised the kite around 9 AM this morning. And it has been flying realllllly stable in 10-13 kts of wind, steady direction, with the boat cruising along nicely at 6 knots at the moment…<br><br>
The swell is very light at the moment, coming straight from behind, so there is quasi no noise from the sails anymore, while sailing under the parasailor (compared to the constant banging of the mainsail and genoa last night). Passage cruising now resembles cocktail cruising. I think at this moment, we have the best sail since we stepped on Sturdeee.<br><br>
Kudos to Ian and Dee. They have been up (or at least not been able to sleep much) since we left Mindelo… At least the rest of us had some shut-eye.<br><br>
My watch just ended and I am going off for a 4 hours sleep.<br><br>
PS: weather conditions show winds like we have at the moment 10-13 knots with light seas, for the next two days. We’re in good shape. Our planned wind/wave routing turned out to be the right choice.<br><br>
Peter Pan.<br>
<br>
<h1>Steaming along</h1>
Date: 19-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Off Cape Verde<br><br>
I think we are the yacht sailing the most southern route of the entire ARC+ fleet (well, with one more yacht which is this far South). Seems we are making the right choices, as most of the rest of the fleet is now coming South too. Each ARC+ boat has a small YB satellite tracking device which uploads the boat's position to a central server. So several times per day, we can see our own progress compared to the rest of the fleet. Pretty neat.<br><br>
Good steady wind. Late night the wind fell a bit to 8 kts TWS, but picked up again as soon as the sun came up. We are now cruising at 6 knots boat speed in 14 knots of wind (125° AWA angle). We have been sailing on the Parasailor kite since yesterday morning. Quite stable. Not a lot rolling.<br><br>
After a slow first night, we are catching up nicely with the rest of the fleet. Last night, under the Parasailor wing, we were passing all boats in our neighbourhood.<br><br>
Winds are expected to stay the same as today for the next 2-3 days. We are now going on a slightly more westerly course, as planned: 235°-240° COG.<br><br>
Crew is feeling good. A bit tired as we are getting into the rhythm of ocean passage. The weather has been gorgeous - around 28°C.<br>
This is what sailing is all about.<br><br>
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Today Lana and I had motherwatch ("cooking and galley cleaning duty")and made a chicken masala, stir fried veggies and potatoes mashed with carrots. Njam.<br><br>
All is good on Sturdeee.<br><br>
<h1>Our position versus the rest of the fleet</h1>
Date: 19-Nov-2023<br/>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRhoPCvZ-WcgDXSnHwBfH-ypuyXi_UmmZIpmxfHuDeHIMolzG_cwi9qSllke4xkuWrpNJxrHsa-xSKb2-fxNu0XX5DKOmlz0UN3wVH6speZVaiwqMRpd5D9u1nms31QLrGT3js4lL1-G9MfVodNscQCl3asXfp2qLrM9tso70PMYqiWW5vMRGvgjrqCu8/s1125/st45.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="1125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRhoPCvZ-WcgDXSnHwBfH-ypuyXi_UmmZIpmxfHuDeHIMolzG_cwi9qSllke4xkuWrpNJxrHsa-xSKb2-fxNu0XX5DKOmlz0UN3wVH6speZVaiwqMRpd5D9u1nms31QLrGT3js4lL1-G9MfVodNscQCl3asXfp2qLrM9tso70PMYqiWW5vMRGvgjrqCu8/s400/st45.jpeg"/></a></div>
As in the first leg, we keep a course which is not according to the rest of the fleet. At this moment, we are keeping the 2nd most southern track of the whole fleet. But we persist: we are convinced we're on the right track. Mats, in our "shore team", giving us remote support, agrees. We continue keeping this southern route, basta!<br>
By the way, also in the leg from Las Palmas to Mindelo, we kept a track which was very different from the rest of the fleet. At that time, we kept a more westerly track, while most other yachts were staying closer to the African coast. A decision which turned out to be the right one: As we had seen in the predictions, and turned out to be true in "actual life": all yachts more east of us, had very rough seas and winds up to 30-35 kts, while we kept cruising at about 25 kts - with occasional gust of 30 kts. During that passage, there were so many reports coming in from the other yachts, on the Whatsapp chat, of damage (spinnakers blown out, crash jybes, etc..), while we were happily cruising along. So I have no "second doubts" about my ability to find the best routing. Even though that routing might be different from 99% of the rest of the fleet. ---- Later in the passage, it would show, we made the right choice! <br>
<br>
<h1>Progress</h1>
Date: 19-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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We have done about 270Nm in 2.5 days. Quite respectable, knowing we sail very conservatively, keeping the boat and crew happy!<br>
<br>
<h1>Business case for single-use spinnakers</h1>
Date: 20-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzPYeaHcU-8opYDhRj6cXiwPhGIvb4QJrb0Z1kr6xZCv2psfD610MyUQ3yQc83u6gXoxLIz10iakqfgnw5ZlHj7XKau6jTdaBI7vmt6CAp9h-Y9wZLDKKaTj4pAcjUv8Y3gMHKozhkIPGAzaybVrfcYVUqncd3zNxjAKl3t4ZilFUGpcfSHryQxPxRmlQ/s4032/st48.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzPYeaHcU-8opYDhRj6cXiwPhGIvb4QJrb0Z1kr6xZCv2psfD610MyUQ3yQc83u6gXoxLIz10iakqfgnw5ZlHj7XKau6jTdaBI7vmt6CAp9h-Y9wZLDKKaTj4pAcjUv8Y3gMHKozhkIPGAzaybVrfcYVUqncd3zNxjAKl3t4ZilFUGpcfSHryQxPxRmlQ/s400/st48.jpeg"/></a></div>
I hate spinnakers.<br><br>
Those light sail power chutes are an endless source of problems on sailing yachts.<br><br>
Several ARC boats had issues with their spinnakers already on
leg 1 to Mindelo.<br><br>
A friend had their spin wrapping around their genoa, making both unusable for most of leg 1.<br><br>
When I saw the shreads of David’s spin, at the dock in Mindelo, I sat on the bow of Sturdeee crying<br><br>
But then I had a bright idea: “single use spinnakers”!<br><br>
Biodegradable spinnakers which you hoist and never lower: you just cut halyard, sheets and tack line, and let go.<br><br>
We can make it a sustainable business by using recycled materials.<br>
Like using lace underwear. I am happy to offer my collection of ladies' lace underwear for trials of single-use spinnakers. <br>Through the years I collected loads of red, black, pink ladies underwear. This would make it a nice recognizable brand mark for our spinnakers: many different small patches of a wide variety of colours. And smells. Some would be very very VERY small patches, indeed. In Mindelo, I bribed the local ladies doing the ships' laundry, to give me the nicest lace ones. - Sorry Laura! - So, I am prepared for this business case, and pitch in!...<br><br>
Is lace biodegradable? I know it needs to be washed at 30°. But is lace biodegradable?<br><br>
What would be a good brand name for single use spinnakers, made from recycled lace underwear?<br><br>
“One night with you”?<br>
“Yes, but once only! “?<br>
“Spinning thongs”?<br>
“The Thong Thing”<br>
“Thongs are in the air, everywhere I look around”?<br>
“Give thongs a chance”?<br>
“Thongs Go Kiting”?<br>
“Spin-a-thong”?<br><br>
I think I need to cut down on coffee.
:slight_smile:<br><br>
Peter Pan.<br>
UPDATE: the name and byline suggested by Audrey:<br>
“Spin-a-thong - "Disposable spinnakers which can get you through every crack in the wind" <br><br>
<br><br>
<h1>Official letter of complaint</h1>
Date: 20-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
Dear ARC organizers.<br>
This is an anonymous letter of
complaint from an ARC+ sailor.<br><br>
We understand that many ARC sailors now have internet onboard thanks to Starlink.<br>
We also understand many sailors like the social contact while underway in a transat passage, which explains the very active chat groups of ARC+ sailors this year.<br><br>
However, I need to inform you that some chat groups are highly inappropriate. Or at least very distracting. Albeit highly entertaining.<br><br>
Some examples of the
most active online chat groups during this ARC+:<br><br>
//Help, how do I tell my husband I don't like sailing?<br>
//How to distract your kids from boredom during passage?<br>
//Is cup-a-soup mushroom soup snortable?<br>
//Pole dancing at the mast, while underway<br>
//Transat Tinder Group<br><br>
The most popular chat group seems to be:<br><br>
//“Between the sheets” - run by a group called “the naughty ARC+ sailors”.<br><br>
The latter is the most distracting group as it includes multiple instances of sexting.<br>
My complaint is that the picture of “A.N. sailing between the sheets on vessel H.” was a portrait picture taken in landscape mode. As I turned my head to see more details, I also turned my tiller by accident and crash-jybed<br><br>
As such I found myself with a tiller in one hand, intimate parts (in picture) of A.N. on sailing vessel H (in close-up) in my
other hand and reminants of my vang in my lap.<br><br>
I think "A.N. on vessel H" owes me a new vang!.... And a more detailed picture.<br><br>
Thank you for your consideration.<br><br>
Peter Pan<br>
PS: my pictures are always sent in portait mode.<br>
<br>
<h1>Grab it!</h1>
Date: 21-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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Ian fishing off the stern, shouting to Dee:<br>
“Grab the gaff, get ready!<br><br>
… and then it starts:<br><br>
Dee: “I wont grab anything until I see something”<br><br>
And then.... the whole crew answers in chorus: “That’s what she said!”<br><br>
<h1>Mayday, mayday...</h1>
Date: 21-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
<i>(This post was not part of my actual passage log. At that time, I did not feel it was appropriate to publish this, in order not to alarm family and friends from the vessel involved in this incident)</i><br><br>
On Nov 21st at 15:46, we received this message on the ARC+ Whatsapp group:<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLlkOSbfTxln8exOGb6rr-ljQLcYq6A9pEme06rWXjVv0Wragzb7lRDTfaHT9W-O9iaL7sbNKT-IMdVlCcDCGwKiWEpZeOobFOyw6aod_-1OQrD7YK8EHXlxgtyolVy_4erE8NkPV9O9y8MiD0ipEhFgENVo1_ZTeq6SunlGmcIYH1ztRdb7vwF5pnkM/s1124/whatsapp.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="1124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLlkOSbfTxln8exOGb6rr-ljQLcYq6A9pEme06rWXjVv0Wragzb7lRDTfaHT9W-O9iaL7sbNKT-IMdVlCcDCGwKiWEpZeOobFOyw6aod_-1OQrD7YK8EHXlxgtyolVy_4erE8NkPV9O9y8MiD0ipEhFgENVo1_ZTeq6SunlGmcIYH1ztRdb7vwF5pnkM/s400/whatsapp.jpg"/></a></div><br>
We knew Lotta and Henrik, the owners of "Hilma", and their crew, very well. In Las Palmas, they were moored on the same dock, 10 meters from us. We had several chats and laughs. As each of the other ARC+ boats, they were eager to do the transat passage, and then realize their life-long dream to sail in the Caribbean and onwards. <br>
On the dock in Mindelo, we talked quite a bit, and we got to know them better. You know, while sailing, you encounter a lot of people. And some, one really connects to, as they are truly nice, sweet and loving human beings.<br><br>
No need to say that Lotta's message sent shivvers along my spine. Dismasting in the middle of the Atlantic, is a major emergency. People can get hurt during or after the incident, and, depending on the damage, the boat can be a total-loss and could lead to an "abandon ship". <br><br>
What happened in the next hours, bears witness on the camadery amongst cruisers - the more in a fleet like the ARC+ -, and the role of "the ARC+ Rally Control", which coordinates the rescue efforts. <br><br>
As the majority of the ARC+ fleet had Starlink internet connectivity, and each of the boats in the fleet had a YB satellite tracking device on board, it was relatively easy to see which ARC+ boat was in the vicinity of Hilma. Within a few hours, three other ARC+ boats were next to Hilma, ready to assist as the situation became clearer: while Hilma had a new rigging and inspected the standing rigging in Las Palmas, one of the shrouds got disconnected from the chain plates, leaving the mast unsupported. The mast got disconnected and collapsed. Luckily, no-one got hurt in the incident, but now, Hilma was left with the dilemma "what to do next". <br>
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Hilma's crew decided to motor back to Mindelo, but they did not have enough fuel to motor 4-5 days back. So three other ARC+ boats transferred diesel canisters to Hilma. (Picture above was shared on the Whatsapp group by one of the ARC+ vessels standing by Hilma). <br><br>
After a few hours, Hilma's crew turned their bow 180° and started motoring back to Mindelo. Throughout, they kept in contact with the rest of the fleet. I had a couple of whatsapp exchanges with Lotta as they progressed slowly back to Mindelo, against the prevailing winds and currents. <br><br>
They had a tough ride, but made it safely to Mindelo, and after a couple days of rest, two crew would motor Hilma back to the Canaries, where the boat would be refitted over the next year, making her ready for another transat crossing in the 2024-2025 season. <br><br>
Needless to say we were all shaken up by this incident, realizing what happened to Hilma, could happen to any of us: One moment, you sail happily and relaxed, and the next moment, you have a major incident, fighting for survival.<br><br>
In hindsight, this was the only major incident during our crossing. While this was a major incident, and we all felt bonded and felt for Hilma's crew, I also realize that in this crossing, we were lucky, this was the only major incident which occurred. I remember our 2006 crossing, where we had at least 5 major incidents, including two ships abandoned (if I remember well), and three major incidents, including one near "loss-of-life". <br><br>
In the mean time, Hilma is being refitted in the Canaries, and I hope we will meet up with Lotta and Henrik again in the next season. <br><br>
As I told Lana: sometimes, the worse things happen to the nicest of people. It is hard to rationalize why this happened to them, but there might be a reason, an explanation, though at the time of the incident, it is hard to explain why "destiny" decided it was not right for Hilma to complete this transat. We wish Henrik and Lotta the very best of luck in their next crossing. And may they realize their dreams, after all, albeit, with one year of delay. <br><br>
<h1>Letter of complaint (2)</h1>
Date: 22-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
TO: ARC+ labour union.<br><br>
Dear ARCers,<br>
This is Peter Pan on Sturdeee (yes, it is with 3 'e’s, but only Ian will get that joke!).<br><br>
I have just slept 3 hours after a stretch consisting of one 4.5hr shift followed by 3 hours shut eye (ok ok, they let me sleep with my safety harness on, on the aft deck), followed by another short 9 hour shift.<br><br>
I am not allowed to do more shifts, although I paid good money for those shifts.<br><br>
It is not fair.<br><br>
It is that, and the fact that cooking in a galley which feels like living in a freezer, at a temperature of minus 5°C, because of the aircon going full blast… <br>
Surely that must constitute a sub-standard working condition for any crew! We demand to be drenched with sweat while working in the galley, even when cooking a kettle of warm water, as outlined in the “Working guidelines for gratis crew" - a.k.a "Sea Slaves on high seas” by the ILO (the International Labour Organization").<br><br>
We also want to object to the fact we can not even get a tan because of the solid flightdeck roof at our helming position.<br><br>
We do appreciate the opportunity given on Sturdeee that, between watches, we can cook, clean, declog heads, do weather forecasts, talk to imaginary people floating past our boat at 3 AM..., But still, we are bored.<br><br>
Next thing I know, they won't let me cook 3 warm meals per day for the crew anymore.... <br><br>
Or drink less than 20 cups of coffee per day!<br><br>
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<br>
<h1>What day is this? Whining Wednesday?</h1>
Date: 22-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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I am not sure what day this is. I only know the time in the watch schedule. It is day 3 of our 3-days rotating watch schedule.<br><br>
My wristwatch says it is Nov 22nd. And a Wednesday. <br><br>Pre-departure, we have agreed that whining on this boat is only allowed on Wednesdays. That’s why we call it “Whining Wednesdays”.<br><br>
Seriously, kindof, I am sure many of you millions of people reading this passage microblog every hour, are more interested in the sailing progress of SV Sturdeee (yes with 3 'e’s, but that is a joke that only Ian gets), rather than reading Peter Pan’s bad jokes. But that does not bother me.<br><br>
By the way, I don’t think my jokes are bad, as the rest of the crew thinks. I think they are spirited and mild. And they come kinda natural to me.<br>
If you like my jokes, like my body or like my cooking, let me know by email. And what you’d like more or less on for this microblog.<br><br>
I tell you what, let me start by giving a sailing update. “Even though we are on a catamaran” (the latter is one of my jokes. You see? I am witty, and deep, but like with any witty humor, the audience needs to think for 5 seconds and then burst into laughter. And re-read it. Or re-watch it… Like Monty Python. I think my humor is like Monty Python. “Biggus Dickus???”... “Even though we are on a catamaran”<br><br>
Ok. back to business, how is the sailing going on Sturdeee (yes with 3 'e’s, but that is a joke that only Ian gets).<br><br>
Well, - now I am serious as i never joke about sailing -, well most of the time, I don't.<br>
We opted from the beginning (and i am serious), for a safe passage, without risks to boat and crew and without discomfort etc… <br>
On Sturdeee (Yes with… anyway…), we have limited downwind sailing options: we have the parasailor kit, and we have white sails which we can sail wing-on-wing or both on same tack.<br>
BUT Sturdeee (Yes with… anyway…) is limited on the wave angles it can ride: she reallllly does not like waves hitting her at a broad angle. She bangs, jumps at each wave and the white sails suffer from flapping with waves from the broad side. And when on Parasailor, the sail goes left right like a wild horse, with broad waves.<br><br>
So, within those limitations, some boat-imposed and some self-imposed, we are doing pretty well, following the motto “if you are not as fast as the others, try to do something completely different”).<br><br>
And we did. For days, we were the most southern boat in the ARC+ fleet. We avoided the Sao Anton windshadow, the Togo wind shadow, and scooted between layers of disturbed air, often sailing happily while others were already motoring.<br><br>
But still, we had challenges. Two or three nights ago (I am sorry as I do lose track of when it was, and I am serious now), Lana and I had a very tough shift, as we tried to keep the parasailor inflated with winds just under 8 knots (true wind), avoiding deflating, collapsing, or Sturdeee (Yes with 3 "e"s…, anyway…) running over its own spinnaker. We tried different wind angles, different trimming, and different wave angles, as we did NOT want to drop the parasailor wing (which takes a while to raise and to drop). According to the predictions, the wind WAS TO increase… It was a 3 hour battle in the middle of the night. Which paid off: the wind increased and we took off again in 10 kts by sunrise. Happily ever after.<br><br>
I remember the day, we took it down in the evening, I think, as the wind died again, and raised it again in the morning. I don’t know when it was, but like for 2-3 days now, we ran the kite continuously. I think it was yesterday, we dropped it at 6 knots TWS, but this time did not un-rig the rigging of the kite (2x sheets and 2x guys or tacklines) but left all on deck, including the kite snaked up on the foredeck.<br><br>
As soon as the wind picked up again, the kite went up again - the crew is getting really proficient in that exercise, by now: Lana is at the winches, Ian at the helm and in command while Dee and Michelle are at the snuffer control lines, and I just sit there and watch, and hug the spinnaker before we let it fly. Being my usual pretty self. Usually, I also give her (the kite) a kiss while she flies off. The best way to keep a female “some-kinda” happy, is to leave the door of the golden cage open. So before letting the kite to fly, at will, we make pretty damned sure she will want to fold into the snuffer bag again, after flying freely. So I give her a fly-away kiss before opening the cage and let her fly. Women!<br><br>
And she loves flying. “High as a kite, Sturdeee (Yes with… anyway…) flies, we will call this part of the passage: "High as kite, she flies"... (re-reading this after publishing, I do realize I should drink less coffee!)<br><br>
I have never flown a Parasailor before (nor have I ever sailed a cat before. And only had my first like full sex when I was in my very late teens or early twenties though I had my first cigarette at the age of 6, as I was an early starter on that, I have to confess, but that is besides the issue now.).<br><br>
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the Parasailor kit: I am impressed. this is a massive thing, taking a lot of power, with a rather complex structure (unlike normal gennakers or symmetrical spinnakers) it has a horizontal hole in it, with some real alien-weird winglet thingie, held together with thin strings. But on Sturdeee with 3 eee’s, this sail is a work horse.<br><br>
The main sail, is a pain in the backside, though… But I will tell you later.<br><br>
For those tuning in late, this is Peter Pan, aboard Sturdeee (Yes with 3 "e"s… anyway…), a 45ft Lagoon 450F catamaran, sailing at this moment between Cape Verde and the spice island of Grenada.<br><br>
From Portuguese language'd Cesaria music lovers in Cape Verde to hula-hula girls in the Caribbean, we go.<br><br>
I am on me weee to the Caribbean, man!<br><br>
PS: did I tell you this is Whining Wednesday? The only day we are allowed to whine on this boat? that is wHine. "WINE" we do every day, every hour of the day.<br>
Joke-- this is a dry boat. And I hope it stays that way. I hate wet boats.<br><br>
Peace!<br><br>
<h1>We have a cunning plan</h1>
Date: 23-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
That’s what Blackadder said…: “We’ve got a cunning plan”.<br><br>
About 4 days ago we saw that some complex weather systems were developing both North and South of our possible route.<br><br>
These systems would include unstable winds, squalls and also a high probability of lightning - every sailor's nightmare.<br><br>
So we developed a cunning plan to scoop south up to 12°N and stay on that lattitude which kept us away from both systems. but rather narrowly from the southern disturbed system.<br><br>
As we approached the troubled area two nights ago, we could see why there was turbulence in the area: the water was 34°C Incredibly warm!<br><br>
So throughout the night we could feel the warm humid air and see clouds being “born” all around us. One moment we had clear skies behind us and 30 minutes later new dark clouds were formed.<br><br>
That night we could also see lightning further south, in the troubled area. Lighting scares the shit out of me, btw...<br>
Winds went a few knots up and down as the clouds passed over us, but we sailed good. And fast.<br><br>
The next night, last night, we had the same, but the lightning now moved towards us (the north) and passed probably about 50 Nm in front of us.<br>
It started at our 9 o’clock and moved to our twelve and the 2 o’oclock.<br><br>
But it was at least 50 Nmiles away (about 100 km).<br><br>
So we scooted -over two nights- inbetween two systems which merges in-front of us.<br><br>
Good (cunning) planning kept us well and safe. But it was a cunning plan! And “I love it when a good plan comes together” (from the A-team)<br><br>
I should really cut down on the coffee, Lana says. <br><br>
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Picture shows some of the newly born clouds just passing over us.
The light is not the sun but the
moon light<br><br>
<h1>Foiling Lagoons</h1>
Date: 24-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
I have to say, Dee, it was a great idea to stick the ironing plank in the water on one side and the large floorboard on the other side.<br>><br>
I honestly never seen a Lagoon catamaran foiling.<br><br>
“To let: Foiling apartment, 4 floors, 360° ocean view, inhouse chef, and inhouse maintenance slave specialized in holding the watermaker’s inlet tube under water for 18 hours straight”.<br><br>
All joking aside: We are flyinggggg! 16-20 kts wind. boat speed 8-10 kts.<br><br>
The wind is grabbing my eyeballs. Will need to look for my skiing goggles like they use in the America’s Cup as the boat speed is stretching my face.<br><br>
I should really cut down on the coffee, Lana says. <br><br>
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<br><br>
<h1>Sailing is a compromise</h1>
Date: 25-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
Sailing in open ocean is a compromise between boat speed, wind angles, speed of approach to one’s destination, protecting gear (rigging and sails), crew comfort and energy etc…<br><br>
I learned on a catamaran also the angle of the waves is a major factor. Sturdeee (with 3 "e"'s but that is only a joke Ian will get) does not like waves coming onto her side. The more so in light winds.<br><br>
And after a really fast run yesterday and today, in the afternoon and evening, the wind dropped to 12-11-10 kts and as predicted, on top of the waves coming from the wind direction, a second set of waves came in from the north. That made Sturdeee (with 3 "e"'s but that is only a joke Ian will get) rock left-right a lot, making the parasail swing violently due to the mast swinging.<br><br>
We all did what we could to keep the sail filled, and to find a compromise between all the factors mentioned before.<br><br>
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But around 21:00, the wind dropped to 7-8 knots, and we just could not keep the parasail filled anymore.<br><br>
I felt guilty to wake up the crew to drop the parasail, but we had no choice. we knew the wind would be flaky for the hours to come and with the cross swell, we would have to struggle through the night.<br><br>
We will see in the morning what we will do. Hopefully the wind will pick up by then.<br><br>
But at this moment, we are motoring. #dah<br>
Peter
<br><br>
<h1>We are the first “connected Transat flotilla”</h1>
Date: 26-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
This ARC+ fleet we are participating in, is the first time EVER that an flotilla crosses the Atlantic, while a large number of the participants, is live chatting via the internet.<br>
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This year in Jan 2023 (or was it late Dec 2022?) was the first time some sailors experimented with Starlink in a transat and reported it was working (though starlink had not released the service yet officially)…<br><br>
On the boats I crossed the Atlantic with in 2021 and 2022 we had already full internet but lower bandwidth with us (we tested the very first prototypes of the Skylink and new Iridium Go Exec at that time, with the Iridium technical team.)<br><br>
But…. back then, even though fully connected on the boat, we were alone on the ocean: hardly any other sailor had internet connectivity on the ocean, so we had nobody to talk to, except our friends and family onshore.<br><br>
And look at us now!? using the new generation satellite systems like Starlink, chatting away on whatsapp and telegram with routing info, position reports, fishing tips, jokes, and enhancing safety for all.<br><br>
Pictures of the kids having thsnksgiving or doing home work. Videos of issues on boats, screens of data…<br><br>
And the better for safety. When a vessel in our fleet dismasted some days ago, the whole fleet was alerted by them in minutes. About an hour later, two other boats were already next to them, transferring extra fuel, with two more to follow.
Three nights ago, we had lightning sorms in the hood, and we kept each other informed, life, of where the storm went.<br><br>
I love this… This will go down in the history books as the first flotilla crossing while chatting on whatsapp !<br><br>
Sailing will never be the same again…<br>
<br>
<h1>Still on white sails and still rocking</h1>
Date: 26-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
We have been on white sails (main sail and genoa) since… eh… I can not remember. Days and nights kinda flow into each other. I think we doused the Parasailor 2 nights ago. Then motored for the night as winds were too light and sea was too rocky (we had two swells colliding, one from the north and one from northeast). Then yesterday morning, we raised the white sails, and have been on those since then.<br><br>
Sea state is still confused, with the two swells creating a rocky sea, and a rocky Sturdeee (with 3 "e"'s but that is only a joke Ian will get). We have a 2nd reef in main and no reef (or sometimes single reef) in genoa. We run both sails on the same tack or wing on wing dependent on the wind direction and waves direction.<br><br>
We expect the cross swell from the North to die down later this afternoon.<br><br>
Winds are still pretty strong. At this moment 14-20 kts… So even if the cross swell dies, we might not raise the Parasailor wing, as 20kts is a bit on the limit of that sail. And according to the predictions, we should have 17-18 kts sustained with gusts 20-21 kts all the way to Grenada…<br><br>
But at this moment, we are not complaining. The sails seem happy, not much flapping, and we seem pretty much on course for Grenada. The cross swell does slam the sides of the hull from time to time: with a loud bang, almost like we hit something in the water. Quite noisy in the cabins, but most of us sleep through that now. We got used to the noises on a cat. But Sturdeee is moving a bit jerky left-right a bit… When cooking or washing up, or taking a shower (yes, we do shower), we have to lean against a wall or cupboard, so we can keep our balance.<br>
Fast sailing, though… 7kts is a decent cruising speed.<br><br>
Have a nice day everyone!<br><br>
<br><br>
<h1>Adopt-a-Peter programme</h1>
Date: 26-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbbWbOUmC7OZ52YoIIntQkEUUL4-nLwFkXgDVQjHgZZ0oDclTr5L5w2_dfI72K4enBB8tYgnL7kGZ9a3fJfqxfFuUa5OPI4iFoYmuLMqWLnmeDYpScQ_ETIWkxaoRLKJ23T06SBdFd9_m4sXNef6qh-BI0rSGb5J2YUC_gzGFBd5M6GgSdPOTE-oMcXA/s4032/st60.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbbWbOUmC7OZ52YoIIntQkEUUL4-nLwFkXgDVQjHgZZ0oDclTr5L5w2_dfI72K4enBB8tYgnL7kGZ9a3fJfqxfFuUa5OPI4iFoYmuLMqWLnmeDYpScQ_ETIWkxaoRLKJ23T06SBdFd9_m4sXNef6qh-BI0rSGb5J2YUC_gzGFBd5M6GgSdPOTE-oMcXA/s400/st60.jpeg"/></a></div>
Lana, my daughter, offered me up for adoption on the ARC+ whatsapp group<br><br>
Mark - now on "Risque Business", our skipper in the 2006 transat, answered: “I have adopted him before it’s someone else’s turn now!”<br><br>
So, the Sturdeee’s “Adopt-a-Peter” campaign has now started.<br>
Bidding starts at 10 camels.<br><br>
Do i hear 10 camels? 10 camels from Audrey…. !<br><br>
Do i hear 11 camels? 11 camels from Laura!<br><br>
Do I hear 12 camels? 12 camels?<br><br>
<h1>Crunching the numbers while sailing</h1>
Date: 26-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhdGw6WVEOTwZMvU05bQJHMeu7v5dJlJbjvzCRbM_kPWM67i_B0ECN3qTKpt1ESOjeW2mmmAOcZsRKGPWB3q-hDFrO6o3WmpqbRLFJsachp93vLCJZAVmdKBD9ScXNpEx0BXhXOhRTtt3aZCpgZmX1vafL8XgBXbgfkkDNPkAR5wJ69UhYW4lGphXmkc/s3887/st62.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="3887" data-original-width="2354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhdGw6WVEOTwZMvU05bQJHMeu7v5dJlJbjvzCRbM_kPWM67i_B0ECN3qTKpt1ESOjeW2mmmAOcZsRKGPWB3q-hDFrO6o3WmpqbRLFJsachp93vLCJZAVmdKBD9ScXNpEx0BXhXOhRTtt3aZCpgZmX1vafL8XgBXbgfkkDNPkAR5wJ69UhYW4lGphXmkc/s400/st62.jpeg"/></a></div>
And you thought sailing was easy? Just raise a sail, and blast off? :slight_smile: Ah, it is not that easy, but not really complicated once you get the hang of it…<br><br>
Here is an overview of the numbers we are crunching while on passage, numbers which are also displayed on our main navigation display at the helm station.<br><br>
You see a little individual squares with a “title” and a number.<br><br>
Going from the top:<br><br>
TWS = True Wind Speed: the actual wind speed<br>
TWA = True Wind Angle: the angle in which the wind “meets the boat” with 0° being in front and 180° being in the back - with a little arrow indicating if the wind hits from port or starboard<br><br>
Below that are two figures related to TWS and TWA, but take into account the boat is moving in a certain direction at a certain speed: So: actually sitting on a boat, what is the speed and angle you can feel the wind from.
You can imagine if the wind is 10 knots from behind, and the boat moves at 5 knots forward, you will feel the wind as “apparently” 5 knots (10-5=5). So: Apparent Wind Speed (AWS)= 5 knots<br>
Likewise if you move, the angle the wind appears to hit you, while
moving, is different than when you stand still - AWA or Apparent Wind Angle is the angle of the wind while moving.<br><br>
“Boat Speed” or BTS is the speed the boat is moving through the water (measured by a small paddle wheel at the bottom of the
boat).<br>
“SOG” or “Speed Over Ground” is the speed the boat moves over the earth, taking into account boat speed, currents, tide, leeway etc... E.g. if your boat moves at 5 knots (BTS) over water, but you have 1 knot current against you, your SOG is 4 knots...<br><br>
HDG or "Heading" is the direction the
boat is pointing to.<br>
COG or "Course over Ground" is the direction the boat is actually moving to, taking into account tide, current, leeway etc
And on a cat like Sturdeee, those two can differ a lot: a cat like Sturdeee has a very shallow keel, so the difference between HDG and COG can easily differ 20°-30°...<br><br>
"WPT BRG" and "WPT DIST" is the bearing towards our destination (or waypoint we have put in) and distance to it.<br><br>
TTD or Time To Destination is the hours left to sail to our destination, at the current speed (SOG) and VMG (see below)<br><br>
VMG CSE (“Velocity Made Good”) is a bit more complicated to explain at 11 PM, but it is basically the speed you are approaching your destination. Rare are the occasions you can sail straight to your destination, as you might approach your destination at an angle, dependent on wind angle, wave angle,.. So "VMG" is a key figure we keep an eye on, as we might sail at 10 kts, but only make 1-2 kts of speed towards our destination. <br><br>
"POS": is our absolute position, in latitude/longitude GPS coordinates<br><br>
"Depth" is depth / or rather not when on an open ocean: When we are moving fast in a swell and an ocean of 5,000 m deep, our sensor often miss-reads the depth.<br><br>
One figure is missing on the overview display: "TWD" or "True Wind Direction", the actual direction the wind comes from, which we read on another display.<br><br>
Happy now? Now you know how to sail!<br><br>
<h1>Chat extract (NSFW)</h1>
Date: 27-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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Extract from the ARC+ Whatsapp group chat while under way:<br><br>
<i><b>Peter</b>: Lana, honey, can you please tell me where you put the coffee?<br>
<b>Audrey</b> is typing….<br>
<b>Moaied</b> is typing…<br>
<b>Peter</b>: Lana, I promise to let you out of the front sail locker if you'd just tell me where you’ve been hiding the coffee?<br>
<b>Audrey</b>: ARC+ most patient daughter award goes to Lana.<br>
<b>Peter</b>: Audrey,... WOMAN! I thought you were on my side?!?<br>
<b>Moaied</b> is typing…<br>
<b>Audrey</b>: Maybe Sturdeeeeeee should trawl Peter’s witty jokes to catch their fish<br>
<b>Peter</b>: Audrey, relaying message from Lana: “Audrey, I already told you several times: DO NOT ENCOURAGE HIM… If he really lets go of his limited self-inhibitions and social self-restrictions and subconscious suppressions, he will be his usual nuts, and nobody wants that, right?”<br>
<b>Peter</b>: PS: actual fact: Lana holds a bachelor and a masters in psychology… I am not kidding you.
But here I am kidding: That is why I am only allowed in a social environment when she is around so she can properly warn and safeguard the others.<br>
<b>Moaied</b> is typing…<br>
<b>Audrey</b>: Like I said, most patient daughter award.<br>
<b>Lana</b>: Thanks for the recognition! This is definitely the biggest challenge in patience that life has thrown at me.
One tip: never let your dad convince you to go on a boat trip for more than 1 day.<br>
<b>Moaied</b> is typing…<br>
<b>Mark</b>: I can save a dried flying fish for you Peter if you want to smoke it with your instant soup mushrooms. Did Lana really know what she was taking on ?<br>
<b>Peter</b>: Mark, at this point, lacking coffee, I am open for experimenting with any stimulant.
Cup-a-soup mushroom flavour is now finished. Cup-a-soup onion flavour seems slightly milder.<br>
<b>Audrey</b> is typing….<br>
<b>Mark</b> is typing….<br>
<b>Lana</b> is typing…<br>
<b>Moaied</b> is typing…<br>
<b>Mark</b>: Lana, perhaps pack some Valium next time. You could always take it yourself if it doesn’t work on dad.
<br>
<b>Lana</b>: We’ve been slowly going through my secret drug stash, but nothing seems to work… Anyone up for adopting a crazy sailor? Ready for pickup in the middle of the Atlantic...<br>
<b>Mark</b>: I have adopted him before. It’s someone else’s turn now!<br>
<b>Nick</b>: I bid 20 goats<br>
<b>Peter</b>: I found the coffee.<br>
<b>Lana</b>: Oh, no. Here we go...<br>
<b>Moaied</b> is typing…<br>
</i>
<br>
<h1>Follow the sun</h1>
Date: 27-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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<i>Follow, follow the sun<br>
And which way the wind blows<br><br>
When this day is done<br>
Breath, breath in the air<br><br>
Set your intentions<br>
Dream with care<br>
Tomorrow is a new day for everyone<br>
A brand new moon, brand new sun<br><br>
So follow, follow the sun<br>
The direction of the birds<br>
The direction of love<br><br></i>
Xavier Rudd<br><br>
<h1>Sucking and blowing in the birthplace of clouds</h1>
Date: 27-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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Gradually we’ve come to the trade wind zone. The real trade winds which have been carrying sailing ships across the Atlantic ocean East-West since Columbus' times: more steady North-Easterlies in the belt 14° down to 10° North… A belt which has become more narrow over the years.<br><br>
I can see the tracks from my previous transatlantic trips (2006, 2021, 2022) cross our current tracks… This is the transatlantic highway from November until somewhere April or May, after which, this area becomes the birthplace of tropical storms and hurricanes from June until November again.<br><br>
This highway is also the road most yachts (ARC, ARC+ and others) follow to cross to the Caribbean and Brazil (onwards to South America)…<br><br>
It is the cradle of clouds. The place where clouds are born. During the day, we have a mild cloud cover, right now. But during the night as the dew point raises, the high water temperature saturates the air, and clouds form.<br><br>
Since 2-3 nights, in the early night, we can see clear skies behind us, and within 30 minutes several clouds might have formed. Right there, on the spot.... An hour later,they might already have turned into saturated dark forms, which start to shed their moisture in form of drizzle or light rain. We can even see those light showers on the radar, and track them, as we would track other vessels…<br><br>
These clouds follow the same winds, which we also follow while sailing. We all go the same direction: Westerly mostly… And as you can understand, while going West, these clouds become larger, more saturated and will eventually shed rain. The further West, the more rain we will get, and potentially, the more squalls we will get.<br><br>
Squalls are local micro weather systems, which change the wind direction, wind strength and sea state.<br><br>
There are two kinds of clouds important to distinguish for sailors: we need to observe if they are “suckers” or “blowers”.<br><br>
SUCKERS: are clouds which are building. They are sucking up energy to build up. They suck up wind towards them and then upwards into the cloud itself. So, looking from above the cloud, you would see air sucked up to the center. So when a SUCKER comes in behind you, sailing downwind, it will reduce the wind strength, as it sucks wind the opposite direction. You might have 15 kts of wind, but the clouds sucks air at 5 kts towards them, so just in front of the cloud, you will see your wind speed drop to 10 kts.<br><br>
Once a SUCKER passes you, it will amplify the downwind speed: now it will amplify your normal 15 kts with its 5 kts and you will get 20 kts of wind, until the SUCKER is further away, and wind reduces again to its usual, in this example, 15 kts of wind.<br><br>
BLOWERS do the opposite: they are more saturated and looking from above, blow energy (wind, rain,…) outwards, 360° around them. BLOWERS are stronger than SUCKERS. BLOWERS can amplify or reduce the wind by 10-15-20 kts, depending how large, strong and saturated they are.<br><br>
So if a BLOWER comes in from behind you, it will amplify your usual wind, say 15 kts, with another 10 kts, creating a wind gust of 25 kts. Soon after the wind increase, you will feel the rain. And under the cloud, you might be in a full shower, but with little wind. As the cloud passes, the rain decreases, and the cloud will reduce your wind. A cloud generating 10 kts will reduce your normal wind of 15 kts to “only 5 knots” after it passes.<br><br>
And then you have the play and gamble with clouds that pass you on the side. They will not only change windspeed but also wind direction. By a LOT, at times. In low winds, and strong clouds, the wind can change 90° or even 180°.<br><br>
But we are in quite strong and stable winds at the moment. We have been running in 14-17/18 kts for 30 hours now. Cruising along.<br><br>
Last night (picture) was the 3rd night in a row where we saw clouds being born in this cradle of moisture and wind (and hurricanes later in the season).<br><br>
It is fascinating. Nature is fascinating. Sailing is fascinating.<br><br>
Oooh, I love this shit!<br><br>
<h1>Happy where I am</h1>
Date: 27-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
This is my place. Wind in my hair, salt on my skin. Shorts and Tshirt, bare foot. In the middle of nowhere.<br>
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While still, thanks to Starlink, connected to my friends, family and loved ones,… in the middle of nowhere. Looking at the skies, sea. Looking at the fish jumping around, the occasional dolphins spotted. Some sea birds hovering effortless over the waves, shaving off the top of the waves looking for prey. A school of mackerel followed us for hours yesterday. Right next to the boat. I mean, right there. I could almost touch them…<br><br>
This is my happy place. The more as this year, as I can share this adventure with Lana, my oldest.<br><br>
<h1>Sailing is a continuous thriller in slow motion</h1>
Date: 28-Nov-2023><br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0v0G2ttpz55CamzC5LuPJVVFZf1srvsU-o7WCqGf-_LscKlwefg4xR5IwkjvW7OIzZGuLNmMXi5fQwWAuzPiXiEgeRNWF37tI1TPHrNmwdf0LaTjOeLSI-yreC15AvVbhISvQB8zsnll_csp9_wGKSE-zSTdcJ1Bo4HezQZO0hBkVTsgd3JWJv3dWtY/s2862/ST68.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2862" data-original-width="1457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0v0G2ttpz55CamzC5LuPJVVFZf1srvsU-o7WCqGf-_LscKlwefg4xR5IwkjvW7OIzZGuLNmMXi5fQwWAuzPiXiEgeRNWF37tI1TPHrNmwdf0LaTjOeLSI-yreC15AvVbhISvQB8zsnll_csp9_wGKSE-zSTdcJ1Bo4HezQZO0hBkVTsgd3JWJv3dWtY/s400/ST68.jpeg"/></a></div>
Many non-sailors think of sailing as pretty relaxing, laid back, with the motion of the waves rocking you to sleep.<br><br>
Don’t het me wrong, in many ways it is. But for me, it is mostly a thriller in slow
motion, where the thriller might run over several hours.<br><br>
First of all, there is “traffic”: in neighbourhouds slightly more populated with cargo vessels, fishing boats, ferries and other sailing vessels, anticipating “what the others will do” and ensuring we keep a safe distance is a thriller by itself.<br><br>
Especially with cargo traffic, which we pick up on our navigation system up to 30 Nmiles away. As of then, the navigation system calculates what the “CPA” or "closest point of approach" is. If it is closer than one mile, we are already on the edge of our seat as of the time we spot that ship.<br><br>
Even more so, if there are several vessels on our path within the next hours.<br>
And even more so when we are in busy shipping lanes like Gibraltar a couple of weeks ago, where we could see 10-20 cargo ships in our range.<br><br>
Add some fishing vessels (which have very erratic courses often), and some sailing boats, and you have a thriller lasting hours, which beats any Hitchcock thriller movie.<br><br>
Beyond traffic, there is the weather. Is that rain cloud coming towards us, or can we skim past it? Is that lightning in our path? Will the wind turn another 10° so we can no longer keep our spinnaker up? Will the wind increase? Should I reef? Or will the wind drop the moment I reef?<br><br>
And it goes on, even when not sailing: approaches to ports and planning how to enter marinas is particularly stressful.<br><br>
And even when not moving: Is my anchor well set? Is my neighbour’s anchor not dragging? Will the wind turn so that those rocks will be on my lee side?<br><br>
And it goes on and on.<br><br>
Don’t choose sailing as a hobby, thinking you will relax. You won’t. Even if most hardened sailors look like me: bronzed handsome devils, moving slowly (with a pint in one hand and a pipe in the other), speaking slowly and articulate in a low voice. Don’t be mislead: we’re all adrenaline junkies, living, not watching, real-live thrillers, just for the thrill of it.<br><br>
<h1>The rhythm of life on Sturdeee</h1>
(i always found that is a weird word with a weird spelling "rhythm")<br>
Date: 28-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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It is a strange rhythm our life has, here on Sturdeee (that is with 3 eee’s but only Ian will understand that joke), on the middle of the ocean…<br><br>
We basically have 3 hour “watches” or “shifts” at the helm. During the day time, those are “single watches” - watches run by a single person. During night time, we run dual watches: watches run with two people. And those watches rotate every day, so not everyone has the same watch every day.<br><br>
– Well except Dee who has one single 3-hour watch every afternoon.<br>
To be honest, I can not remember why we agreed to do that. I think it had something to do, as Dee is often in the kitchen, or helping the people preparing the meals, looking for “where are the tins with tomatoe paste?” or “where did the whipped cream go?”. "Is the caviar stored in the closet with Ian’s socks or is it under the boxes with sugar?"<br><br>
Back to being serious: the dual watches are Ian and Dee, Michelle and me, Lana and me.<br>
Yep, I got myself an extra watch per day (and paid dear money for it, too!), as we don’t have a 6th person on board, to team up with Michelle.<br><br>
So our watches rotate over a 3 days cycle: the 4th day is the same schedule as the 1st day.<br><br>
Apart from everyone then having the pleasure for the “diamond watches” (sunset and sunrise), the other days they have the “oven watches” (noon and afternoon) or the graveyard shifts (those "get up at 02:45 to stumble to the loo - or “head”, do your thing, grab your gear, stumble up the stairs, stumble to the kitchen - or “galley”, and in a desperate move grab the coffee can, and brew that blessed drink that wakes one up.<br>
For me, coffee kind of wakes me up real fast. Also because I brew a mean pot of coffee. I also brought my own French coffee press, and my own coffee cup (and started off this trip with my own Italian coffee too. But those two tins of Illy coffee were gone in the first 5 days, so I am now living on Spanish coffee… Nothing against the Spanish. One of my dearest friends is Spanish, but,… compare Italian coffee with Spanish coffee, is like comparing Greek and Italian olives. Or Austrian and Italian wine. Or Pizzaland junk with real Napolitano pizza. Or Swiss gruyere cheese junk with Italian Parmiggiano.<br><br>
Where was I - oh… yeah. watches…!<br> Oh yeah, so after coffee, you drag yourself to the aft saloon, put your safety harness on, and drag yourself up another set of stairs, to the deck level, yet another set of stairs to the flight deck, and throw yourself on the bench behind the helm (which can sit 6 people easily, or 15 children).<br> I have done those dreaded stairs so many times, that my iPhone keeps on reminding me, I am doing extra ordinary exercises, by doing 356 stairs per day. <br>
That’s what you get, when you live on a cat which has 4 floors: the cabins (-1), galley saloon and cockpit (0), deck (1), helm station or flight bridge or fly bridge (2), and roof of fly bridge (3)… That is a lotta stairs! Also makes it difficult to trace people: “Where did Ian go?” - also knowing that each floor is bigger than my apartment in Rome. And that excludes the lockers (with generator, engines, sails, ropes, fenders), each bigger than my bedroom in Rome.<br><br>
Where was I - oh… yeah. watches…! <br>
Apart from that watch rotations, we also have “mother watches”: every day, two people prepare dinner (and clean dishes). Ian and Dee, Michelle and me (this is the official version, but Michelle likes to cook herself, and cleans her kitchen while she cooks, leaving me helplessly sitting in a corner, sulking while sucking my thumb, and Lana and me, though most of the time, Lana chases me out of the kitchen with a “Shooo…, dad!”… She did let me clean the dishes, on the first montherwatch, but now insists she cleans the dishes herself.<br><br>
Somewhere I get the impression that people try to avoid me on this boat, right? Now that I think of it… When I come on the fly bridge, often the watch leader is sitting at the helm in one corner, and I am only allowed to sit on the other side of the sofa -dixit- helm bench.<br>
When I come in the cockpit, which has one large sofa-like bed, and a U-shaped bench, which can sit 15 people or 30 children, I feel like I am given the evil eye, until I sit, where I sit now. On the edge of the sofa bed, with one foot on the stairs going to the deck.<br><br>
I still think people on Sturdeee (yep with 3 e's, but that is a joke only Ian will get), like me. As Ian said this morning: “We all love you. Eh, let me correct that: we all tolerate you”. That really made my day: to finally have found a boat which tolerates me.<br><br>
As I have been put up for adoption by other boats in the ARC+ fleet by Lana, it is rumoured that Ian has put in a bid for my adoption, and Dee has secretly signed the adoption papers. Maybe I will finally have found a home for my restless heart and tremendously funny jokes.<br><br>
Where was I - oh watches… <br>
Oh, no, that part was almost finished. <br>
In short version: we have watches at all kinds of odd hours, for all kinds of odd tasks, waking up at all times of day and night, here on Sturdeee (yep, with 3 "e"'s), my adopted new home. So, days and nights, and even weeks all melt together into one pot of sea, wind angles and barber haulers.<br><br>
Can you now see why sometimes my alarm goes off, 15 minutes before my watch, and I can not remember where I am anymore? And what all that racket is around me?<br><br>
Signing off is Peter Pan, flying high on Starship Sturdeee (that is with 3 eee’s but only Ian understands that jokeee - "echo-echo-echo")<br><br>
<h1>Business proposal: 1-900-Dial-a-Sailor</h1>
Date: 28-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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Now that Internet access at sea becomes common place, I have a new business proposal I am working out:<br><br>
A "pay-per-call" line via whatsapp, for people at sea, who would like to “meet” other people. Like a "Tinder-for-sailors".<br><br> Also open for lonely hearts on shore, who are dreaming to meet a sun-dried handsome sailor online (“sun-dried” is not the right word, is it? I mean “bronzed”), or online-meet that exquisite bow-babe (a common nickname for a tanned long-legged, long haired (long "head"-hair only) babe which normally hangs out in the sun on the bow of a catamaran, with a trampoline rope square imprint on her bum.<br><br>
Online video calls would be triple priced.<br><br>
The service would be called "1-900-Dial-a-Sailor" or "1-900-dial-a-Sailorine" to meet the female contingent and gender balance of our service.<br><br>
Now I am thinking: that name sounds a bit dull. Who can think of a better name?<br><br>
Send in your proposals now.<br><br>
<h1>Sailing update</h1>
Date: 29-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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So we ran white sails only for a while. The same tack as yesterday, until the early night (apart from half an hour in the afternoon where Ian had to change course a bit to avoid a Chinese fishing vessel who did not seem to care about anyone and just steered at random, without AIS).<br><br>
As of last night we then went to wing on wing, surfing the waves which started to come from a decent angle again (after 3 days of confusing cross swell).<br><br>
And just after sun raise yesterday, we dropped the white sails to go back to our parasailor wing.<br><br>
Winds were steady 12-14 kts until the afternoon where we struggled a bit in winds of 9 then 8 then 7 knots (TWS).
Add to that a 30° windshift and you combine light winds with confused seas.<br><br>
Ian and I were on watch then. Together we jybed the parasailor wing to get a better wave angle and then the wind picked up slowly, as the sun is setting.<br><br>
It is now 01:00 AM. Michelle and I are on watch, in a waning gibbous moon (just after full moon) and we have a steady 13-14 kts wind.<br><br>
Seas are quite calm. The moon is very bright, lightening up the seas around us. I am sitting on the flight deck on the port side and can watch the cruising chute (parasailor) right in front of me, lit up by the moon (see picture).<br><br>
Aurigine, a 33ft French boat is about 10 Nm behind us. They don't have radar, and we promised skipper Jean-Jacques we would let him know if we sea any squall popping up on radar behind him. They are a crew if three, not in the ARC+ but following our fleet as an extra safety measure. Nice guys. I spoke to them several times today. They will cruise the the Caribbean for the season and then head back to France via Bermuda and the Azores - The North Atlantic West-East highway - at the end of the season...<br><br>
Ok. Back to my watxh now: we are constantly looking behind us to check for clouds or squalls…<br><br>
Wish us luck, as we have the parasailor up. Squalls not allowed!<br><br>
Peter Sailor Pan woot-woot!<br><br>
<h1>Sailors’ superstitions</h1>
Date: 29-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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Through my work with the UN in poorer countries, I have learned that people living close to nature, people whose well-being is more exposed or vulnerable to nature’s caprices, tend to be more religious or superstitious.<br/><br/>
No surprise this also counts for sailors which are well exposed to nature’s whims.<br/><br/>
Some of it has some historical and factual background. E.g. many sailors think bananas in a boat bring bad luck. Apparently there is a factual background - which I need to look up - that bananas emit a gas which makes other fruits and veggies near them, mature and rot faster.<br/><br/>
There is the superstition, to which I subscribe, and which is also followed on Sturdeee (yep with 3 "e"'s), about "whistling". No whistling on Sturdeee. - The belief is that whistling brings bad/strong winds.<br/><br/>
And then, amongst sailors there is the “Don’t jynx it” superstition: we can not say aloud that things are going fine... All too often we would say “Oh, we have really nice steady winds now”, and the next minute, we’d get a 30 degree windshift with the nice breeze dropping off to almost nothing.<br/>
Or we’d say: “The boat is really steady now” and before you know it, we get hit by a nasty odd wave from the side rocking the boat and slamming the sails.<br/>
So we try to avoid talking loudly about things going well. We might hint about them, point to the display showing how steady the winds are..... But we don’t talk about good things aloud.<br/><br/>
Or we counter-jynx it. Having a good fast run on the light sails, we might say: “this is a shitty day. With a shitty course” and then wink.<br/> That is ok. As long as we don't say "good things" aloud, it is ok...<br/><br/>
And winking is ok!<br/><br/>
So, right now, we are having shitty sail in a shitty night. wink-wink<br/><br/>
<h1>Red colours shines white in red light</h1>
Date: 29-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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At 3:00 AM, while on watch with Michelle, I craved for baked beans in tomatoe sauce and sausages (one of my comfort foods).<br/><br/>
Under a red headtorch (we run a dark ship at night, so we can see stuff on the sea around us, so only red lights are allowed), I went through all cans in the bilge compartments, and found a couple of cans which said “baked beans”, but they looked like white beans. Or in a white sauce…<br/><br/>
I put on my other glasses (people my age have glasses to see afar and glasses to read). The can said “baked beans with tomatoe sauce”. And I go like... “but it is white sause?!?!”.<br/><br/>
And then, the eureka moment: red colours show white in a red light… #Dah.<br/><br/>
<h1>Night sailing</h1>
Date: 30-Nov-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUfTET8SAfjfXQ9MoRU2-tNpsXvz5Phe1kIk_ScbMBCgImjdzdyaEA3eBDpBbr-Z9bzsI2gTHx6UWbGrIIJ5TGZnqVJkrY7GSqHm3EVtIQL8uYYf6OfYujUUaJQlS0hiHBiBvsjXb07DI9O2JZrj21vD9i9Sv7xIVPnzda11m6SueC_52cbwOV9lH-iw/s4032/st74.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUfTET8SAfjfXQ9MoRU2-tNpsXvz5Phe1kIk_ScbMBCgImjdzdyaEA3eBDpBbr-Z9bzsI2gTHx6UWbGrIIJ5TGZnqVJkrY7GSqHm3EVtIQL8uYYf6OfYujUUaJQlS0hiHBiBvsjXb07DI9O2JZrj21vD9i9Sv7xIVPnzda11m6SueC_52cbwOV9lH-iw/s400/st74.jpeg"/></a></div>
The difference between sailing with a moon and without a moon, at night, is like… day and night. Almost literally.<br><br>
<b>No moon:</b> <br>
(either “new moon” or the moon has not come up yet, or has already set). <br><br>
Advantage: the sky is really dark, so the stars are very bright. One can often see the Milky Way clearly. Some stars or planets (like Jupiter or Venus, sometimes Capella,…) can shine sooo bright, they actually reflect in the water. Also a good time to spot satellites, the ISS (International Space Station) shooting by, planes flying over, or shooting stars.<br>
(BTW on one of the first night watches after leaving Las Palmas, Michelle and Dee saw a massive flash with a long trail which literally lit up the whole sky. Kinda looked like a shooting star, but they said the entire sky was lit up, as if it was a flair, or a close-by lightning, but it was not… Still trying to figure out what it was. Our theory was that it was a piece of space junk burning in the atmosphere).<br><br>
Also the advantage of “no moon” is that you can spot vessels’ navigation lights from very far away. We regularly spot sailing vessels’ lights from 6-7 Nmiles (if they run nav lights on the top of their mast, and not on their bow), and cargo vessels steaming lights from 15 Nmiles away.<br><br>
I suffer from glaucoma, so my eye sight is very sensitive to light contrasts, which gives me the supernatural powers to see things at night, that others don’t… Seriously, my record is seeing cargo vessels at 30Nmiles, on a clear and dark night. I would not be able to see the actual lights yet, but I'd see a glow in a certain spot at the horizon, indicating “there is something there”.<br>
Pretty cool: 30 Nm is 54 km… Spotting a small light 54 km away…<br><br>
Back to the topic. Where was I - ah ok, moon, no moon.<br><br>
DISADVANTAGE of no moon: it is dark. I mean real dark. Luckily on Sturdeee (Yep, that is with 3 "e"'s), we run our nav lights on top of the masts, so they shine down on the sails a bit, but on the past two Atlantic passages, we ran our boat’n navlights on the bow… In those cases, you can not even see your sails at night, and need to shine red or white light on them, from your head torch.<br>
DISADVANTAGE is also, you have no orientation at all. You have no reference points, other than the stars. You lose track of where you. you lose track of the horizon (sometimes I mis-took a setting star (you know that stars raise and set, just like the sun and moon, right?), shining a white-reddish dim colour, just like the tri-colour navlight of a sailing boat, about “two fingers above the horizon”, thinking "OMG there is sailing vessel close by"… Simply because I can not see the horizon. And can not see that it must be a star setting.<br/><br/>
Also when we see a vessel on AIS, and we try to spot it on the horizon, often I find myself looking into the skies, way above the horizon, looking for a vessel, rather than AT the horizon. Because you simply can not distinguish sky and sea and loose track of the horizon..<br><br>
<b>CHAPTER 2: And then there was light</b><br>
When “the moon is out”, especially when it is a full moon, eh… sailing is another experience. A full (or even half moon) is really bright. Like someone turns on a massive flood light. I mean, it is “MASSIVE”. Often people come on deck for their night watch, thinking we have the decklights on, or something.<br>
Of course it is not as bright as daylight, but you can see pretty far, you can see the whole boat and its sails, up to the point that often you don’t need a red light head torch.<br>
And… a full moon in a cloudless sky, on the open ocean, is really something to experience. The contrasts… The way the moon reflects on the water… It is something special.<br>
And under moonlight, you are much more aware of your neighbourhood. It is less trippy (“thinking one floats on a slowly rocking ship, in a void of nothing-ness”) than when there is no moon.<br>
It is also easier to walk around on deck, often without the need of a flashlight.<br><br>
DISADVANTAGE: it is much more difficult to spot other vessels, as there is less contrast around. And the stars are fainter.<br><br>
Picture: full moon setting two days ago… (against a canvas of slightly lit skies, of a raising sun gloom)<br><br>
<h1>"Twelve" is the magic number</h1>
Date: 1-Dec-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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We have been staying around 12°N for a few days. Those yachts north of us had regular squalls of 30+ knots and times of very little wind. We have been happily sailing on the Parasailor wing for days. We saw squalls passing, north and south of us, but it seemed 12°N was the magic number.<br><br>
Following the waves, we ventured a bit off to the North, found it too calm there and under white sails, went further south again, but just a bit. Up to 12°N again...<br><br>
At night we could see we were sailing between two different weather systems as the skies were distinctively different left and right of us.<br><br>
We continued south a bit until we were, once again the most southern vessel of our fleet. Not by intension to earn that title, but to avoid more turbulent weather systems...<br>
Via whatsapp, reports came in of damages: mostly spinnakers blown out and such due to squalls.<br><br>
Today, we were that much south it looked like we were heading to Trinidad, but we went sharper into the wind when the waves allowed us, and found a course now heading almost straight to Grenada.<br><br>
Happy sailing!<br><br>
<h1>Storm</h1>
Date: 2-Dec-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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Well, at this latitude in the Atlantic, you don’t really get "storms" this time of the year. They keep that for the Caribbean hurricane season (June to November)<br><br>
Squalls (local small weather systems mostly generated by a cluster of clouds) do occur, but usually a bit further North, say 14°N and up. This is the first time in my four transatlantic crossings, I have seen that many squalls down at 12°N.<br><br>
It started about 5-6 nights ago. Most of the ARC+ fleet reported darker clouds and distant lightning. As we went further west, many other boats reported more frequent and heavier squalls, spells of higher wind combined with rain at times. Or lightning.<br><br>
Squalls seem to happen mostly during evening or night times…<br><br>
We have been able to dodge the squalls for the past nights. But close to sunset today, the sky behind us looked threatening. Already that early in the evening, the whole horizon was covered with dense low clouds.<br><br>
We decided to choose for safety, as usual, and dropped the parasailor wing (which can only fly up to 20 kts of wind), and go on white sails only: full genoa and 2nd reef in the main.<br><br>
A right decision as when Michelle and I started our 18:00 watch, we already picked up rain clouds on the radar. By 20:00 we were hit by our first squall, and the radar filled up with small cloud cells behind us, approaching us.<br><br>
As we tracked the path and size of the squalls, flying towards us, it was clear we were going to be hit by some big ones. Around 20:30, one cell hit us with increasing wind: 20-21-23-24 knots and counting. We started furling the foresail and continued until we had all but a handkerchief sized genoa left. As the wind increased, we re-ran the genoa sheet into the cars on the sunroof (normally the genoa sheets run aft, tuned with a barber hauler).<br><br>
Wind continued to increase to 31 kts. I have to say, here in the flybridge, 4 m above the water, we have a great view, but it also gets breezy. At 40 kts of wind, the sleeves of my rainjacket not only started to flap in the wind, but started to vibrate (“Brzzzzrrrzz”). Not an assuring sound.<br><br>
Wind went down a bit to 25 kts and then picked up again. Ian also came on deck, so together, the three of us held on to the seats of our pants.<br><br>
Gradually the squalls passed and by the time Lana came in deck for her watch, the sky behind us cleared up and wind eased to 11 kts.<br><br>
Right now, at 4 AM, we are back at 18-19 kts steady wind. I can see clouds but too small for squalls.<br><br>
We live to fight another day. Or to sail another day :slight_smile:<br><br>
PS: Sturdeee did well in this heavy wind. Cheers to her!<br>
Picture: squall cloud forming two evenings ago.<br><br>
<h1>Typoes</h1>
Date: 2-Dec-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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People have been writing to me, asking why there are so many typoes on my little scribblings. And don’t I have a spell checker?<br><br>
Well most of these microblogs are typed on my phone while sitting on deck (mind you, not when I am a watch lead but most of the time when I am 2nd watch or sitting on deck during my off time). So the boat moves, and I don’t have fingers made for a mini screen keyboard. Editing on a phone is a pain, and I can not be bothered spell checking…<br><br>
I think the micro-blogposts might turn out like pieces of authentic antique you find in scrapshops: nicely made (I hope) but full of scratches and rust spots from previous decades. But cute to look at and touch.<br>
A bit like me, really!<br><br>
<h1>Sailing update - Storm part 2</h1>
Date: 2-Dec-2023<br>
Position: Between Cape Verde and Grenada<br/><br>
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Well, "Squalls part 2" rather<br><br>
After being hit by a couple of squalls last night, just as I was coming off watch, and Ian came on, we could see a large squall system moving towards us on the radar. Oh, and another one, and another one, popped up on the radar, though visually, it looked like one massive grey blurb moving to us.<br><br>
Even though my watch was over, I thought it’d be better to stay on deck for a while, to see what the squall would do. We could see the squall visually. Monitoring the size and density on radar, we can track its movement (speed, direction) but we can not see how much wind increase it would give.<br><br>
And we were hit. Boy, were we hit!.... Winds up to 32 kts at the front of the cell. We reefed the genoa to the size of a handkerchief, put the engines on, just in case. We reduced the apparent wind a bit by throttling the engines, and eased the steering by throttling one engine more than the other, as Sturdeee can not sail on her main sail only (or with a very small genoa out), as she tends to turn into the wind…<br><br>
It was tense. I controlled the genoa sheet manually, as with its reduced size, and sheeted through the cars on the deck in front of our flight deck, we had trouble to keep the genoa inflated: The cars on the deck are so close to the mast, that with wind from aft, we have trouble to keep the quadruple reefed genoa inflated. Flapping sails tear up easily, certainly in this kind of violent wind. While I was doing that, Ian controlled the steering and the engine throttles, calling out the apparent wind angles and apparent wind speed. It was tense. <br><br>
And after the wind increased in front of the squall -- it was a clear example of a "blower", with the cloud front releasing energy (wind)---, then came the heavy rain at the center of the squall. <br>
If you have ever experienced a "white-out", where a mere wall of rain approaches your boat, you know what I am talking about: You can see a white wall of rain approaching with no visibility beyond that. It is just a wall of violence approaching. But, from experience, I know that once we passed the front of the squall, and enter the center, winds ease off. And towards the end of the center, winds tend to die - as the squall is a blower, exhaling its energy, which counteracts with the prevailing tradewinds. So after the squall, the wind died to almost zero...<br><br>
But then came another squall, and another rain squall… It lasted for about 2 hours. At that moment, it looked like there was no end to it. Although Ian and me were sitting on the flightdeck, with a solid roof above our heads, the rains were so dense, they soaked us. I had my Goretex rain jacket on, but Ian had come on deck in T-shirt, and he was drenched to the bone. Dee popped out her head from the cockpit, one floor below the flight deck, asking "Are you guys ok?", and we answered "yes, just make sure all hatches and rain covers are closed", but the rain had come in almost horizontally, and most things in the aft cockpit were absolutely soaked. Dee had to close the sliding door between the aft cockpit and the galley/saloon, just to keep the water gushing in, out of the saloon area<br><br>
The picture of Ian and me in this post was taken right after the squall fronts had passed and the sun came out again. Can you see the relief on our faces? By that time, I done about 12 hours of watches non-stop, and I was exhausted. But happy that we did well: We had reefed in time. We had seen the squalls coming. And as they say in Flemish: Ian controlled the boat "as cool as a frog": no panic, clear coordination with his crew. I could clearly see how him being an airline pilot, contributed to him being a good skipper. After the squalls passed, we hi-fived on a job well done and I crashed in my bunk. Apart from the one instance we were under spinnaker in 20+ knots on the passage between the Canaries and Cape Verde, this had been the most intense few hours in our passage, on Sturdeee.<br><br>
<h1>Close!</h1>
Date: 3-Dec-2023<br>
Position: Approaching Grenada, just went between Tobago and Barbados.<br/><br>
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A short update to say: 55 Nm to go.<br><br>
Lovely sail yesterday and last night. Wind did not come from the direction which was predicted, but the sunset was lovely.<br><br>
Our course a bit far north of Grenada, but we will put in a jybe when the time comes. <br><br>
ETA in Grenada is this evening.<br><br>
<h1>Land ho!</h1>
Date: 3-Dec-2023<br>
Position: Approaching Grenada from the north<br/><br>
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We just spotted Carriacou and Grenada on the horizon. Coming in fast and furious on our Parasailor wing.<br><br>
Picture taken by our neighbouring boat, Aurijin, this morning, just as we raised our wing. You can actually see me on the bow. Thanks for the picture, Jean-Jacques!<br><br>
<h1>Back on land</h1>
Date: 3-Dec-2023<br>
Position: Port St Louis, Grenada<br/><br>
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We moored up, just after sunset, on the superyacht jetty in Port St.Louis marina, in St.Georges, Grenada.<br><br>
The ARC+ crew was ready to receive us, helped us with the mooring lines, and had a rum punch ready.<br><br>
Great to be on land again, with such a warm welcome. We did a short run over the boat to secure everything, and off to the marina bar/restaurant.<br><br>
The bar was full of yachties who just arrived too, so I do not have to explain that the mood was that of a celebration of everyone’s accomplishments. There was plenty of food and rum-sours had by all. As Lana wrote on her blog: "I have never seen so many happy and drunk sailors in my life, all celebrating their individual and common accomplishments of crossing the Atlantic". <br><br>
Picture: Lana and me on the dock, just after we arrived…<br><br>
<h1>Looking back</h1>
Date: 4-Dec-2023<br>
Position: Port St Louis, Grenada<br/><br>
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I helped sailing Sturdeee from South Portugal to the Canaries, via Cape Verde to Grenada, roughly a 3,500 Nmiles or 6,300 km voyage.<br/><br>
When we arrived in Grenada, it was the end of Ian and Dee's challenge to cross the Atlantic, and the start of their Caribbean adventure, and beyond. I was glad, with Lana and Michelle, to have contributed to Ian and Dee's dream (picture of Sturdeee and its transat crew in its final mooring in Port St.Louis Grenada.)<br>
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<br/>
But this blog is also a tribute to Lana, an exceptional young woman, who, just like her younger sister Hannah, is "the apple my eye", as they say in Flemish... Lana not only took this sailing challenge heads-on, persisted in her challenge, but also "survived" in putting up with her crazy dad in close quarters for almost 2 months. Not a small feat!<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5G-zqBZut_mcUurWzlowFWkoK4QFr24CCQGE732aiWaoGTYqSSxhtm6s0PH_jVk_G0VIRXwoLW8TasgkQd1G1DEDCzKEdeISHNPLMlBKCvYKbll1e8hFqwNJbPKmBe4C433DIZ20TtW6WIo9lWRRh3Z7FdjLkn1OETUcxUR3nAbqKgSS2D21QD5WKTA/s4032/IMG_8361.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5G-zqBZut_mcUurWzlowFWkoK4QFr24CCQGE732aiWaoGTYqSSxhtm6s0PH_jVk_G0VIRXwoLW8TasgkQd1G1DEDCzKEdeISHNPLMlBKCvYKbll1e8hFqwNJbPKmBe4C433DIZ20TtW6WIo9lWRRh3Z7FdjLkn1OETUcxUR3nAbqKgSS2D21QD5WKTA/s400/IMG_8361.jpg"/></a></div>
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-52530286839853164082024-01-29T14:11:00.007+01:002024-02-08T18:53:20.898+01:00Training on how to pick up a mooring ball<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzTxvzXGuZl0kB-MojgnQGAzrNzun6-4VZaznaNWCBlyyPoebAVO1a0NenC7jZVdXDV3SfVlCfrEMrY90PPaZt641Fy02uOebtqvYj0tH3iqTVOoX9sgn3BeWpNatCEigtfniQUrZxzUZxPEYAErkADqY3ExFiEtcrnmg7y_0Ftkw3x2PCWQHEt8J640/s1024/WhatsApp%20Image%202024-01-28%20at%2017.43.48.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzTxvzXGuZl0kB-MojgnQGAzrNzun6-4VZaznaNWCBlyyPoebAVO1a0NenC7jZVdXDV3SfVlCfrEMrY90PPaZt641Fy02uOebtqvYj0tH3iqTVOoX9sgn3BeWpNatCEigtfniQUrZxzUZxPEYAErkADqY3ExFiEtcrnmg7y_0Ftkw3x2PCWQHEt8J640/w300-h400/WhatsApp%20Image%202024-01-28%20at%2017.43.48.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>When training people in sailing and cruising, one of my mantras, as an instructor is: "The sailing itself is easy, it is all the rest which is complex" - and that "rest" might be route planning, weather forecasts, pilotage, tidal planning, and certainly maneuvering a boat under engine. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p><br /></p><p>The latter sounds easier than it really is. A sailboat does not react like a car: you can not stop a sailboat just like you stop a car. And when you stop a sailboat, you no longer have steerage, so the wind or current will push you in one or the other direction and you loose control. So learning how to "keep control" of a sailboat under engine, is a crucial part of learning how to sail....</p><p><br /><br /><br /></p><p>Here, in a picture taken yesterday, we are practicing picking up a mooring ball (a practice needed as in many anchorages, you HAVE to use a mooring ball and can not drop anchor). For the practice, we throw a fender, tied to a bundle of a mooring line (so the fender does move with the wind). One person at the helm, and one person on the bow. </p><p><br /><br /></p><p>The person on the bow indicates, with the boat hook in one hand, like a spear, the direction where the fender/mooring ball is, and with the other hand, indicates the distance from the mooring ball, as of 5 meters (as the person at the helm will not see the mooring ball from where she/he stands). The person on the bow leans onto the forestay to keep balance. </p><p><br /><br /></p><p>In the picture, you see the mooring ball in the water in front of the boat, in the water. The bow person in the picture indicates "straight ahead at distance of 5 meters" (5 fingers shown). The person at the helm approaches the mooring ball slowly, into the wind, and stops the boat when the mooring ball is right at the bow, so the person at the bow, can pick up the mooring ball with the boat hook, at ease. The art is not to "overrun the mooring ball", but also to get close enough so we can grab the mooring ball with the boat hook.</p><p><br /><br /></p><p>As with all maneuvers on a boat: we do this maneuver slowly, under control, no shouting, no stress. No talking or shouting commands (as if there is wind, the bow and helm will not hear each other). </p><p><br /><br /></p><p>And as with all maneuvers: "practicing makes master!". We teach people first under easy conditions (little wind, little swell and little current), and then make it gradually more difficult, up to the point they can pick up a mooring ball under 25 kts of wind and a heavy swell.... </p></div><p><br /></p>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-37968168697377469732024-01-20T13:41:00.002+01:002024-02-08T18:52:58.980+01:00A skipper's nightmare: Tangled anchor lines in the Greek Cyclades<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xB2m6YpU6c0" width="400" youtube-src-id="xB2m6YpU6c0"></iframe></div>
<p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Roboto, Noto, sans-serif" style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">
<span face="Roboto, Noto, sans-serif" style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
One of my key lessons-learned while sailing for 20-odd years: The better a boat sails, to more she is a bitch to moor. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Roboto, Noto, sans-serif" style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aneas, our Solaris40, is a great racing cruiser. We charter her from <a href="https://www.fastsailing.gr/" target="_blank">FastSailing</a>, a great charter company which only has performance boats. "Aneas" is a very light boat, with slanted/kanted short twin rudders, a thin fin keel, a flat bow and bottom. So, when mooring, her bow picks up the slightest of winds easily. When mooring, it is challenging to keep her under control, unless we have 2-3 knots of boat speed, to keep some flow over her shallow rudders, and avoid her from picking up side winds, pushing her down-wind, and out of control.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Roboto, Noto, sans-serif" style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, in the best of circumstances, she is a challenge to moor. Leave alone, when things go wrong. Or "unplanned". As in this case...
What looked like a normal day to leave port in Naxos (Greek Cyclades) in June 2022, turned out to be a little more of an adventure than what we had anticipated: while lifting anchor, we scooped up the anchor line from our neighbours. (no fault from either, sh*t just happens, when anchor lines are not right in front of the boats)....</span></span></span></p><span face="Roboto, Noto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had little room to manoeuvre: 10-15kts wind from the port side once we came out of our berth, boats anchored aft/starboard, rocks at 15 meters on port, and cats at 10 meters in front of us... we needed to untangle the anchor lines fast before we drifted into any obstacles.
The crew worked well as team to untangle the anchor lines fast, before we would hit anything: the solution was to tie a dyneema snubber line onto our bow cleat sitting on our bow sprit, loop it into the tangled anchor line, and hold it up while we lowered our anchor, get our anchor from underneath the scoped anchor and raised it again, ... once untangled, and we could then release the snubber line and get going. But we did not have much time, as the boat drifts with the wind.
The first attempt did not work (too much tension on our anchor scooping the other vessel's anchor line), but after Mats, at the helm, trickled the boat forward, the 2nd attempt worked perfectly: Tension on the scooped anchor line was released, we could drop our anchor to untangle, and then raise our anchor again, release our dyneema line from the scooped anchor line and free we were.
At that point, Mats did wonderfully: he trickled astern to put the stern further into the wind and then went forward to push our bow away from the cats on our bow and towards the entrance of the port.
Never a dull moment when sailing!
Mind you: no shouting, no panic. Very proud of our crew. And.. our neighbours did exactly what was needed: they dropped more anchor line to give us scoop to lift their anchor line without dislodging their anchor.. Well done, mates, we owe you a beer! :-)...
Main video is shot with a fixed camera pointing astern (thanks Mats and Anne), and some video footage shot by Jan from ashore (one of our crew who had just left the boat).</span>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-82441244810103285252024-01-19T14:44:00.004+01:002024-02-08T18:52:35.200+01:00Tips to crew on a boat during an ocean passage <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3VwUFIzxSCk8rVCLYw265m8o2S_9cZcxUFIkXAvfbzvYg7XANNi4PQQENMM4mXcTaa2pZqRM4oXqJaffLk7bV86jG3AiJ_e9hBWpZL9yskct1YAQzKBJgH2hIK3LEOv4nsjRT8-AlViO9U1gJ2tcKrRAwVYwi68BXX-WQ-mI95irujDF47-YWYKMLy4/s582/peter%20sailing.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3VwUFIzxSCk8rVCLYw265m8o2S_9cZcxUFIkXAvfbzvYg7XANNi4PQQENMM4mXcTaa2pZqRM4oXqJaffLk7bV86jG3AiJ_e9hBWpZL9yskct1YAQzKBJgH2hIK3LEOv4nsjRT8-AlViO9U1gJ2tcKrRAwVYwi68BXX-WQ-mI95irujDF47-YWYKMLy4/s400/peter%20sailing.jpg" /></a></div>I have done several ocean passages, including four transatlantic trips ("transats") as volunteering crew or first mate. I also help moderating <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/390290293155436" target="_blank">a Transat Facebook group</a> run by <a href="https://www.noforeignland.com/" target="_blank">NoForeignLand</a>. <div><br /></div><div>Based on the posts I see on that Facebook group, I want to share some of my experiences and tips for people who are looking for crew positions on a boat sailing across the Atlantic. Tips which are probably also valid for any volunteering crew positions, in many cases.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, you are someone who is looking for a boat, to sail across the Atlantic.... To start off with, some things you need to be aware of:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>There are more people looking for a boat than there are crew positions available. So it is not easy to find a position. It is a competitive "market" with more "supply" than "demand" :-) </li><li>The more sailing experience you have, the more you "have to offer" to the skipper. If you have never sailed before, or with very limited experience, you probably fall into the group of "hitchhikers", which make probably 60-70% of the people looking for a crew position. So why would a skipper take YOU onboard? Taking an unexperienced person on board, constitutes a risk for a skipper. </li><li>The more "serious" skippers plan their transat well in advance. This goes not only in preparing their boat, but also in looking for a crew. The transat season (East to West) is November to Jan/Feb each year. Most "serious" skippers will already have their crew positions filled by August, or Sept/Oct latest. </li><li>You will be living with your skipper and other crew, in a confined environment, where there is no escape "if it does not work out", for weeks. For any ocean passage, the "sailing" is not the main challenge. The main challenge is "how the crew gets along", in a higher pressure environment. This is the more true - unfortunately - for the women looking for a crew position. In the past transats, we had to "save" young women crewing on boats, from an environment they did not feel safe on. Be aware...</li><li>Unless you are a really experience sailor, most skippers will ask you to contribute to the "common costs", of sailing a transat. These costs might vary from sharing the costs of food, marina fees, fuel, or even insurance fees. In most cases, you will have to fund the cost of your flights to the port of departure and from the port of arrival.</li></ol><div>So here are my main tips, if you want to volunteer to crew on a boat (taking the East-West transat as an example):</div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>While it is possible to find a boat, roaming around the main staging marinas of La Linea (Gibraltar) or Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), going from boat to boat, asking if they have a slot, again, most of the "serious skippers" will have filled their slots already way before that. So, rather than putting up a flyer in those marinas, or going around those marinas talking to the skippers asking for a slot, start early. Put up a Facebook post on the many Facebook Groups, which might have skippers looking for crew. And start early! Volunteering on my past 4 transats, twice I started to scout for a boat in August, twice I started my scout in June, in preparation for the transat East-West passage of Nov/Dec. </li><li>When you put out a Facebook post, looking for a crew position, list clearly what you can contribute, which others can not. Highlight what you can offer, what others can not. Clearly "past sailing experience" is a must. The more sailing experience and qualifications you have, the more you can offer the skipper and the easier it would be to get a crew position. </li><li>Be prepared to pay your contribution in the passage costs. And that depends on your sailing experience. If you have no or little sailing experience, and the skipper will have to teach you "everything", making you a "wild card" to take aboard, so expect to pay more. If you have some sailing experience, expect to pay in the shared costs of provisioning (food), marina and fuel fees, beyond funding the cost to fly to your point of departure and back from your point of arrival. Apart from your air tickets, this could amount to US$1,000 per passage. If you have no sailing experience, expect to pay more. Some skippers ask for a US$50-100/day contribution for a 16-18 day passage.</li><li>This tip goes against the main tip I have to give you that "there are more crew looking for a boat than there are boats looking for crew". But still, as a life-experience, I would really want you to think about which boat, which skipper, and with which crew, you want to do this trip. I know many of you start with this "romantic" view of sailing the ocean, watching the sunsets and being in the middle of nowhere, disconnected from everything.... But still.. this trip, for you, can be a realization of your dream, or can become a nightmare. Or even worse, can be a struggle for survival. Sailing 16-17 days across the Atlantic, is no small feat. And your dream can easily become a nightmare: dynamics with the crew, experience of the skipper, how the boat is prepared... <br />If you step on a boat, to do a transat, make sure, in your heart, you feel comfortable. With the crew, the skipper and the boat. Before I commit to join a boat, I always have a call with the skipper, to get a feeling how well he, the crew and the boat is prepared. What are the expectations of the skipper? What sail configurations does the boat have? Did he already think of water and food provisioning, watch schedules? What long distance communications does the boat have? What emergency equipment?...</li></ol><div>I hope these tips and background will help you, and you will find a boat, a skipper, a crew to realize your dream of an ocean crossing. If you realize your dream, I have no doubt that this will be an experience of a life time. For me, each ocean crossing, has been an experience I will never forget. Each ocean passage has been such an inspiration for me, as a person. There are few other experiences which can match being in the middle of nowhere, with the ocean breeze in your hair, salt on your skin, and looking at the sunrise or yet another fabulous sunset.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>I hope you can find a boat and a crew to fulfil your dreams!</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-69276707716549329362023-10-20T15:19:00.094+01:002024-02-09T22:06:15.595+01:00Sailing across the Atlantic - the 2022 version<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSqcazuS6w4cW0gH2EVVtpWXJgDjwmIJkI3mSexjTIO43Vmcnma0doxKSgfrlB56ycgCzYpx0RKMyJql3QQ8FAqe7UXT1c4hAK37SkMn4ZjZCReXx0iRu9CvhL2I-0HcNah8bdxFVqkWQcLHWtGsoP8lkW4RJPIGbrpPuWbB5FrsCMYA5OYhsTOLYBNA/s4032/IMG_5795.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSqcazuS6w4cW0gH2EVVtpWXJgDjwmIJkI3mSexjTIO43Vmcnma0doxKSgfrlB56ycgCzYpx0RKMyJql3QQ8FAqe7UXT1c4hAK37SkMn4ZjZCReXx0iRu9CvhL2I-0HcNah8bdxFVqkWQcLHWtGsoP8lkW4RJPIGbrpPuWbB5FrsCMYA5OYhsTOLYBNA/s320/IMG_5795.jpg"/></a></div>
<h1>Prelude</h1>
</br>Back in July 2021, I published a post on several Facebook groups, looking
for a crew position on a yacht which intended to sail from Europe to the
Caribbean, during the yearly "winter transatlantic migration" period.<br>
Several people responded, and Peter, the skipper of S/V ("Sailing
Vessel") Nerio, was one of them. We talked, but it did not look Nerio was
going to be ready in time for the transat that year. So I crewed on another
yacht (S/V No Worries) from November 2021 to January 2022, sailing from SE
Spain to Barbados via the Canaries and Cabo Verde.<br/>
<br/>But I stayed in touch with Peter, and a year later, it looked like Nerio
was ready for the trip. In September 2022, Nerio was in Cartagena (SE Spain), and
I was in Valencia for work. I dropped by to see the ship and the skipper, so I
could make up my mind if I would be a match with both. It seemed we did match:
Although Peter sailed the boat mostly single-handed, he was looking for a
competent first mate (and a crew) to do the transat passage. From my end, I was
looking to extend my experience by sailing on a boat, bigger than I ever sailed
before. <br/>
<br/>And Nerio was "big"!... She is a Jongert 2200S, a 72 foot (24
meters) aluminum hull "racing cruiser", so she has most of the
"cruising" features - such as full bunks, galley, saloon, etc..,. But
she is also a full-bread racer, which used to dominate off-shore regattas with
22 crew onboard.<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFiJ8hkZQbNFTFcwWfK2PyzMV1sb1P5agev-H1H_IXUXrDzagY9SMfuPUI5O22qPwMV0SZKH7_j-qlrHOASl-OILM_Z8bvaq9m8apNxDvYmq-QJilS_Heh583sp5ZqP_aydl83-l9VTKLN5QocJTdiWMDQJnLejyaMtcWbiLZ9xwm9dHUopHc6NvwjHc/s2048/nerio%20on%20dry.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFiJ8hkZQbNFTFcwWfK2PyzMV1sb1P5agev-H1H_IXUXrDzagY9SMfuPUI5O22qPwMV0SZKH7_j-qlrHOASl-OILM_Z8bvaq9m8apNxDvYmq-QJilS_Heh583sp5ZqP_aydl83-l9VTKLN5QocJTdiWMDQJnLejyaMtcWbiLZ9xwm9dHUopHc6NvwjHc/s400/nerio%20on%20dry.JPG"/></a></div>
<br/>As I stepped on Nerio for the first time, on Sept 23 2022, my immediate
impression was "wow, this is not a yacht, this is a ship!". As Nerio
has a conventional "sloop" rigging, with a main mast (and main sail)
and a set of foresails, like most sailing yachts have these days, from the
pictures, she looks smaller than in reality: in pictures, it is difficult to
show the "absolute" dimensions. Especially on the pictures when Nerio
is on the dry, you only see the "relative" dimension: you see a boat
with mast, rudder and keel, and all looks "normal". Until you stand
next to her, and you see that the dimensions are a "superlative" from
a "normal" sailing yacht. The mast is not your "normal" 20
meters aluminum mast, but a 30 meters carbon mast. The keel is not your normal +-2.5
meters keel, but Nerio's keel draws 4 meters. All running rigging (the ropes to work
the sails) and winches are twice or three times the size of a
"normal" yacht. While a "run-off the mill" charter yacht
would have four winches, Nerio has 18 winches, including two massive winches on
the aft-deck, with "coffee grinders": the grinders one sees on racing
yachts... None of the running rigging has clutches: all running rigging remains
on the winches, all the time... No wonder they needed 22 crew to sail her in
regattas!<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMRh-uXIs9LAIBc4ci2UhT6FeQ06LDutLeveSqTBCvJtNLAYiJeSuutWXGRwQtP24lR1WJePi39xX1zpgbkHeukom-2sUuxN865bo35uaaSOF87LP98p5HcaYgiR06NaocsG9vKaI3-b4XJ3EMbq8tIWYBARtkqYvKJWDko04vP__3cFNdxKq7A18mDw4/s800/jongert%20full%20crew.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMRh-uXIs9LAIBc4ci2UhT6FeQ06LDutLeveSqTBCvJtNLAYiJeSuutWXGRwQtP24lR1WJePi39xX1zpgbkHeukom-2sUuxN865bo35uaaSOF87LP98p5HcaYgiR06NaocsG9vKaI3-b4XJ3EMbq8tIWYBARtkqYvKJWDko04vP__3cFNdxKq7A18mDw4/s400/jongert%20full%20crew.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>As I sat on deck with Peter, in Cartagena, while sipping a coffee, I
expressed how "wow-ed" I was. Peter said one thing which stayed with
me, during our whole trip: "Nerio is just like another sailing yacht. But
things are just bigger: all ropes are thicker and longer, and there is more
tension on all rigging, the sails are bigger, even the helm is bigger. But she
sails like any other sailing yacht, although you need to plan maneuvers a bit
further in advance, and be aware, there is more tension on all ropes..."<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmiZDmRoD3WTvBEpWjBlwuMfApJNzAIycZIdJErXa1IHN4ERjuOUstZQInVDmG_lFRHY5tvCW7P0qBgrdetrkjCs4LFliVcYm4whklG9MoGlwqA2aa042u9_1ln3yt_ZBkWpqvoohFjmvf7TeJLkH1XeiqthdxuEqLrvGDJy-UFH9UaSwh2aq94ExLUO8/s4032/nerio1.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmiZDmRoD3WTvBEpWjBlwuMfApJNzAIycZIdJErXa1IHN4ERjuOUstZQInVDmG_lFRHY5tvCW7P0qBgrdetrkjCs4LFliVcYm4whklG9MoGlwqA2aa042u9_1ln3yt_ZBkWpqvoohFjmvf7TeJLkH1XeiqthdxuEqLrvGDJy-UFH9UaSwh2aq94ExLUO8/s400/nerio1.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>And with that, we had a deal: I would sail on Nerio, for my next
transatlantic trip, as her first mate. And Peter would give me the opportunity
to manage a big part of the preparations and planning and help in the overall
execution of the trip. And on my first day on Nerio, I was already hoisted up
the mast, 30 meters up, to repair the HF radio antenna...<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-K9Z0h5jQd3Pi2j-TCVIEUODUHu_-ALec3sD1gXiHzziMSQdtbwJwmlIKuI3-NIiwxyZHZVKYmr7J75mzM4EhmNyEchhZQEzFekXnlcvbxle4EPU6RNJREPx4d2b27G6MRC6pXR5hWqVRW2y7qCngzurfNATnEDwX7ofUbJVpLEAM7xztFQDk1FkPaXk/s4032/upmast%20nerio.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-K9Z0h5jQd3Pi2j-TCVIEUODUHu_-ALec3sD1gXiHzziMSQdtbwJwmlIKuI3-NIiwxyZHZVKYmr7J75mzM4EhmNyEchhZQEzFekXnlcvbxle4EPU6RNJREPx4d2b27G6MRC6pXR5hWqVRW2y7qCngzurfNATnEDwX7ofUbJVpLEAM7xztFQDk1FkPaXk/s400/upmast%20nerio.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/><br/><h1>Leaving Gibraltar</h1>
<br/>Date: 7-November-2022<br>
Position: Gibraltar<br/>
<br/>We agreed I would meet Nerio in La Linea, Gibraltar on November 7th and
would help sailing her to Las Palmas, Canaries with three people on board:
Peter, the skipper, Hanne, a friend of the skipper, and myself. Hanne is not a
sailor, so Peter and I would do single watches, 4 hours on and four hours off,
while Hanne would share some of the cooking duties and be an extra hand on
deck. I would do most of the passage planning for our trip to the Canaries.<br/>
<br/>At noon of Nov 7th, right on time, Nerio motored into the marina of La
Linea, and once moored, Peter said "Right.. So what is your plan?". I
briefed Peter that the best combination of winds, tides and currents, would
have us leave at 5 AM the next morning. Without many questions asked, we had a
nice dinner, and an early night. And I have to say, the "not many
questions asked" from the skipper, continued throughout the next 6 weeks
aboard Nerio: Peter trusted my judgment and planning, so I could learn to sail
a yacht, bigger than anything I sailed before... Much bigger...<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1LctBKFQH3B5L7w8kR7efI1tb1USXGNfZRdJxihY8YthJPOUkUWpYZGEUTE5bkUdvtAdguzh85ml5q55m2sN6Pe7o-EoUjhiuCLTF6mJSlbYE28XKw_CCdKRERjPZxLZA27NcgxIx5IyFVo2r6JSNIt7Y7_Gyy60_RwhOCdC99ricTQUMiGC9bnSzyKg/s1752/nerio%20gibraltar.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1752" data-original-width="1084" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1LctBKFQH3B5L7w8kR7efI1tb1USXGNfZRdJxihY8YthJPOUkUWpYZGEUTE5bkUdvtAdguzh85ml5q55m2sN6Pe7o-EoUjhiuCLTF6mJSlbYE28XKw_CCdKRERjPZxLZA27NcgxIx5IyFVo2r6JSNIt7Y7_Gyy60_RwhOCdC99ricTQUMiGC9bnSzyKg/s400/nerio%20gibraltar.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>What follows is part of my real-time passage notes, which I posted
online, as the three of us sailed towards Las Palmas, where we swapped crew: In
Las Palmas, Hanne left the boat, and four other crew, Jan (one of my sailing
buddies), Xabi and Bego (our Spanish crew), and Saoirse ("Sushi", our
Irish crew) joined us for the passage to Cabo Verde and Barbados.<br/>
<br/>These online postings are uploaded via a Iridium Go Exec satellite phone
system we had on loan from Iridium, as a test for my work, at the time, in the
UN security team. <br/>
<br/><br/><h1>From Gibraltar towards Las Palmas</h1>
<br/>Date: 10-Nov-2022<br>
Position: On route between Gibraltar and Las Palmas.<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZIqTdcQFebjHx-sWdRyulwEX2xcmhCQ-9mnn3erKqJDtCYzY5vHLLcCsDIV_TcmYcZ9Ein9LKyCN2NMIbMbPIBQ0jq9iOSSl39NxOxmh5F1_ye4E7XBzbZOp9J2S8eJvDHRZUZgcPPbLm6Ww_Jq18AWm5KFFr3tZF3C4uCQ-AwG8p2NW-0pEUgEjtEY/s4032/sails.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZIqTdcQFebjHx-sWdRyulwEX2xcmhCQ-9mnn3erKqJDtCYzY5vHLLcCsDIV_TcmYcZ9Ein9LKyCN2NMIbMbPIBQ0jq9iOSSl39NxOxmh5F1_ye4E7XBzbZOp9J2S8eJvDHRZUZgcPPbLm6Ww_Jq18AWm5KFFr3tZF3C4uCQ-AwG8p2NW-0pEUgEjtEY/s400/sails.jpg"/></a></div><br/>Wind picked up in the morning and continued during the day and next night,
peaking at 20 kts sustained, mostly from aft (we ran for hours with TWA
175-165). We ran on our 140% genoa only, no main sail.<br>
Despite waves picking up to 2-3 meters, the boat runs like a train on a track:
very stable, no flapping sails, no weather helm. Very very impressive, she is.<br/>
<br/>We fine-tuned the HF radio to also allow conversations on amateur radio
bands. Did a test with a ham friend in Belgium.<br/>
<br/>We are debugging the boat’s Iridium sat phone (data can’t be activated for
some reason), but currently using my Iridium as backup for data, email, weather
reports, etc..<br/>
<br/>Fine-tuned the autopilot’s response: the helm is now far less nervous, with
no over-steering.<br/>
<br/>We snapped our leech-line in the genoa (minor problem, will be repaired in
Las Palmas). Also have a small hole (seam got loose) in the genoa.<br/>
<br/>Used the day to learn fine-trimming the genoa (sheet pressure, car position,
…). Despite the fact we ran on genoa only, at a boat speed peaking 7.5-8 kts,
there is almost no weather helm. Impressive.<br/>
<br/>Had cabbage soup with meatballs and smoked meat chunks, and cut slices of
pancake for lunch.<br/>
<br/>Weather is super nice, sunny, clear. Slightly fresh at night. A bit of
fog/dense moisture in the morning. Dew on deck too.<br/>
<br/>Continuing our watch system of 4 hours on and 4 hours off between Peter 1
(the skipper) and Peter 2 (me, as crew).<br/>
<br/>ETA in Las Palmas is now during the night of Nov 12-13.<br/>
<br/>Observation of the day:<br>
SV Nerio is a 72 ft (24 meter) Jongert 2200S racing cruiser, which used to run
competitive regattas. And today she showed her pedigree:<br>
I woke up for my shift at 8 AM, feeling the boat shiver: we were still under
engine but the wind finally picked up to 10 kts… And she felt the wind coming
up: she felt eager to get her sails up, like a race horse still in her stable,
which knows she will get out of her barn to run for the day. Nerio shivered in
anticipation. And once her sails were up, she galloped away. Born Free, Running
Free…<br/>
<br/>Signed: Peter 2 aboard S/V Nerio…<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>The beginning of a love story</h1>
<br/>Date: 11-Nov-2022<br>
Position: On route between Gibraltar and Las Palmas.<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYdk32w_JUs5Pz_BjVzUjPyOpXodCIjDbkCW67yGn5Z8CXLesZaqaaEC153MmXN2SYp0fmKPjO3ZzBL5C4s1oD1cbgwwB5fTrGgFMbgHN47RHSIRep0XIbP6Zb7RTNkREJxxg5_30jlPtmRfYoSlbghK7OKzM0sds3OXcWBg-7NxTJmLYur59e1CIhxo/s4032/love%20story.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYdk32w_JUs5Pz_BjVzUjPyOpXodCIjDbkCW67yGn5Z8CXLesZaqaaEC153MmXN2SYp0fmKPjO3ZzBL5C4s1oD1cbgwwB5fTrGgFMbgHN47RHSIRep0XIbP6Zb7RTNkREJxxg5_30jlPtmRfYoSlbghK7OKzM0sds3OXcWBg-7NxTJmLYur59e1CIhxo/s400/love%20story.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We
are three aboard our sailing yacht “Nerio”:<br/>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Captain and owner Peter 1<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Hanne, a friend of the skipper.
Non-sailor but does a lot of the cooking, cleaning and hands-on help.<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Myself, Peter 2<br/></li>
</ul>
<br/>The
deck watch routine is 4 hours in and 4 hours off, split between Peter 1 and
myself.<br>
I also do some of the cooking in-between (when I feel hungry mostly).<br/>
<br/>Peter
1 has been sailing this big vessel solo for the past years, so knows her inside
and out. For me, it is the first time I sail a big vessel like this, and even
more so, I now sail her “solo” during my shifts.<br/>
<br/>This
also means raising and dropping the sails. And these are BIIIG sails: our
carbon mast is 30 meters high, like a 10 story building. So the main sail is 30
m tall and at its foot, is about -I guess- over 10m long… <br/>
<br/>After
72 hours into the journey our 4 on/4 off schedule also means sailing day and
nights while the days of the week become unimportant. The only important thing
is: when is my next shift?<br>
My shifts are:<br/>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l3 level1 lfo4;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>00:00-04:00<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l3 level1 lfo4;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>08:00-12:00<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l3 level1 lfo4;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>16:00-20:00<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l3 level1 lfo4;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>and back 00:00-04:00<br/></li>
</ul>
<br/>Today
11-Nov, wind died, so we motored in the morning (this vessel has a 6 cylinder
220hp Mercedes engine, same as an autobus). This is the point where we left the
proximity of the African coast, and we headed straight into the ocean
(Southwest) to Las Palmas.<br/>
<br/>Late
at night, wind picked up again to 8 then 10, then 13 knots, but from straight
behind us.<br>
Peter and I agreed to raise the big genoa (the front sail) only (and not the main
sail), and give it a try. By the time I came on watch at midnight (morning
12th), Peter had already raised the genoa and I had the pleasure to trim it and
play with it for my 4 hour watch 00 to 04 AM.<br/>
<br/>The
sailors amongst you know that sailing with the wind straight from behind (180
dgs relative to the ship) is difficult. I also did not know how our 140% genoa
(foresail) was going to behave and likes to be tuned (for the sailors: the
track for the genoa runs from way before the mast all the way back to the helms
position on the aft of the ship!).<br/>
<br/>For
4 hours, it was a (love) affair between Nerio and myself, in the middle of the
night under a clear starry night. And she loves to be touched (trimmed), tuned
and looves to experiment and above all, loves long intense fast runs. She likes
it fast and long…. And from different angles.<br>
We started at 165 dgrs to the wind and gradually increased the angle to 176
apparent wind angle, where the actual wind angle often went to minus 170. ( ! )
That is right: 10 degrees into the other tack. We ran a starboard tack, but when
the wind went 10 degrees into the port tack, the sail did not even collapse.
Impressive... Even more so: we don’t have a whisker pole to keep the foresail
out. We run barebones white sails.<br/>
<br/>And
she looooved it, galloping without a hitch: no sail flapping - even though we
had 2-3 meter waves from aft quarter. She just sailed 15 knots' winds as if she
was a 2 m dinghy on a lake in a light breeze. She flew. For the sailors: and
she had only a 1 degree weather helm.<br/>
<br/>The
night before I tuned the autopilot so that the helm when steering under
autopilot would not behave nervously and rather react calmly to the changes of
the waves pushing and the wind changes. The helm hardly moves now.<br/>
<br/>Little
cracking or creaking in the whole boat, she does not make much of a noise.
Later from my cabin, I could hear her: the noise sailing through the waves was
only a calm sighing, like a hand rushing through a silk sheet. Unbelievable,
she is.<br/>
<br/>Day
1, she intimidated me with her looks, dominant appearance, dimensions, and thorough-bred
rigging.<br>
Day 2, she impressed me when running free over the ocean<br>
Day 3, I fell in love with her.<br/>
<br/>Signed,<br>
Peter 2 on S/V Nerio<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>In Las Palmas</h1>
<br/>Date: 19-Nov-2022 <br>
Position: 28º 07.570
N 15º 25.495 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1w8-XGDCgoiOjHGlO6ZL4l_u7cA6TaZN9lpPTrEAAE9E16W0CTtPorywCQoFl32FxMqM6j4hZvzJAhd8U5OQTgYAGetqpq21S_zVkufN0dvDdbW2j71pjkMWK0KHEG-X4C1ECcrEUmzEFKlHIaKpmuFdIFeMOP5S-S6pBxXQwaROgOsNnVEqzDVW2lI/s4032/las%20palmas.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1w8-XGDCgoiOjHGlO6ZL4l_u7cA6TaZN9lpPTrEAAE9E16W0CTtPorywCQoFl32FxMqM6j4hZvzJAhd8U5OQTgYAGetqpq21S_zVkufN0dvDdbW2j71pjkMWK0KHEG-X4C1ECcrEUmzEFKlHIaKpmuFdIFeMOP5S-S6pBxXQwaROgOsNnVEqzDVW2lI/s400/las%20palmas.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We arrived in Las Palmas-Canary Islands now 6 days ago.<br>
Time flew by. From our original crew of 3, Hanne left the boat and Jan, Xabi,
Bego and Saoirse ("Sushi") joined us for the next two legs to Cape Verde
and onwards to Barbados.<br/>
<br/>A diverse bunch, with all but one, experienced sailors.<br/>
<br/>Now, you need to understand that Nerio is a big vessel. A 24m racing
cruiser. A big boat means bigger “stuff”, more expensive stuff and more
maintenance.<br/>
<br/>Just to give you an idea:<br>
Nerio has 18 winches, of which 2 hydraulic and two grinder-driven.<br>
She holds 1.5 tons of fuel<br>
2x800 liters of fresh water<br>
Holding tanks keep 460 liters of wastewater…<br>
Her main engine is a 6 cylinder Mercedes engine of 220hp<br>
She has a 25 kva Panda generator.<br>
She has a fresh water maker with a capacity of making 80l/hour of drinking
water<br>
She has a 4m draft<br>
Under engine, she consumes about 11-12.5 l of diesel per hour at 6.5 kts (at
1000rpm).<br>
Her carbon mast is 30 meters tall (same as a 10 story building). The estimated
new-cost of her mast, alone, is about €900,000……<br>
She has a 140% massive genoa, which needs 6 people to carry (we know, we did it
this afternoon)…<br>
Her standing rigging is kevlar. Her mainsail is a laminated carbon-fiber racing
sail.<br/>
<br/>What I mean to say: This is not a standard glass-fiber cruising sailboat,
but she us a racing stallion. But as the skipper keeps on saying “big boats
means big systems. means expensive systems, means extensive and expensive maintenance”….<br/>
<br/>Our stay in Las Palmas was a witness of that:<br/>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Out came the faulty fresh water
pump and in came the new pump<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>HF radio refurbished<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Wind generator installed<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>IT systems upgraded<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Freezer revived while the fridge
compressor died<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Vacuum heads’ pump debugged<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Genoa (foresail) taken down and
repaired (leech line had snapped and there was a small tear in the sail)<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>alternator and regulator still to
be repaired<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>etc<br/></li>
</ul>
<br/>Meanwhile we re-provisioned with about 300 kgs of fresh and dry food rations
covering 5 weeks for 6 crew.<br/>
<br/>And busy we were, while keeping an eye on the weather window. (while I am writing
this, it is gusting over 30 knots in the marina….). <br/>
<br/>I have not seen much of Gran Canarias other than hardware shops and food
shops…At this moment it looks we will leave Las Palmas on Monday, heading for
Mindelo-Cape Verde. Fingers crossed. But spirits on board are high.<br/>
<br/>Peter on board SV Nerio<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Getting ready to leave Las Palmas</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Nov 20 2022 <br>
Position: 28º 07.570 N 15º 25.495 W<br/>
<br/>We have 24hrs left before we sail south-southwest. The wind is now calmer
than in the past days, so hopefully we can get the repaired genoa up today.<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_xhjajfUW7zBPb-YH22ylvo9Y_nU-yrt2XZVJrd774FfqYiACVHE7hbQh60Yxxe0PdsfhXCQVhhmn_cs9TpbtefJxmmMGqkNd8EBTj82c71176Cw6UFCfpJpMexEg8VcsG7Jlohh4n9KkzXo9AAlI1QAk_YHHFtHSrmdgWLPZP9sgNEgE2d-SIE29YQ/s2048/24f138ef-47d9-4ad6-b958-474df3f897b4.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_xhjajfUW7zBPb-YH22ylvo9Y_nU-yrt2XZVJrd774FfqYiACVHE7hbQh60Yxxe0PdsfhXCQVhhmn_cs9TpbtefJxmmMGqkNd8EBTj82c71176Cw6UFCfpJpMexEg8VcsG7Jlohh4n9KkzXo9AAlI1QAk_YHHFtHSrmdgWLPZP9sgNEgE2d-SIE29YQ/s400/24f138ef-47d9-4ad6-b958-474df3f897b4.JPG"/></a></div>
<br/><br/><h1>Ready!</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Nov 20 2022 <br>
Position: 28º 07.570 N 15º 25.495 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSwYMGCrV3lHMdaocpVdvVuMQw8K3Bg9Tvdpc7bGhaPOFkieP1WnEVLX1o8qxV57DPoJRx8j39srOaWCTa_sgsOW9mOaPhnrmnrNBDyS2PW-0hSieiO8jYVJkNzQ_v-1xjsB8lbHpv68KuMa7K0r8xgIXwRztTvNVQtev-lrMfAzakZ0OF8dKnNvveWzE/s4032/IMG_5651.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSwYMGCrV3lHMdaocpVdvVuMQw8K3Bg9Tvdpc7bGhaPOFkieP1WnEVLX1o8qxV57DPoJRx8j39srOaWCTa_sgsOW9mOaPhnrmnrNBDyS2PW-0hSieiO8jYVJkNzQ_v-1xjsB8lbHpv68KuMa7K0r8xgIXwRztTvNVQtev-lrMfAzakZ0OF8dKnNvveWzE/s400/IMG_5651.jpg"/></a></div>
We’re ready to leave tomorrow! The electrician is coming at 7 AM to try and
fix our main engine’s regulator, but that should not stop us from leaving at 8
AM - fill the fuel tanks and set off.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>We left Las Palmas!</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Nov 21 2022 <br>
Position: 28º 07.570 N 15º 25.495 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fX7whYzvapiTgXhyAMP5KBTnzsotaiQQ37ywbiq7kd5b64GY9DF9sGaXCoGCPt9JeOFkdt8ADBI_2z1uuX7xmzWKSfsPUEHYN8ooqrZhXePJrUcQ_LwrX2sFRk9Xiz9qvTWpSHeyC2ViL4V7BPrOVm_zQMHOjXfYIZxN-wsbwGY_JngD7qS3kI_uJTs/s1280/IMG_9389.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="911" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fX7whYzvapiTgXhyAMP5KBTnzsotaiQQ37ywbiq7kd5b64GY9DF9sGaXCoGCPt9JeOFkdt8ADBI_2z1uuX7xmzWKSfsPUEHYN8ooqrZhXePJrUcQ_LwrX2sFRk9Xiz9qvTWpSHeyC2ViL4V7BPrOVm_zQMHOjXfYIZxN-wsbwGY_JngD7qS3kI_uJTs/s400/IMG_9389.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We left Las Palmas port at 13:00 local time (after taking fuel, prepping the
boat etc).<br>
True wind speed is 15-20 knots, running 6-7 knots boat speed. Sea is relatively
calm - about 1-1.5 m waves at the moment, but we are still protected by the
island.<br>
As we are clearing the South/East side of Gran Canarias, we will then turn
towards Cape Verde - almost straight.<br/>
<br/>Wind forecast is very good with solid 15-20 knots of wind all the way to
Mindelo.<br>
According to the wind predictions, we should be in Mindelo in 6 days (Sunday at
noon).<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Like a train on a track</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Nov 21 2022 <br>
Position: 27º 58.190 N 15º 19.5 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCD7tBwlAbive4HRE5FAWYbJ6jAP6fzRDMXKjnYJd9K4klJQDKkuV_yJjEiLn2iLEom8lttbIYaLDX2nYSA5waGQ0u0yJkCV7cgQkV9qMmVmOKCH-jEXfJWrTTmkb0B-7uJmXQGPzyJLk2aV0qChYxNenTgPNQtPJTS49hU62QEajTCHkoBHHTxPcs8W0/s1280/IMG_9390.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCD7tBwlAbive4HRE5FAWYbJ6jAP6fzRDMXKjnYJd9K4klJQDKkuV_yJjEiLn2iLEom8lttbIYaLDX2nYSA5waGQ0u0yJkCV7cgQkV9qMmVmOKCH-jEXfJWrTTmkb0B-7uJmXQGPzyJLk2aV0qChYxNenTgPNQtPJTS49hU62QEajTCHkoBHHTxPcs8W0/s400/IMG_9390.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Nerio is flying like a train on a track.<br>
As of mid afternoon, we have 20-25 kts (gusting up to 30 kts) of wind. We’re
sailing under full genoa only (no mainsail and without a reef)<br>
Nerio is flying at 8-10 kts (we had a peak of 11.4 kts when we surfed off a
wave. We’re basically sailing downwind right towards Cape Verde.<br>
Talking about waves: sea is reasonably calm… about 3 meters coming from our
stern.<br/>
<br/>All good on board, we had pasta with meatballs and vegetable ragout. Njam. 2
crew feeling a bit under the weather, but we give them plenty of love and care.<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Fast forward</h1>
<br/>Date: Tue Nov 22 2022 <br>
Position: 27º 17.8 N 15º 33.7 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGWBK3jHeCXx1F_lLsJYhYmzMH4svBCJ8lY_IGMijAOUboV2lNsIV8KeHlLc7sccTv9VmUCnxbQ7U1pfCRGIH3WkKKRnkXhPBNZXUgpD1CujNTnltJsgjapbsF_QR5xL699-ertqBekVYaitTCQR6EYTMTFPYa1gFe7oqyNBWrRzB2iUsUwpu3_1aN2U/s1552/IMG_0557.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1552" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGWBK3jHeCXx1F_lLsJYhYmzMH4svBCJ8lY_IGMijAOUboV2lNsIV8KeHlLc7sccTv9VmUCnxbQ7U1pfCRGIH3WkKKRnkXhPBNZXUgpD1CujNTnltJsgjapbsF_QR5xL699-ertqBekVYaitTCQR6EYTMTFPYa1gFe7oqyNBWrRzB2iUsUwpu3_1aN2U/s400/IMG_0557.jpg"/></a></div><br/>It is around 3 AM now. We are making excellent progress. Wind up to 2AM was
20-30 kts at about 165 degrees. We were cruising at around 9 knots average boat
speed, but regularly with stretches of over 10 knots. Our record stands at 11.4
knots. And we are sailing only under our genoa. At this wind angle, it makes no
sense to put the mainsail up, as it would shade the genoa.<br>
The waves picked up considerably. Difficult to see at night how big they are,
but I feel they must me 3-4 meters. From time to time we surf down the waves.<br>
We are trying to keep the genoa from deflating/re-inflating when the boat moves
in the waves. When the genoa re-inflates, she always gives a massive bang, and
is not good for the sail nor the rigging. So dependent on the wind speed, angle
of the waves, we play with our heading to find “our sweet spot”, still heading
in the right direction and avoiding the cargo traffic around us. At this very
moment, we are heading straight for Mindelo.<br/>
<br/>The boat is happy. I can feel it. Two crew are still a bit under the weather
so Jan and I (“team Belgium)” took over two other watches, as well as the mother
watch (cooking) from those feeling a bit sick.<br/>
<br/>At this speed, we might be in Cape Verde in 4 days, though by Wednesday the
wind will ease a bit.<br/><br/>
PS: In the picture, taken by Sushi from the cockpit - which is about 7 meters forward from the stern- you see me on the bow. That will give you a perspective of how "big" Nerio really is.... She is... massive. And her sails are... massive... (post edit: I still, 16 months after sailing Nerio, can not believe my fortune to experience this passage. She really is a BIG ship. And I still love her, and the way she sails....<br/><br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><h1>It’s gonna be a lovely day…</h1>
<br/>Date: Tue Nov 22 2022 <br>
Position: 26º 08.080 N 16º 15.3 W<br/>
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<br/>Lovely sunny day here on the ocean. Still a nice fresh wind, so it is not
too hot — Nerio does not have a bimini, so only the forward part of the
cockpit is sheltered (from rain or sun). But with this nice cool wind, it is
really fun.<br/>
<br/>We just completed the first 24hrs of our trip to Mindelo. We covered 186
nautical miles (about 330 km) in that 24hrs. Not bad! With that we already
broke the daily speed record from our WHOLE trip last year.<br/>
<br/>During the night the wind was solid at 20-25 kts, with gusts up to lower
30’ies. Nerio did very well and handled the wind well, running for hours 8-9
knots average with longer stretches of 10 kts and some peaks of 11+ knots as
she’d pick up a wave to start surfing.<br/>
<br/>Waves were considerable last night, about 3-4 meters, but at this moment (1
PM) the wind calmed down to 15kts and waves are only 2-3 meters. Not a problem
when sailing down wind.<br/>
<br/>Love from us all!<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Almost sunset</h1>
<br/>Date: Tue Nov 22 2022 <br>
Position: 25º 07.4 N 17º 11.370 W<br/>
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<br/>We are about 40 minutes from sunset, and most crew are up and running about.
This is our usual time for some salty snacks and our sunset beer (the only “one
beer” we drink per day). It is also the time dinner is prepared. Our Irish
regatta sailor “Sushi” is on dinner duty. - she is making a chicken curry.
Looking forward to that. Xabi is cutting the veggies on deck. Peter 1 is working
on the Iridium system, Jan and I are on watch duty. Bego just finished her
shift and is taking a nap as her throat ache is not over yet. But she is much
better than yesterday.<br/>
<br/>This afternoon we had a big pod of dolphins jumping and playing around the
boat. Dolphins love to play around boats, especially right at the bow. All
sailors love dolphins. it was the first time that Xabi saw dolphins in his
life, but even for the salty sailors amongst us, this is a spectacle that never
grows old.<br/>
<br/>Ok, back to my watch now, looking at the sun closing onto the horizon while
soft music is playing in the cockpit.<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Good morning</h1>
<br/>Date: Wed Nov 23 2022 <br>
Position: 23º 57.370 N 17º 47.9 W<br/>
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<br/>Almost 4 AM. Time to relieve Bego and Xabi, our Spanish crew from watch and
for me to take over with Jan (“the Belgian crew”). Peter 1 and Sushi (“the
Austrian/Irish team”) ran the 8 PM to midnight watch.<br/>
<br/>It is pitch dark outside. No moon. During night we run "dark" on
the boat: we have head torches with red lights. Below-deck we run red lights
and on deck, all instruments are dimmed so it does not impede our night vision.<br/>
<br/>The boat runs like a freaking train on a freaking track. We have 20-30 knots
of winds. The wind comes from NE, hitting the boat at 165-170 TWA. AWA is
swinging between 140-175 degrees as the boat surfs over the waves.<br>
We are running at 8-10 knots boat speed.<br>
We are going fast, still on genoa only, on the same tack as we left Las Palmas.<br>
Despite that I can hear the waves are about 3 meters, Nerio is very stable, <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>showing her racing pedigree. With her 4-meter
keel, she loves a good breeze, and we love her for it.<br/>
<br/>OK, time to go on watch now. Looking forward to the moonrise and sunrise…<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Steaming along</h1>
<br/>Date: Wed Nov 23 2022 <br>
Position: 22º 56.5 N 18º 32.9 W<br/>
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<br/>Last 24hrs, we covered 158Nm rhumb line (the distance straight to the
destination), but the actual distance covered was slightly more as we never
sail in a straight line - at least not until the rum is finished. haha.<br/>
<br/>In the late morning, the wind picked up again, and so did the waves. With a
constant 20 kts of wind, the waves are 4+m .<br>
It is an interesting sight to see how the waves are rolling towards Nerio. Some
of them are 1m higher that the aft deck of Nerio. Like a professional surfer,
Nerio then speeds up, get’s her backside onto the wave and starts surfing,
while speeding up.<br>
That is how we got our new record speed of 12.2 kts…<br>
As the waves are faster than Nerio, eventually she gets off the waves. slows
down a bit and gets ready to surf the next wave…<br>
And the next…<br>
and the next…<br/>
<br/>That is what Atlantic tradewind sailing is like.<br/>
<br/>The only challenge is when the waves come from an odd angle, pushing Nerio slightly
sideways while she tries to surf the wave on an angle.<br>
Not easy for a 45 ton vessel, which includes a lot of helm movement. Bob, the autopilot
is busy!! But eventually Nerio gets then off the crest and goes back on her
course. So often the ship swings horizontally 20-30 degrees, while rocking
left/right and to-fro.<br/>
<br/>Sushi got the brunt of that movement last night while making dinner. While
we were on deck, we regularly heard pots, pans, cutting boards and cutlery
rattling violently. But I have to admit that Sushi was a champ. She did not
curse once and when we shouted: “Sushi: do you need any help”, she would just
say: “So, you know where the chili pepper spices are?”. Funny she is, our Irish
regatta champ.<br/>
<br/>Greeting from the Atlantic, all.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Sails…</h1>
<br/>Date: Wed Nov 23 2022 <br>
Position: 22º 40.7 N 18º 41.990 W<br/>
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<br/>Doh… a small 15cm rip appeared in our genoa, over a seam…We furled it to
protect the sail. We’re now running on our 2nd foresail, a smaller jib. But our
small jib is still as big as a 95% genoa on “a normal cruising boat” so we’re
still moving at 5.5-7 kts. Not bad!<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>OMG OMG, we jybed!</h1>
<br>Date: Wed Nov 23 2022 <br>
Position: 22º 18.0 N 18º 52.2 W<br/>
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<br/>By now we had sailed on the same tack since we left Las Palmas 2.5 days ago,
and OMG tonight we jybed onto a starboard tack: this will put us on a slightly
more westerly course, which is good, as there will less wind close to the African
coast.<br/>
<br/>Well, “close” is relative, though… we have been sailing for almost a day now
without seeing any other ship. So this evening we started calling other ships
we could see on our plotter. Had a nice chat with the Dutch skipper of “Spirit
of a Geisha”, a sailing vessel 30 miles ahead of us. The poor guy probably
still wonders what happened to him during that conversation, as we invited
ourselves for coffee on his boat tomorrow morning. <br/>
<br/>Anyway, that was the evening report from SV Nerio! Nite, nite!<span
style='mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'><br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Sailing is like a thriller in slow motion</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Nov 24 2022 <br>
Position: 21º 51.6 N 19º 25.8 W<br/>
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<br/>Some people find long passages boring… Always the same sky, always the same
sea, not much to do but to sleep, run your watch, eat and repeat.<br/>
<br/>I find long passages exciting. Often as exciting as a thriller. All be it a
thriller in slow motion. <br/>
<br/>Examples:<br>
(1) You can see a 200m long cargo ship, steaming at 20kts right towards you,
but she is still 40 miles out. This means you have about 1.5 hours before you
cross her (or bang into her), which means you have about half an hour to decide
what your strategy will be (sure, cargo vessels are supposed to give way for
vessels under sail, but I am still to see one who does).<br>
And after that 30 minutes decision time, you have half an hour to see if your
strategy works. If not: decide what to do, if you are still coming too close to
the cargo vessel (we typically stay a mile away from them)…<br>
With a plethora of options, you need to make up your mind and execute, which
might mean jibing in the middle of the night... <br/>
<br/>(2) Like, right now, we will soon have to decide that to do with the sails:
in 2-3 hours, the wind will drop to 10-15 knots which might be too low to run
under our jib.<br>
Do we raise the main sail? If so, would it not flap too much in the waves?
Should we unfurl the genoa (though it is torn, the seam tear might hold in less
wind)... Decisions, decisions....<br/>
<br/>(3) And then there is the need to decide if I will have a coffee or tea or
instant soup…<br/>
<br/>But right now I decided to look at the stars. The night is clear. I am
looking forward to the sunrise too!!<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Flying fish attack</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Nov 24 2022 <br>
Position: 21º 51.6 N 19º 25.8 W<br/>
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<br/>You can feel we are heading further south. More flying fish start to appear.<br/>
<br/>We just had our first close encounters tonight. 5 minutes ago one flying fish flew
into my side and just now, one flew into the cockpit.<br>
There is only one good way to grab them and release them: take em with a paper
towel, and throw them back without damaging them. They are too slippery to take
by hand (especially when they are alive, as they put up quite a fight….).<br>
If they continue to fly into the cockpit, we will keep them and make fried
flying fish, a national dish in Barbados, by the way!<br/>
<br/>In the morning, we have to do a flying fish patrol on deck to clean the
bow and side decks of dead flying fish otherwise Nerio will start stinking like
an old fish truck.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Desert sailing</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Nov 24 2022 <br>
Position: 21º 13.1 N 20º 27.6 W<br/>
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<br/>So with our daily position updates we tested who pays attention. And only 2
people noticed that our last logged position was in the Sahara desert <br>
PS: it is Saoirse’s fault.<br>
PPS: Thanks Dave (Ed: that is Saoirse's dad), not for Saoirse but for noticing
the error :-) <br/>
PPPS: And the Sahara is not really that far off from us. The sky is hazy, filled with fine sahara sand dust.
<br/>Peter 2<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>When I wake up in the morning, love..</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Nov 24 2022 <br>
Position: 21º 13.1 N 20º 27.6 W<br/>
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<br/>When I wake up in the morning, love…<br>
and sunshine hits my eye.<br>
Then I know it’s gonna be…<br>
a lovely day,<br>
a lovely day…”<br>
(Bill Withers, was it not?)<br/>
<br/>Gorgeous sunshiny day here on the ocean. We’re thinking of all you lovely
people in the cold and rainy Northern hemisphere. Nooot! :-)<br/>
<br/>Around 11 AM it seems like all crew was on deck, enjoying the wind, sun,
sea… Out came the guitar, flutes and drums, and cheery seamen songs were had by
all…<br/>
<br/>“I tell me ma when I go home,<br>
the boys won’t leave the girls alone.<br>
They pulled my hair<br>
and they stole my comb.<br>
Well, that’s alright till I go home”.<br/>
<br/>Good to see a cheery crew. All who felt a bit sick or flu-ish are now
better. You can see by the smiles. Guess it takes a couple of days to get into
the groove of a passage…<br/>
<br/>Last 24hrs we did 122 Nmiles, so we suffered a bit from swapping the genoa
to the gib, but we could not risk ripping that seam open more… But we do need
to have that wind around 15 knots minimum, to keep a bit of speed.<br>
The good news is that last night we micro-analysed the weather forecast and
routing. We download wind, rain, waves forecast via satellite every day and the
software does an analysis with a suggested routing — so far several of
the weather forecast models were exact, up to the hour. Amazing.<br>
So we decided on a strategy for the next days: we’re heading more westward now
following some higher wind zones (or rather avoiding the low wind areas closer
to the coast), on a 244 dgs heading, and then, in a day or so, do a jibe to go
more southerly. and all while we continue to fill the sails.<br>
At this moment, we’re still cruising around 5 knots, with 15 knots of wind…<br/>
<br/>Mindelo: get the beers in the cooler, daddy’s coming to port! Ihaaa!<br/>
<br/>PS: we’re having Spaghetti con ragu de carne tonight, spiked up with my home
made spicy sauce. It is already prepared and will mature in the pot for 6
hours.<br>
I might throw in a fruit salad as desert too as this crew ain’t eating enough
fruit!<br/>
<br/>Greetings, land people on shore.<br/>
<br/>Signed, the salty sailors aboard S/V Nerio!<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>We got company</h1>
<br/>Date: Fri Nov 25 2022 <br>
Position: 20º 50.6 N 21º 10.7 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxIs6kf58t9UznVma3qhqC72RL6Mav1RMo-tUspypSKJHazZ0mFS54sBaFjUO779I3dPaEariv8LEvDnRVhqQymnwS_ANl7mK8_1qF52ED7GLhf0pSlu8XYmh708T3f-zqxKIalPqCHMDlgUsSqltqkCdNa0qo1SI_35ACzvDUgolz4GrZMYaiD5uYvnM/s2016/IMG_5740.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxIs6kf58t9UznVma3qhqC72RL6Mav1RMo-tUspypSKJHazZ0mFS54sBaFjUO779I3dPaEariv8LEvDnRVhqQymnwS_ANl7mK8_1qF52ED7GLhf0pSlu8XYmh708T3f-zqxKIalPqCHMDlgUsSqltqkCdNa0qo1SI_35ACzvDUgolz4GrZMYaiD5uYvnM/s400/IMG_5740.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Goooood mooorning!<br/>
<br/>Well, not really… it is 02:25.<br>
The night sky is really clear. No clouds, but also little humidity in the air.
And there is no moon…<br>
This is the first night we can see the Milky Way clearly.<br/>
<br/>We chose the right course to stay in the wind: still 15-20 kts… We decided
we’ll continue until with a single jibe we can turn towards Mindelo, our
destination…<br/>
<br/>It is also the first night we can “see” so many sailing vessels around us.
We counted 6, including “Rantje” (see AIS plot on the picture), who is part of our virtual flotilla - a
whatsapp group we created some weeks ago, of sailing vessels crossing the
Atlantic. Most of the sailboats we see around us, are all heading towards Cape Verde,
so, as the days go by, we will all start congregating and we will see more of
them in Cape Verde…<br/>
<br/>By the way, I say “we can see vessels”, this is not with our eyes of course.
We have not physically seen a vessel since this afternoon… But we can “see”
much further with the AIS (Automatic Identification System) most vessels have on
board. AIS broadcasts (via VHF radio), a digital signal containing basic data
(vessel name, number, type, course, speed, length/width etc.<br>
On Nerio we have and AIS class A, same as the commercial vessels, 50x more power
than AIS Class B which sailing vessels normally use. We also have a separate
AIS antenna. At this moment, we are picking up AIS signals from vessels over
600 km away. A sign we are clearly into the tropics where VHF signals can be
heard much further, as they travel in a tunnel between the sea and air layers which
have temperature inversion (higher layers having higher temperatures than lower
layers, the reverse of “how it should be”). VHF signals then bounce between the
water and those air layers, as if in a tunnel. This tunnel can be thousands of
kilometers long. Last year, 1000 Nm from Barbados, we heard Las Palmas radio,
then about 4000km away…<br/>
<br/>Ok, enough science. Back to gazing at the stars on this lovely night.<br/><br/>
PS: We met up with Rantje's crew in Mindelo, and at the time of this post-edit, they are sailing along the Antarctic. Well done, guys!<br/><br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Preparing to jybe!</h1>
<br/>Date: Fri Nov 25 2022 <br>
Position: 20º 47.2 N 21º 16.8 W<br/>
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<br/>We are preparing to jybe tomorrow night. The crew is very busy preparing
(throwing in some humor here )<br>
<br>
Seriously, here is our plan:<br>
Date-time-avg wind-wind gust-true wind direction-tack+wind angle-course-boat
speed<br>
26 Nov 17:20 16.8 21.6 39 S159 239 4.5<br>
26 Nov 18:59 17.1 22.1 40 S161 239 4.5<br>
26 Nov 20:40 17.3 22.3 43 S163 239 3.9<br>
26 Nov 22:37 17.3 22.3 45 P150 196 4.9<br>
27 Nov 00:10 16.7 21.6 48 P148 196 5.0<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Rolly afternoon</h1>
<br/>Date: Fri Nov 25 2022 <br>
Position: 20º 12.7 N 22º 25.3 W<br/>
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<br/>We had a nice run this morning, but in the early afternoon we struggled a
bit as the wind weakened to 13 kts, while the sea state was considerable (3
meter waves), so Bob, our autopilot tried his best to keep a good course to our
gybe point of tomorrow.<br>
As it was difficult to keep good pressure on the jib, we went a bit off course
to keep the sail happy and keep up some speed. But the ship did not feel happy.
She does not like to sail slow. The autopilot has some settings to define how
fast Bob reacts to correct when waves lift us and push us left or right, so we
adjusted these settings to ease Bob’s work.<br>
I helmed manually for half an hour, to feel how Nerio likes the waves, and
build up some speed. An autopilot is reactive: it reacts on what the waves do,
but if you helm manually, you can anticipate the waves and counterhelm before
the waves hit. Nerio liked it, and it was no surprise that the wind picked up
again. <br>
At this moment, it blows 20-24 kts again and Nerio is back in her element.
Still some freak waves hit us from time to time, and some spray the deck, but while
sailing downwind, Nerio is not a wet boat at all. We’re also well sheltered in
the cockpit.<br>
Still impressive how the waves come in towering behind us, often higher than
our aft deck, lift up her stern, pull down the bow. And as the waves roll under
us, Nerio’s stern lifts up, pointing the bow down. Looking from the cockpit to
the bow, we see that often the bow point down into the sea and the next moment,
the bow points into the sky. Pretty impressive. Even more impressive is that
none of the crew got seasick, not even while preparing dinner for 6. And it
gets real hot, damp and smelly in the galley!<br/>
<br/>All a good rehearsal for our transatlantic passage after Mindelo.<br/>
<br/>We had a good English breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and the 2nd part of
the ragu with pasta for dinner.<br/>
<br/>Called the Mindelo marina to book a space, and we ahould be ok…<br/>
<br/>Life is good.<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Watching Nerio</h1>
<br/>Date:
Sat Nov 26 2022 <br>
Position: 19º 23.0 N 23º 50.5 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVkgvgAh81ZhYPVPfGgFNE6VwJbSSdfkXPfk36exVO4SKNSa8XEYplQipGlLdcYvAO07TTLL-rj1NekxJaG9JmVTp6GhFrvvVM_79TfxR0utFuQ15_GvqdSsmD1lNwjUQBTVtPubZ2HMWkm63f_tVSfFJ6GkoEY9Lv3tZru50t6gmYQt7Pe3Vpm8K5Ew/s1877/IMG_5647.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1877" data-original-width="1411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVkgvgAh81ZhYPVPfGgFNE6VwJbSSdfkXPfk36exVO4SKNSa8XEYplQipGlLdcYvAO07TTLL-rj1NekxJaG9JmVTp6GhFrvvVM_79TfxR0utFuQ15_GvqdSsmD1lNwjUQBTVtPubZ2HMWkm63f_tVSfFJ6GkoEY9Lv3tZru50t6gmYQt7Pe3Vpm8K5Ew/s400/IMG_5647.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>On
Nerio, we have 6 crew (well, one skipper and 5 crew), divided into 3 teams:<br/>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l2 level1 lfo6;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The Irish/Austrian team: Peter 1
and Sushi<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l2 level1 lfo6;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The Spanish (well Bask) team with
Bego and Xabi<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l2 level1 lfo6;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The Belgian (well, Flemish team)
of Jan and Peter 2.<br/></li>
</ul>
<br/>Each
team has 4 hours watch and 8 hours off, followed by 4 hours watch and 8 hours
off again. A team on watch is on deck and “runs” the ship, minding the sails,
the course, traffic etc…<br/>
<br/>Each
week, for one week, we run the same 3x4 hours. Every week we shift the teams 4
hours forward, so over 3 weeks, each team has done every 4 hours slot.<br/>
<br/>For
instance, this week, Jan and I have the “wonder” shift: we have both the sunrise
and sunset shift: We run the 4AM-8AM and 4 PM-8PM watch shift.<br>
Bego and Xabi have the shift before us; and Peter 1 and Sushi have the shift
after us.<br/>
<br/>In
addition, there is the “mother watch”: this is the team which cooks the evening
meal, and that rotates daily.<br/>
<br/>And
beyond that, there are the “ad hoc” duties: overall boat maintenance, debugging
systems, ad hoc minor repairs/adjustments or stinky jobs like de-clogging one
of the heads (the favorite job for every skipper!).<br/>
<br/>So,
we’re quite organized here on Nerio…<br/>
<br/>PS:
this evening we’re having potatoes hashed with minced meat, mixed vegetables
and gravy, courtesy Sushi.<br>
PS: we already made our “to-do” list for Mindelo: provisioning fresh/frozen
food, genoa patch, mainsail bag repair, laundry, boat cleaning etc <br>
PS: looking forward to be back in Mindelo. It’s been a year already! Looking
forward to an “anchor beer”, some good cocktails in the many cafés, and a good
meal in one of the many restaurants with great live music (Mindelo is the
birthplace of Cesaria Evora, a famous Cape Verdian singer - who was also a
goodwill ambassador for WFP, the UN organisation I work for)<br>
PS: No flying fish caught last night.<br>
PS: Another 2 mast sailboat crossed our bow, 1-2 miles away, yesterday. No IAS
signature. I was off watch and asleep. #dah<br/>
<br/>Oh.
only covered 110 Nmiles last 24 hours. Slow day. 163 Nmiles to go to Mindelo.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Distance covered this far this trip</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Nov 26 2022 <br>
Position: 19º 23.0 N 23º 50.5 W<br/>
<br/>Extract from Nerio’s log:<br>
Star-date (ending 24 hour period) and distance (1 Nmile is abt 1.8 km) in 24
hours<br>
22/11 186 Nm<br>
23/11 158 Nm<br>
24/11 122 Nm<br>
25/11 123 Nm<br>
26/11 110 Nm<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>We jybed! We jybed! OMG, we jybed!</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Nov 26 2022 <br>
Position: 19º 11.8 N 24º 01.1 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUkwd2IaIKaLa6i99QcSp6BMtx6JrzpKfez3_djBpI90FFV3-B_ssvibDIO002e5BTgT8-EpDiIcy_w1nrypl_yoH-UbS4zHrpIi8b33DcFywK2aPbBMe9VoxiMW9dWaIEbn3fjKIq9OoxWGK7kk7zwfctt00GzCuNK1sPwdpbc6sf7alkPo6ZGPZQoQ/s1747/IMG_5786.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1747" data-original-width="1055" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUkwd2IaIKaLa6i99QcSp6BMtx6JrzpKfez3_djBpI90FFV3-B_ssvibDIO002e5BTgT8-EpDiIcy_w1nrypl_yoH-UbS4zHrpIi8b33DcFywK2aPbBMe9VoxiMW9dWaIEbn3fjKIq9OoxWGK7kk7zwfctt00GzCuNK1sPwdpbc6sf7alkPo6ZGPZQoQ/s400/IMG_5786.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We reached our planned waypoint to jybe, and we did.<br>
Closed the hatches which were open to vent the boat a bit, checked the lazy
sheet, and… Xabi pushed 5x 10 degrees port, Bego released the active sheet and
after the genoa lost power, Jan pulled in the other sheet. Secure the two sheets,
swapped the running backstay tension, and done.<br/>
<br/>Easy - Peazy.<br/>
<br/>Now we’re heading straight to Mindelo. 135 Nm to go.<br>
134 Nm to go.<br>
133 Nm to go.<br>
132 nm to go…<br>
<br>
Peter 2<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Land in sight. Almost</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Nov 27 2022 <br>
Position: 17º 56.670 N 24º 34.280 W<br/>
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<br/>07:00 AM<br>
The past hour we have been struggling to find some stretch of wind. Sailing
downwind in a considerable swell, with 11-12-13 knots of wind on our smaller
jib is not fun. Nerio feels like a stallion ready to gallop, but is restrained.
Even though we sail downwind, her sail is pretty tight. So with every puff of
15-16-17 knots of wind, she jumps up, and stretches her legs, jumping from
3.5-4.0 knots to 6/7 knots of boat speed…<br/>
<br/>We have a Bluetooth speaker in the cockpit. “The Mass” by Era is playing…
Keeps our blood pumping in anticipation of the final stretch to Mindelo.<br/>
<br/>We just spotted land on the radar, 50 miles away. Mindelo, get the beers
ready. “The Italians are coming!” (watch the YouTube video about Luna Rossa in
the last America’s Cup! - “The Italians are comingggg!”)<br/>
<br/>Peter 2.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Land ahoy! Land ahoy!</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Nov 27 2022 <br>
Position: 17º 29.680 N 24º 41.740 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHozQn2poYkaFqieWu-KOYJXA8uG2Tmb8cDkIxaEKLjyOMbMydX_0Hj7973ImeBaO2NT2KD_bpyGBZGzWwoV2yS8lLCSKyEhJHf7jMmVtDJdPOH0F3GizB4fvl2K99mXhiBJRycPkn4vy5nv1f6pZWTOuuiX0zcYEVTJrznRWnLgqmb6qE1z_3nUrzDxE/s1920/BE368E53-6956-469E-8945-A4399FF9F0F0.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHozQn2poYkaFqieWu-KOYJXA8uG2Tmb8cDkIxaEKLjyOMbMydX_0Hj7973ImeBaO2NT2KD_bpyGBZGzWwoV2yS8lLCSKyEhJHf7jMmVtDJdPOH0F3GizB4fvl2K99mXhiBJRycPkn4vy5nv1f6pZWTOuuiX0zcYEVTJrznRWnLgqmb6qE1z_3nUrzDxE/s400/BE368E53-6956-469E-8945-A4399FF9F0F0.JPG"/></a></div>
<br/>We sighted the first contours of the islands of Sao Vicente and Santo Antao
an hour ago. 18 Nmiles (3 hours at the current speed) to the entrance between
the islands. Add another 2-3 hours to sail towards Mindelo, prepare the boat to
get into the marina,… and we should be getting into the anchorage area around
19:00 local time… After sunset… We’ll see if we can get/want to get into the
marina in the dark, or drop the anchor in the bay of Mindelo and go into the
marina tomorrow morning…<br>
We gave the marina an advanced notice of our arrival 3 days ago. They said they
had space for us (not obvious as we have 4 meters draft: just on the edge of
the marina, the maximum depth is 4.1m,. But the marina did not take
bookings/reservations. Cross fingers we can get in…!<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Whale spotting</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Nov 27 2022 <br>
Position: 17º 29.680 N 24º 41.740 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZG3xqshndX4TAqVx1MVV-JRyxzjKygBeh3K_RAS-s0F56cz9xdG_HoezFtmOjejhAYRMREbVsaVUk2oYM6AuzPrmpJyHdT3MCVZoSP7y6n-KpZk4syB7zSPCAeD3qImKohzmaw7OpyaYkUlfR2jir1WB-CilObbvwM8QFC-gCqj0LtHWMR6HC2fPrXg/s2016/IMG_5689.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZG3xqshndX4TAqVx1MVV-JRyxzjKygBeh3K_RAS-s0F56cz9xdG_HoezFtmOjejhAYRMREbVsaVUk2oYM6AuzPrmpJyHdT3MCVZoSP7y6n-KpZk4syB7zSPCAeD3qImKohzmaw7OpyaYkUlfR2jir1WB-CilObbvwM8QFC-gCqj0LtHWMR6HC2fPrXg/s400/IMG_5689.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We had occasions where we saw pods of dolphins, swimming towards Nerio, but
today was the first time we sighted whales.<br>
Jan spotted the first, who was really close to the boat… I mean: “close”. like
50 meters close!<br>
The whale turned and followed us for a while…<br/>
<br/>Just now, we saw another whale behind the boat. Always cool to see these
creatures.<br/>
<br/>At this moment, we are cruising like a steam train: 5-7 kts of wind, very
broad on a 17-22 knots of wind.<br>
We’re right on track… while we are 12 Nm from the islands, we can see some
contours, but it looks like the air is very humid. We have a telephone signal,
but still can not clearly see land.<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Safely arrived in Mindelo</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Nov 28 2022 <br>
Position: 16º 53.1 N 24º 59.5 W<br/>
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It was a "hairy" approach to Mindelo. Even under the best of circumstances, this is not an approach you want to do in the dark, as the anchorage is dotted with wrecks, unlit large mooring balls and unlit abandoned vessels... And we were approaching Mindelo just after sunset.<br/><br/>
Plus, just as we rounded the corner of our approach, the wind picked up to 40 kts. We were prepared and had dropped the sails already before our approach, but Nerio was "sailing" at 3.5 kts only on the windage of its standing rigging. <br/><br/>
As I had been in Mindelo last year, and knew the marina and anchorage pretty well, the skipper asked me to take the helm and take over command of the team. It really became hairy, as while the team was putting the fenders out, in the howling wind, the navigation system died, and we no longer had electronic charts nor reliable depth readings. Bummer<br/><br/>
Luckily (luck favours the prepared), I had the charts on my mobile phone, and could see (see screenshot), in red the approach we did last year. In green, you can see we followed that track, did two U-turns while we waited for the marina crew to give us a "go ahead" to approach the fuel dock, where we would moor overnight. <br/><br/>
The skipper took over the helm and moored Nerio flawlessly. <br/><br/>
<br/>So,last night, at 18:30 local time Nerio docked safely in the Mindelo marina in
Cape Verde, in the dark. Time for us to celebrate!<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Adrenaline</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Nov 28 2022<br/>
Position: 16º 53.1 N 24º 59.5 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip65KssfjFquu2AaYARgjCySUZiyFIbaWT_LdzKF0LKIFuoYjobbz88ydjNchM-DftxLu02_094pZqrO6ouTcaNETML7hn1_-SyTRLhI3ehnX9cIjYpHxaAS0UDTallY1Oqn2rwYyAfX_xHmNl_CNRWDRPfhT4LsEtHv-KjBvcjok3H-DuG8Hho3zotUg/s2016/IMG_5790.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip65KssfjFquu2AaYARgjCySUZiyFIbaWT_LdzKF0LKIFuoYjobbz88ydjNchM-DftxLu02_094pZqrO6ouTcaNETML7hn1_-SyTRLhI3ehnX9cIjYpHxaAS0UDTallY1Oqn2rwYyAfX_xHmNl_CNRWDRPfhT4LsEtHv-KjBvcjok3H-DuG8Hho3zotUg/s400/IMG_5790.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>It is amazing what adrenaline does to you.<br>
We came into Mindelo last night with plenty of energy and agreed to get up at 8
AM to start work.<br>
And we did… We cast off the fuel dock around 08:30 (wayyy before my first
coffee and my usual wakeup routine, so I was super grumpy). <br/>We took down the torn genoa, moved the boat to
its final berth. Bego and Sushi sewed the seam of the genoa, Xabi did the laundry,
Jan got the marina access cards, Peter 1 checked us in, I booked work orders
for boat repairs and did my usual thing of bossing people around and giving
anyone who tried to boss me around, a hard time. (Mainly Sushi, though)<br/><br/>
<br/>And then, it seems people fell flat. The adrenaline had gone and we decided
to chill for the rest of the day. Meet the yachties around us, and “ease down”.
Tomorrow is another day.<br/>
<br/>One thing I realize is that I start to grow a deep affection for the people
around me, with all the oddities they have (especially Sushi… <span
class=hashtag>#DominantLeo</span> she is, Sam will confirm)<br>
And that is a good thing. Passage sailing is not about the sailing: it is the
crew that makes or breaks a passage.<br/>
<br/>And I love them! I do. Even Sushi, <span class=hashtag>#DominantLeo</span>
she is. (I am kidding, Sam!)<br/>
<br/>And I realize I am right where I want to be in life. On a boat, salt on my
skin, wind in my hair, and lovely people around me. This is where I belong.<br/><br/>
In the picture, Sushi and Bego are sewing the small rip in the genoa.<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Getting ready to leave</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 01 2022 <br>
Position: 16º
53.1 N 24º 59.5 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vQnDBOpMpMvfnqwtPzk99-qHCNyRlB8hgOiROI35dwPTSOOAmm3frQ_YchfxucOIge379_fWzOV1z_6v7pFaKdDyIT-RJuTCPUCBd65wAIEub5ewW7YRKNX8QHVu1ZB7zXMH2vC6RPdMTPE11rUpjWPiPv37VmpgXwzCGSQFbdEVOvZEBcXy2cpzyy8/s1280/IMG_5837.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="852" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vQnDBOpMpMvfnqwtPzk99-qHCNyRlB8hgOiROI35dwPTSOOAmm3frQ_YchfxucOIge379_fWzOV1z_6v7pFaKdDyIT-RJuTCPUCBd65wAIEub5ewW7YRKNX8QHVu1ZB7zXMH2vC6RPdMTPE11rUpjWPiPv37VmpgXwzCGSQFbdEVOvZEBcXy2cpzyy8/s400/IMG_5837.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Most of us had little time to explore the town or the island: we tried to get Nerio ready for the next longer leg of our passage. We had a number of mechanical and electrical issues on Nerio, some which existed already since Cartegena, some which popped up during our passage.<br/><br/>
With help of our remote shore crew, we found the cause of the the failing navigation system, which we experienced during our Mindelo approach: Nerio's navigation system is a rather complex UNIX system interfacing all input devices/information, like wind instruments, gauges, charts, radar etc... The UNIX server's buffer files were overflowing and filling up the hard disk, causing the system to fail (of course, it failed at the most critical point of the last passage, as we approached Mindelo at night under 40 knots of wind). Luckily, I had some UNIX programming experience, and together with the remote shore crew, we put in a batch routine to daily clean up the temporary buffer files. <br/><br/>
But we had a number of other issues: the fresh water pump was still leaking and acted up. It was patched up with some rags.<br/>
The fridge compressor was no longer working, and we could not reach the compressor to dismount/repair it. For the first days, we would cool the fridge with ice we bought in town (I will spare you the crusade we undertook trying to find blocks of ice in town!). The freezer never worked well, and a technician came on board and (correctly) identified the problem (being a frozen thermostat). The freezer would never freeze again, but at least we could use it as a fridge<br/>
Since Las Palmas, we had issues with the battery charging system, which would not charge from the two alternators. Several technicians (in Las Palmas and Mindelo) came and went, but we could never be sure if the problem was with the alternators or with the charge controllers. Two things were sure: (1) We could only charge the batteries with the generator, but unfortunately, that only charged our house battery bank, and not the starter batteries, so we have to start the engine from the house batteries. (2) Both the starter batteries and the house battery bank are lead-acid, and were cycled too deep, in the past. So none would really hold their charge well. This means that we would have to charge the batteries regularly with the generator.<br/>
There was a sea cock leak in the engine room, and we could never identify the source of the leak. This means we needed to run the massive engine room bilge pump every day. (in hindsight, probably the engine room bilge water slushing around, soaked and short-circuited the two alternators). After we left the boat in Barbados, this leak proved to become critical and the saltwater intake proved to be greater than the bilge pump capacity to pump it out. As Peter 1 said: "A boat is nothing else but a sinking home."<br/>
In Mindelo, we had a major electrical short circuit, which almost burned our electrical panel. It was analysed to be a problem with the isolation transformer (isolating shore power surges from the boat's systems). We never really solve that problem.<br/>
We never got Nerio's satellite data system to work, but I got the voice call system to work (hurray!). But I had brought my own Iridium satcom system, so we were covered<br/>
The HF radio system could send, but not receive. We never got to the bottom of this problem (after we left Nerio, it all boiled down to a software problem: with a hard-reset of the HF radio system, all seemed to work).<br/><br/>
Now having said that, Nerio has so many contingency systems, so we felt "OK" to continue our voyage. For me, it was an eye-opener, though, on how much can/and will go wrong on a big ship like Nerio. As Peter 1 said, the first time we met in Cartagena (under a wave of gin-and-tonics): "Peter, my key advice: Don't buy a boat. Sail on boats of others..." That was an advice I did not take lightly, as at that point in time, I was planning, with my sailing partner Mats, to buy our own 60-70 ft expedition-ready boat, somewhere similar in size to Nerio, maybe slightly smaller. And the transat passage on Nerio was my attempt to gain experience in "managing" a larger vessel, like Nerio - not only in navigating and sailing, but also in terms of "overall experience": "what does it take/cost to run a bigger vessel like this?".<br/>
And I took Peter 1's advice to heart. While I love the idea of (co-)owning a sailboat, my overall conclusions, after this trip were (1) Yep, I can sail, skipper and manage a big vessel like Nerio but (2) I do not want to spend 50% or more of my time refitting or repairing all things that could (and will) go wrong on a yacht of this size: I like sailing, but I am not the type of person who geeks on doing DIY projects on a boat. I like to sail, and not "repair boats in exotic places".<br/><br/>
(post-edit:) So, my experience on Nerio, was invaluable for me. --- And I want to thank Peter 1 for his insights, allowing me to (re-)direct my focus from "finding a vessel and to co-own it" to "yeah, let's just sail on boats of others"....<br/><br/>
Back to Nerio in Mindelo...<br/><br/>
Up early today. We’re getting ready to leave. Last boat chores, last
provisions for fresh food. Ice for the fridge. Clear customs.<br>
After casting off, we will have to raise the repaired genoa.<br/>
<br/>We’re ready. But the weather is not (see screen shot). We should have good winds the first two
days but the following 8 days are a mixed bag of light winds, and very patchy
spots of no wind.<br>
Strange how climate change unstabilizes the trade winds.<br/>
<br/>Nevertheless, we should cover the 2,100 Nmiles (about 4000 km) to Barbados
in 16 days.<br/>
<br/>Cross fingers…<br/>
<br/>PS: I uploaded some videos of our last passage on my Instagram
“theroadtothehorizon”<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>We’re off!</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 01 2022 <br>
Position: 16º
53.1 N 24º 59.5 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbgLYGgQiub5DMj0ZS5h6zQC_kEff9a_gbFypYc29Npc6mVIr1xL-O-ojgfZoBqXknhydJhSXPLUOigAvBF53tTg3NaYCLIXQjG7xMIJCItPXc5OkHUluM5GBNBXFrhoGcD1cIhMoe1t2Tg1W_xxBRsrzSQP1JVGykYoYZ8K-BWs64wGsJETmqCy6T7A/s2016/IMG_5848.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbgLYGgQiub5DMj0ZS5h6zQC_kEff9a_gbFypYc29Npc6mVIr1xL-O-ojgfZoBqXknhydJhSXPLUOigAvBF53tTg3NaYCLIXQjG7xMIJCItPXc5OkHUluM5GBNBXFrhoGcD1cIhMoe1t2Tg1W_xxBRsrzSQP1JVGykYoYZ8K-BWs64wGsJETmqCy6T7A/s400/IMG_5848.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We lifted anchor at 13:30 local time. Hoisted our repaired genoa and around
14:30, we headed into the open sea.<br>
Off we go in 20 kts of wind!<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Rolly night</h1>
<br/>Date: Fri Dec 02 2022 <br>
Position: 16º
10.7 N 26º 41.160 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3Eoaup6KFyGamUsUsqJR0ypgJHSWkEFqCBYm7LO9NcZ2Lnjwjh5l_OH63NjUT6u6g7Mly3XCTqs8y9e7Y6nBxH99TrP17J9ko9KyTpVGmTVbkaW0dwSur2XM0hz4m-J329h62mc6AGPDM8MSnJ4suEFwt4iImvwavOBqzQt4tVurPeZmeinJ2rSrSxY/s2016/IMG_5858.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3Eoaup6KFyGamUsUsqJR0ypgJHSWkEFqCBYm7LO9NcZ2Lnjwjh5l_OH63NjUT6u6g7Mly3XCTqs8y9e7Y6nBxH99TrP17J9ko9KyTpVGmTVbkaW0dwSur2XM0hz4m-J329h62mc6AGPDM8MSnJ4suEFwt4iImvwavOBqzQt4tVurPeZmeinJ2rSrSxY/s400/IMG_5858.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Good morning, people!!!<br/>
<br/>A few hours after we came rolling out of the strait between Sao Vicente and
Sao Antao islands, we came into the wind shade of both. Wind speed dropped to
7-8-9 knots. Sailing downwind with low winds in waves of 2-3-4 meters is not
fun.<br/>
<br/>Nerio was not happy. Her genoa flapped and lashed like crazy. We tried
anything in our book: car forward/backward, tighter/looser sails, sharper into
the wind or broader. We jibed 3 times.<br/>
<br/>Nerio comes alive at 10 knots. Below that, at least under white sails, she
ain’t happy. And the stallion she is, she showed her discontent in rolling,
pitching… Almost like kicking air as wild horses do.<br/>
<br/>We were in radio contact with 4-5 sailing vessels around us, and they were
all struggling.<br/>
<br/>At midnight, just as Jan and I took over from Bego and Xabi, we decided one
more jibe.<br>
And ……. the wind came alive as with a snap of a finger, it went from 10 to
17-18 knots in 2 seconds, and turned towards the North. We went into a beam
reach towards the West, and we let Nerio’s reins loose.<br>
She started flyyyyyyying: 8-9-10 knots. No more rolling and kicking: she ran
like a freakin’ train on a freakin’ track…<br/>
<br/>At this moment it is 09:41 AM and we still do 7 kts on 16kts of wind.<br/>
<br/>Wind will probably die tomorrow, though. Unless we reached quite south today
(North Atlantic depressions are neutering the trade winds in the next days)…<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Depressions, obsessions and oppressions</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Dec 03 2022 <br>
Position: 15º
47.7 N 28º 11.7 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTf6C93Z_6geHGImLSPV9NiIhusYW6L6tLLDbu4OZT-W-e-qMr0DKy9xdTe5xcioMX0g4HeMUA6xBlMr31szj37VGy01Mkt6Jibbza2WgzwmCFA8JRXWmXXbOIgfMZFUTlCRj_GGjqS_Dx3Yd8xH5w9R4rWsDfmL3nSCtnp9ygoCeyFwKLp9dnw0OYks/s2016/IMG_5864.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTf6C93Z_6geHGImLSPV9NiIhusYW6L6tLLDbu4OZT-W-e-qMr0DKy9xdTe5xcioMX0g4HeMUA6xBlMr31szj37VGy01Mkt6Jibbza2WgzwmCFA8JRXWmXXbOIgfMZFUTlCRj_GGjqS_Dx3Yd8xH5w9R4rWsDfmL3nSCtnp9ygoCeyFwKLp9dnw0OYks/s400/IMG_5864.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Well good morning everyone. Look out your window: if you see a fast ship
flying by, it is us.<br/>
<br/>It is midnight and we're flying at 7.5-9 kts. But it was not like that 15
minutes ago. We were fighting with winds dropping to 9 knots and flapping
sails. To put pressure on the sails, Xabi and Bego had to go sharper into the
wind, so gradually, we were starting to point more Northerly. So when I put my
head out of the companionway, they said: “We gotta jibe”!<br/>
<br/>There are three things we don’t like on this boat: (1) low wind (2)
Northerly course (3) our three course breakfast not being served in time, 9 AM
sharp. (last one was a joke)<br/>
<br/>So, no Northerly course, hey? Why, you might ask. Well since the Western
civilizations have been crossing the Atlantic East to West, to conquer and
oppress all other cultures, we have been sailing that direction using the trade
winds: the steady North-easterly winds roughly between 20-25 dgs North and 5-10
dgs North. These winds are part of the great circle: Winds start somewhere off
the Africa Northwest coast, blow towards the zone we are in, cross to the
Caribbean, create the Gulfstream turning to Florida, Bermuda, Azores and then
turn back down to NW Africa.<br/>
<br/>But in recent years, the North Atlantic winds (going West to East) and the
South Atlantic winds (going East-West) have been coming closer together. Where
they touch, they neutralize each other, creating large areas of no wind.<br>
The more as the Northern systems (in winter) carry strong low pressure systems
(depressions, or “storms”), they can turn our wind against us, or at least kill
our wind: wind in those depressions turn counter-clockwise…<br/>
<br/>So we, representatives of the oppressing cultures, have obsessions about
depressions.<br/>
<br/>So, more south we go.<br>
Also because it is good for our sun tan <br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>All sails up!</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Dec 03 2022 <br>
Position: 14º
58.2 N 28º 45.6 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAJfmh5DOAXa7M1x4aQfED-5oNpNYou-ELwYKfXxf-iWn9I_x_vbMJnRIkCMsngracYE0LF1NexmosSj8cKDqCr-BrIGWE5IvHnwxP0efB_OmRyYo58uZe3A5T9XR3ncF4QaT369ROZ2ANil4ksdE7jk4FCE7ObBLCW2r4ZrU9eyaJWuurTBfQoMiADE/s2016/IMG_4901.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAJfmh5DOAXa7M1x4aQfED-5oNpNYou-ELwYKfXxf-iWn9I_x_vbMJnRIkCMsngracYE0LF1NexmosSj8cKDqCr-BrIGWE5IvHnwxP0efB_OmRyYo58uZe3A5T9XR3ncF4QaT369ROZ2ANil4ksdE7jk4FCE7ObBLCW2r4ZrU9eyaJWuurTBfQoMiADE/s400/IMG_4901.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We knew today we’d have lighter winds (and almost no wind tomorrow).<br>
This morning “it” started. After struggling in 8-9 knots to keep course AND
keep the genoa from flapping, we gave up when the wind dropped to 6-7 knots.<br/>
<br/>We motored further south for 2 hours, and when the wind came back to 10
knots, we raised the mainsail (for the first time since leaving Las Palmas) and
then unfurled the genoa again.<br/>
<br/>We are now sailing with full genoa and main sail in 10-12 kts of wind, on a
steady SW course, running at 5-6 knots of boat speed. Prrretttty good!<br/>
<br/>The sea is very calm, and it is HOT: 32 degrees… But the sails are happy,
and so are we…<br/>
<br/>PS: last night we had the first signs of the North Atlantic depressions I
wrote about in my previous post: We spotted dark clouds with slight rain. But
we zigzagged around them, taking optimum advantage of the extra wind these
clouds generate.<br/>
<br/>All is good on Nerio!<br/>
<br/>PS: extra “hi” to Camino, Bego's friend, up in Iceland! Come to Barbados!
The rum, surf and reggae are much better there than in Iceland!<br/>
<br/>Peter 2<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Our progress so far. Und about ze Panzerprint</h1>
<br/>Date:
Sat Dec 03 2022 <br>
Position: 14º 58.2 N 28º 45.6 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG1txay8XDffXZwh7fH6p0LLLEZ5LFjHDiDBy-422vvnq807JVGU836Ey67DOK5HKcGkdGTP1PKO156fHcEi8PN2U70qh119T4cWEf1-sZlWjLE1F6UoaU7SEoayO7Egz8LwfeMC4iQmqpQxxvOa75U1N15iSDcVpNKizVDb2U61ZFiJbDYzSttlsmDko/s2016/IMG_5877.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG1txay8XDffXZwh7fH6p0LLLEZ5LFjHDiDBy-422vvnq807JVGU836Ey67DOK5HKcGkdGTP1PKO156fHcEi8PN2U70qh119T4cWEf1-sZlWjLE1F6UoaU7SEoayO7Egz8LwfeMC4iQmqpQxxvOa75U1N15iSDcVpNKizVDb2U61ZFiJbDYzSttlsmDko/s400/IMG_5877.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Every
24 hours, we log our progress to Barbados in a straight line from Mindelo.<br>
That is the PROGRESS, not the DISTANCE SAILED… We sail more than the daily
progress as we are zigzagging at different angles.<br/>
<br/>And
to be honest, from time to time, we take a side road to have dinner at a pub or
to say hello to a boat close to us. (joke)<br/>
<br/>Progress
done in the 24h ending on (at 15:00 local time):<br>
1/12: 0 Nm<br>
2/12: 130 Nm<br>
3/13: 100 Nm<br/>
<br/>Yep,
we zigzagged a lot last 24 hours. All Sushi’s fault. Darned Irish! - just
kidding!<br/>
<br/>We
actually have a boat close to us, at 5 Nm. I will call them on the radio. We
have a standard survey we ask every boat:<br/>
<ol start=1 type=1>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l4 level1 lfo5;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>what is the name of your vessel
and nationality of your crew. ((Often we explore around that topic,
specifically to make fun of Dutch, Australian, American, South African
crew. Well we make fun with/about/on top of any nationality<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l4 level1 lfo5;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>What did you have for lunch<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l4 level1 lfo5;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Are you seeing anyone these days
and is it serious?<br/></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l4 level1 lfo5;tab-stops:list 36.0pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>What are you wearing?<br/></li>
</ol>
<br/>Last
year we did the same Ralf, ze skippa from S/V Frida. Ralf anzwered: <br>
Answer 1: He was from Dzermany. With Nina his Kiwi wife.<br>
Answer 2: Wir have eatzen kartufflen mit wurst<br>
Answer 3: yez, my nina and ze iz naked on ze bed right now<br>
Answer 4: I am wearing my wanzy mit ze yellow pantzerprint.<br/>
<br/>We
loved Ralf und Nina, up to today.<br>
Especially Nina!<br>
Naked on ze bed. My god!<br/><br/>
PS: For a while we were able to sail with both the genoa and gib out. Cool stuff!<br/>
<br/>Greetingz
from ze Nerio!<br/>
<br/>Peter
Panzer Pan<br>
Mmwwhah!<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>And… we’re motoring</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Dec 04 2022 <br>
Position: 14º
19.5 N 29º 34.7 W<br/>
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<br/>As predicted, the wind gave up on us late afternoon, and we have been
motoring since then…<br/>
<br/>We had a few light rain clouds. The wind will be on the edge of “sailable”.<br/>
<br/>It is definitively getting warmer. 34 degrees yesterday noon and 26 degrees
now at midnight.<br/>
<br/>AH, coffee is ready. See you guys later.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Climate change: wind and sargassum</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Dec 04 2022 <br>
Position: 13º
49.4 N 30º 21.4 W<br/>
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<br/>Good morning lovely people!<br/>
<br/>There are two significant changes between my first transatlantic crossing in
2006, my crossing last year and now.<br/>
<br/>In a previous post, I explained we were heading more South to avoid the
North Atlantic depressions (storms) killing our winds. We just downloaded the
latest weather forecasts and it is worse than we could see a few days ago: We
need to go as low as 10-11 degrees North to avoid “no wind” areas. Up around 13
degrees North it is that bad that for some days we could have Western winds.
Can u imagine: in the trade wind belt, you get headwind?! As far South as 13
dgs North?!<br>
12 years ago, this never happened: we happily sailed across the Atlantic around
14 degrees North with steady 20-25 Knots of wind from North East as it should
be and has been for years.<br>
This is climate change for you: the North Atlantic depressions are getting much
more South as they used to go.<br/>
<br/>A second thing is that at this moment, we are sailing through seas of “sargassum”,
a seaweed which floats on the surface of the sea. We did not have this, 12
years ago. Over the past years, sargassum has become a pest in the Caribbean
where it suffocates whole bays: it drifts at the surface and takes away
sunlight and oxygen from the waters below. Killing most micro-organisms in the
water, and as such killing the whole food chain in the area. In some places it
is so dense, that fishermen can not even get out of the beaches anymore.<br>
The wild-growth of sargassum is attributed to more pollution in the sea,
particularly run-off of agricultural fertilizers, on which sargassum feeds. And
overall higher average temperatures. Climate change.<br/>
<br/>On many beaches in the Caribbean, sargassum drifts on land and starts to
rot, producing gasses, which further contribute to climate change.<br/>
<br/>Last year when Nadia, my dear twin-sister-from-another-mother (who is a
native Barbadian) showed me the West coast of Barbados. She had a sad look in
her face while showing the massive floats of sargassum along the coast and on
the beaches. “this was not the case in the past”, she said…<br/>
<br/>Now, I cannot browse the Internet here on the boat, so I cannot research
this, but is a mystery to me how this Sargasso gets into the middle of the Atlantic,
where we are, as it does not originate from Africa. Maybe it follows the great
wind circle, and is picked up by the Gulfstream, and then carried south and
west again. Someone needs to research this and tell us..! <br/>
<br/>PS: Jan made us lovely dhal last night. Mmmm! Wrapped in tortilla, it went
down really quickly.<br>
Today we are planning for spaghetti carbonara, and an exotic desert.<br/>
<br/>Greetings earthlings, from the Atlantic!<br/>
<br/>mwah!<br/>
<br/>Peter Zwei.
<br/><br/><h1>I think we nipped it in the butt…</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Dec 04 2022 <br>
Position: 13º
49.4 N 30º 21.4 W<br/>
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<br/>Today, low to no winds were predicted, but we found a small patch where
there was still 10 knots…<br/>
<br/>And I think we found it… I think we nipped it in the butt…<br>
We have the wind now on a beam reach at 9-11 knots… so we stopped the engine at
10:00, unfurled the genoa, and then … unfurled the jib on the same tack.<br>
Both sails are very close together, but with the wind at 90 degrees, the wind
can still slip between both sails, keeping both happy.<br/>
<br/>Hopefully the wind stays above 9 knots so that we can bridge this predicted
low wind patch.<br/>
<br/>PS: U2 is playing right now “All I want is you…”<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan.<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Nerio: a big red dot on a tiny ocean</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Dec 05 2022 <br>
Position: 13º
19.8 N 30º 45.020 W<br/>
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<br/>Nerio used to be a cruising racer - in her previous life, she was called
“Inspiration”. She used to sail regattas with 22 ( ! ) crew in board.<br/>
<br/>Part of that legacy was stowed in the front sail locker for years: A big red
gennaker, an asymmetrical spinnaker.<br>
Peter 1, the skipper, who mostly sails this ship solo, never had the occasion
to use this gennaker. It is a massive light sail, stowed in a sock, a snubber:
like a long cloth tube.<br/>
<br/>We had no clue what the state of this gennaker was. She was inspected a 1.5
years ago by a sailmaker, which we did not trust 100%, as this guys f$$%$cked
up the rigging of the reefing lines on the main sail, disabling Peter to reef
the main sail in 40kts of wind (now we know Nerio can sail under full main sail
in 40kts …)<br/>
<br/>So, today, as we had flat seas, and a steady 10 knots if wind, we had all
hands in deck, to get this big res monster out of her locker.<br>
And a monster she is: 30m tall and probably 15 meter wide at the foot.
Gennakers or spinnakers are made of light nylon, though “light” is relative on
Nerio. It takes 2-3 people to take the gennaker out of the sail locker and
prepare her.<br/>
<br/>We were a bit... concerned... Gennakers are very powerful, and one small
maneuver executed badly can make your day go “sideways”. On my first
transatlantic, a 57ft Beneteau, we “shaved” thru our spinnaker halyard, the
rope which pulls the spinnaker to the top of the mast. That rope “broke” and
the spinnaker, still attached at the bottom, flow forward, and then landed in
the water, where it formed a bag, scooping up water and grinding the boat to a
hold in just a few seconds. It took all crew to hoist the sail back into the
boat. Luckily we had no major damage.<br>
More or the less the same happened last year on our 49ft Jeanneau: the halyard
shaved through and swoooop, she landed in the water alongside the boat.<br/>
<br/>Spinnakers are known for their awesome power, which can broach, capsize
boats, throw crew overboard, cause major damage, like breaking the mast
(“dismasting”).<br/>
<br/>So we were anxious to hoist this red monster, but also apprehensive.<br/>
<br/>Sushi sails regattas, and knows how to fly spinnakers. She was in charge of
hoisting it. Bego and I helped her on the bow to pull the sail out of the locker,
Peter 1 was at the winch controlling the halyard, and Jan was at the helm. Once
the sock was hoisted, Bego would control the sheet on the aft deck.<br/>
<br/>As the gennaker, in its sock, came on deck we already saw the snuffer line
was tangled (the snuffer line is a looped rope that goes from the bottom,
inside the sock onto the outside. The snuffer line is used to pull the sock up
or down, to either let the gennaker fly or to stow it in the sock.<br>
Untangling lines on a 30m socked sail ain’t easy.<br/>
<br/>Anyways, Sushi coordinated the efforts of running the gennie sheets aft and
connect it to the clew We connected the head to the halyard and the tack to the
tackline, attached to the very front of the bow.<br/>
<br/>Sounds complex? Mmm it is not really, bit a bit of a puzzle: Top of the
sail: “the head” pulled up (“hoisted”) by the spinnaker halyard. The front
bottom of the sail, connected to the front corner of the sail or “tack”, via a
tackline to the bow. and the other side of the bottom (“the clew”), connected
to the port and starboard sheet, running to two winches aft.<br/>
<br/>We hoisted the mainsail, which is needed to “shade” the gennaker if we. need
to take it down fast, or de-power it.<br/>
<br/>And then up came the sock, pulled up via a halyard on a hydraulic winch.<br/>
<br/>It looked like the snufferline was tangled around the sock about 20m up, It
was not clear if it was a rigging problem or an oddity in how the sock was
made. But that looked weird. As we pulled the sock up, the gennaker inflated,
the sheet was pulled in, but clearly the snuffer line did not run smoothly. She
got stuck somewhere 20-25 meter up. As we flew the gennaker 2/3rds up, we took
a short break to catch our breath, and think. I even smoked a cigarette :-).<br/>
<br/>And back to the bow we went. It looked like the hoist and drop parts of the
snuffer line untangled themselves, but the snuffer line was still kinda wrapped
around the sock about 20-25m up. We shaded the spinnaker with the main by
changing course broader into the wind, pulled down the sock with 3 people.
Gennaker was now in the sock, and we let her down slowly. Only then, with 2/3
of the sail in deck, we saw the snuffer line was indeed wrapped around the
sock. We looped the snuffer line and pulled the whole bottom 2/3rds of the sock
through the loop. I guessed the snuffer line was now untangled, so we tested
it, by pulling the whole sock up again.<br>
And…. problem solved!<br/>
<br/>Decision time: do we now unsnuff the gennaker again and fly the kite or
lower it? Decision was this was enough adventure for the day, and after 2
hours, the crew was getting tired. This is when errors are made and people get
hurt or damage is caused.<br/>
<br/>We decided to call it a day, and in 20 minutes the sail was stowed back in
the locker, ready to be hoisted again.<br>
We’ll see if we want to hoist it again… We’ll have a chat about this.<br/>
<br/>But for now we will call this a success: we debugged and tested it all, and
are confident the sail is ready, and working.<br/>
<br/>And for 15 minutes we were a big red dot in a tiny ocean.<br/>
<br/>At this moment, at 03:30 in the morning, we are under “white sails”: full
main is up, full genoa out, and we are running 5 knots in 10 knots of wind,
under a bright moon and clear sky.<br/>
<br/>Happy sailors we are.<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan<br/>
<br/>SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>"The purpose of being", for a passage sailor</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Dec 05 2022 <br>
Position: 12º
52.2 N 31º 02.5 W<br/>
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<br/>Apart of keeping crew and boat safe and
happy, life of a passage sailor, going from point A to point B (e.g. from Cape
Verde to Barbados), is dominated by one word. — well “one abbreviation”:
"VMG" (Vee-ehm-dgee) <span style='mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'><br/>
<br/>VMG stands for "Velocity Made Good". Which does not say much. But
it simply means “the speed in which you approach your destination”.<br/>
<br/>Interested? Read on, as here we are going deep into the consciousness and subconscious
of a sailor, and the “art of sailing” which is such a marvelous combination of
science and art, of logical thinking and instinct, of centuries long
experiences and pure gut feeling, of hi-tech and “wet finger in the air”,
combining sophisticated instruments and getting out of the cockpit to look
around and “feel the boat, the sea, the breeze”.<br/>
<br/>Where was I. Oh … "VMG", right...<br>
Well: a boat can never sail straight into the wind. She can go faster or slower
dependent on the angle she sails in the wind. But even if you sail fast, it is
possible you don't make progress to your destination: Imagine your destination
is directly North, but at that wind angle, your boat is only doing 2 knots. But
you decide to sail East at a good wind angle and, say, 9 knots, you ain’t
approaching your destination (which is North). Despite sailing at 9 knots. you
actually sail away of your destination - or you have a negative VMG…<br/>
<br/>This example is obvious, but less obvious is what we are doing RIGHT NOW” on
Nerio In our shift, at this moment, we are playing with our course, to get a
maximum VMG.<br/>
<br/>Well almost, but it is a bit more complicated: we need to reach Barbados,
but also we need to go further south to go around the low wind areas we have
for the next week, if we would stay at the current latitude. If we would stay
at our current latitude and sail straight to Barbados, we’d suffer from very
low winds in the next week. And sure we could motor, but Nerio consumes, at 6
-6.5 knots under engine, about 19 liters of fuel per hour. Yep, Nero's 220HP
engine is a powerful 6 cylinder Mercedes engine, but she does consume quite a
bit of fuel. So our days of motoring are limited. We have two tanks of 750
liters of fuel, so that is 78 hours of motoring. Or about 3 days and 3 nights
of motoring. And that is not taking into account the consumption of the
generator which we need to cook, charge batteries etc.<br/>
<br/>So… right now, we are in a tight rope, balancing our approach speed, the
VMG, but also ensuring we do keep enough South to keep wind. And compromising
also with “keeping the sails from flapping” (which depends mostly on wave
angle, period and height), and efforts to jibe, change sails (it takes about 20
minutes to hoist Nero's main sail.<br/>
<br/>And above all, we choose a course which does not spill out cocktails, and
allows us some shade from the sun at noon. <br>
<br>
Who says sailing is easy?!<br/>
<br/>Cheers!<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Open relationships</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Dec 05 2022 <br>
Position: 12º
52.2 N 31º 02.5 W<br/>
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<br/>We now all agree that we need to go out and meet other people.<br>
I think it will be good for our relationship to see other people.<br/>
<br/>I mean I love Jan and I am sure he loves me, but in the end, our
relationship will benefit to see other people.<br/>
<br/>I mean I love Bego too. She is cute and funny, and all, but it can not be
that she is always the first face I see when I wake up (and go on deck). We
really need to go out more, and get from between these four walls. Or from
between bow and stern, in our case.<br/>
<br/>Our relationships need a breath of fresh air.<br/>
<br/>“Open relationships” will be our thing.<br/>
<br/>So we really need to meet other people, on other boats. We will call them on
VHF and see if they are seeing anyone lately, and if they feel the same way: "the
need to see other people"…<br/>
<br/>Next step is to also have an open relationship with Nerio: it will also be
good for us if we see other boats.<br/>
<br/>These relationships need to grow, evolve, expand. We need to find new ways
to do old things.<br/>
<br/>PS: has anyone seen Xabi’s black leather outfit with his whip thingies? He
lost it last night somewhere when he went out for drinks to the sail locker
last night<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan<br>
SK<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Going from A to B via C</h1>
<br/>Date: Tue Dec 06 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
05.7 N 32º 16.2 W<br/>
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<br/>A bit frustrating to realize we are no longer sailing towards Barbados, or
hardly… We need to move south to circumvent the low winds, but at times the
progress towards Barbados (in a direct line) is slow. Really slow.<br>
Last 24 hours, we sailed really well, but made only around 100 Nm progress
towards Barbados.<br/>
<br/>“sailing well” means “despite the low winds”: As predicted, the winds were
9-11-12 knots from ENE. we trimmed the sails to be able to move at least 5
knots going south, but also as west as possible: The main sail is out quite
far, but not too much otherwise she would shade the genoa. The genoa’s car is
wayyyy back, giving it plenty of sheet, almost running it like a gennaker.<br/>
<br/>And then we try to run a course as broad to the wind as possible while
keeping the sails happy and avoid flapping.<br/>
<br/>Luckily the sea is very flat, which allows us some extra margins to go
through wind shifts and small lulls without flapping.<br/>
<br/>Nerio sails really well. We did 5-6 knots in 9-10 knots of breeze at 100 dgs
apparent wind angle. Nice!<br/>
<br/>This morning at 09:00, we will jibe, and go West. We’ll have to find a sail
configuration that allows a real broad course. Probably we will have to hoist
the gennaker again.<br/>
<br/>Wind predictions for the next days are 9-11 knots from ENE, Wind will pick
up , up to 14 knots after that, but Thursday/Friday we will struggle with low
winds. After that, we will have a home run to “POINT B”: “B” for Barbados<br/>
<br/>Good night all!<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>We jybed!</h1>
<br/>Date: Tue Dec 06 2022 <br>
Position: 10º
36.930 N 32º 37.390 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJomaeSQVDllyssIAxSKTDqod9hTqLl5TAC7X8Uio2-1MlVLJGbVM6RRqwn5JPEMPJ7JIhTgEhUFuZHIo86SCHteo_xfKQf_OdNJZhtIV1sBJFmFCB1k53566XO3box0OnTNM4WFvgjOAuKZSWcOQ54QwDJmWIKmQRk5GlwMr_sVldC4B3LUhtdd8aSns/s2016/IMG_5930.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJomaeSQVDllyssIAxSKTDqod9hTqLl5TAC7X8Uio2-1MlVLJGbVM6RRqwn5JPEMPJ7JIhTgEhUFuZHIo86SCHteo_xfKQf_OdNJZhtIV1sBJFmFCB1k53566XO3box0OnTNM4WFvgjOAuKZSWcOQ54QwDJmWIKmQRk5GlwMr_sVldC4B3LUhtdd8aSns/s400/IMG_5930.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>At 08:00 AM we jybed! (Well, Sushi and Peter 1 jybed at the end of their
shift).<br/>
<br/>We are now more or less heading straight to Barbados. Finally!<br/>
<br/>Still running under mainsail and genoa… 6-7 knots in 12-13 knots at 110
degrees apparent wind angle.<br/>
<br/>After the gybe, we celebrated with a full warm breakfast: Spanish omelet,
beans in tomatoes sauce and sausages!<br/>
<br/>The only problem is that in the morning, the sun is on our back and there is
only 1 m2 of shade in the cockpit. Right now, Bego, Peter 1, Sushi and Xabi are
sitting on top of each other on this 1 m2…<br>
Just kidding. But if someone goes below to get something, someone else takes
his/her space in the shade!<br>
"Qui va a la chasse, pert ca place<br>
(et qui revient, y trouve un chien)"<br/>
<br/>PS: also good news: we called the marina in Port St Charles in Barbados and
since this week, we can clear customs there. No hassle anymore to clear in, in
Bridgetown… <span class=hashtag>#Yay</span><br/>
<br/>Peter Pan<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Wind, no wind, wind, no wind</h1>
<br/>Date: Wed Dec 07 2022 <br>
Position: 10º
52.7 N 33º 43.9 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fsRdw-SjmaIMsI_cPmXoAltKCc2t169pklQHNC9-LO9NmXpDLxFg0Ssl1qdz1hnfZK4Hq4T3Ff_qeRY44GN2EG-nFQLy-i3-ZJdgcg6EY4rEEzAwqrMUZgH1ukkwGl_jZkZzyfSIRKVx0Xfgxg9C4v9OmAQcy5g9sgC2jDi-v1MeX_-T7EeyqU-Hs9s/s2016/IMG_5928.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fsRdw-SjmaIMsI_cPmXoAltKCc2t169pklQHNC9-LO9NmXpDLxFg0Ssl1qdz1hnfZK4Hq4T3Ff_qeRY44GN2EG-nFQLy-i3-ZJdgcg6EY4rEEzAwqrMUZgH1ukkwGl_jZkZzyfSIRKVx0Xfgxg9C4v9OmAQcy5g9sgC2jDi-v1MeX_-T7EeyqU-Hs9s/s400/IMG_5928.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Well this morning we jibed westerly, but we just could not find our groove.
We went too Northerly, so we gybed, then went too Southernly, then took the
main in and gybed, end then lost wind in the late afternoon, then motored.<br/>
<br/>We only found a good wind, and the right angle, and a good heading at 11PM.<br/>
<br/>Wind forecast are for moderate NE, up to Friday when they are lighter but as
of Saturday afternoon, we should have solid wind again…<br/>
<br/>Had risotto with vegetables and marinated turkey and a mushroom sauce for
dinner.<br/>
<br/>We’re also ready for a vegetable-chicken soup tomorrow.<br>
After that we have some more beef left, and that will be the end of our fresh
food supplies.<br>
Will be canned/dried food after that. Of which we have plenty…<br/>
<br/>Peter.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Back in the good winds!</h1>
<br/>Date: Wed Dec 07 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
02.2 N 34º 40.5 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-m8QvP9MviNGCmHgPPIgX5zGKXciBUvcXtJVfLBV14MPe7PphJJKvei3MmdUjI2_Q3vpWy6r1OEDgSNMgkj6wBYPEQ4MNCsCcgxvQmaFKCVKffP4eKEoNi4eq8flVNuqYnRwvuBTRnfxTKjukxsd-eVQ6edrjmFNcP7XJ1W-r22jWawnBPd4lIbEIOrc/s2016/IMG_5941.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-m8QvP9MviNGCmHgPPIgX5zGKXciBUvcXtJVfLBV14MPe7PphJJKvei3MmdUjI2_Q3vpWy6r1OEDgSNMgkj6wBYPEQ4MNCsCcgxvQmaFKCVKffP4eKEoNi4eq8flVNuqYnRwvuBTRnfxTKjukxsd-eVQ6edrjmFNcP7XJ1W-r22jWawnBPd4lIbEIOrc/s400/IMG_5941.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We’re now in the good wind areas. Seems all the efforts to go south are
working out and seem to bear their fruits.<br/>
<br/>We now going at 7kts straight to Barbados…<br/>
<br/>And the weather gets warmer. At night, we don’t need sweaters anymore on
watch!<br/>
<br/>Peter<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Touch wood… but we’re really flying now</h1>
<br/>Date: Wed Dec 07 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
02.2 N 34º 40.5 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMzKV75gSurDIqfsbiYDizStY4E2l3VVNgwRLAhhuTo0gz7jd6hyphenhyphenFkPoz9zrn8Lk6smvtHJuI4n-THnmniBrRSC28uzN6GFSHaIQ0XaAb9N0fFF26h4inoT74Nt9hkhTQxlOf7DxHfotn9tirlQBtcH60iPRv9N7j8WvmzJQYEJOSAO-KzRGKt4cm2Vs/s2016/IMG_5946.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMzKV75gSurDIqfsbiYDizStY4E2l3VVNgwRLAhhuTo0gz7jd6hyphenhyphenFkPoz9zrn8Lk6smvtHJuI4n-THnmniBrRSC28uzN6GFSHaIQ0XaAb9N0fFF26h4inoT74Nt9hkhTQxlOf7DxHfotn9tirlQBtcH60iPRv9N7j8WvmzJQYEJOSAO-KzRGKt4cm2Vs/s400/IMG_5946.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>This is the 7th day of our passage to Barbados. And these first 7 days have
been struggles to find wind, continuously change sail configurations, trim the
sails, etc.<br/>
<br/>To be honest, last night at 3 AM I had a bit of a dip. I caught myself continuously
looking at the wind indicators, and the sails, trimming the sh*t out of them…
But I could not find a combination of wind angle; wave angle, sails, trim… and I
caught myself not looking at the sky and the stars.<br>
My watch mate Jan saw it, and said “go to bed, I got this”. And I did. And fell
sleep like a block.<br/>
<br/>Today, at 8 AM we struggled to get the gennaker up, again, but we did not
succeed. So we put Nerio on a good track. Xabi and Bego trimmed the sails, and I
went on the foredeck to look at the sea.<br/>
<br/>Right now, we are doing 7-8 knots on a 110 degrees wind angle and 16-17
knots of wind.<br>
Nerio is happy again. And so are we.<br>
Winds look good for the next days. I feel this will be the day with the most
progress to Barbados, thus far.<br/>
<br/>We’re having chicken vegetable soup tonight.<br/>
<br/>Now I am going to do my watch, and look at the sea. And… enjoy this!<br/>
<br/>Love you all!<br/>
<br/>PP. (Peter Pan)<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Cruising along</h1>
<br/>Date: Wed Dec 07 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
12.2 N 35º 37.4 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvKnuN5z7yCndrQ1CwN92nAEUB4BWebC8A1kZNrsU5BOuogeQfSAL-w9QhPVyeE_G7qHETzIVsIFkHii6VaagtfyO_TZXIYGwhV0eabuTyrEUpOnpbTFwIxfhsUhtWLxiddpC675DWq0w1DjCVQNVChwgidj7ZxNeQdWZiv4f6M9bYlpi6wmZZFGCKuI/s2016/IMG_5928.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvKnuN5z7yCndrQ1CwN92nAEUB4BWebC8A1kZNrsU5BOuogeQfSAL-w9QhPVyeE_G7qHETzIVsIFkHii6VaagtfyO_TZXIYGwhV0eabuTyrEUpOnpbTFwIxfhsUhtWLxiddpC675DWq0w1DjCVQNVChwgidj7ZxNeQdWZiv4f6M9bYlpi6wmZZFGCKuI/s400/IMG_5928.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Telegram from Nerio<br/>
<br/>ZCZC<br>
Nice sunset again today, with a full moon rising.<br/>
<br/>A big part of the sky is clear of clouds. Strange though as during the day,
the sky was well covered. Probably more “local” humidity than weather clouds…
which clear during the night.<br/>
<br/>As the wind picked up a bit in the past day, also the waves picked up a bit,
but still not bigger than 1-2 meters.<br/>
<br/>Nerio is sailing right on course, at 6-7 knots in a steady 13-15 kts from
ENE-E.<br/>
<br/>All is well. Last 24 hours we progressed 120 Nm towards Barbados. Probably
as of now, we will average those numbers.<br/>
<br/>Bego and Xabi created an hors-d’oeuvre of foie gras and Spanish ham, with
the chicken vegetable soup as main course.<br/>
<br/>PP<br/>
<br/>NNNN<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Rolling, rolling, rolling ohaaaa</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 08 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
17.2 N 36º 05.3 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDS5NfWm0gVeg_-J5aTS2WO0jEbYiTAam1kFD-E-wFbIWurtmFenpUdFAa3iT5vfTvrxoSwap0DjOI3V8j7bHxYyWLiBdiYcjikRlbRcR6guYhMGwcCf9N2PQh4stMkKdq2wqNb2EJl0xvh31NIPUqZqIrISmmtXyEoqn9-HQ9Q8VyGqWpN541MdW2vBc/s2016/IMG_5938.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDS5NfWm0gVeg_-J5aTS2WO0jEbYiTAam1kFD-E-wFbIWurtmFenpUdFAa3iT5vfTvrxoSwap0DjOI3V8j7bHxYyWLiBdiYcjikRlbRcR6guYhMGwcCf9N2PQh4stMkKdq2wqNb2EJl0xvh31NIPUqZqIrISmmtXyEoqn9-HQ9Q8VyGqWpN541MdW2vBc/s400/IMG_5938.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Nerio loves a good wind, and currently she is in her element: 15 kts of
wind, under genoa and mainsail, and we’re cruising like a train on a track,
regularly having stretches of 7-8 kts speed.<br/>
<br/>Tomorrow and the day after will be our last struggle (we hope) with another
patch of low winds. but after that, we should have constant good winds all the
way up to Barbados.<br/>
<br/>“We’re going to Barbados ohohooh”<br/><br/>
I baked fresh bread. This will become a daily routine, it seems, on Nerio, from now on, as we can use the bread to make sandwiches with the cold cuts (salami, ham, cheese) which we can somewhat keep cooled in our freezer- cum fridge - cum cooling device.<br/>
Only disadvantange is that Nerio only has a small electric oven, which needs to heat up for a long time. It takes over an hour to "bake a loaf of bread". And by that time, the small galley is like a sauna, and stays that way for at least four hours...<br/>
"fresh bread" (show of balancing hands) "hot galley"... Which do you prefer?<br/>
<br/>PP<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Talking about food</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 08 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
17.2 N 36º 05.3 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeZ_7h5VBDcsWFvbROjKB2nUOpralJgPqOQ9fTZCoWgdFMPkSpQpZbGgHFsU6_SRwDlBHWrEZ9qEr_gHocljHpoo-TzaZx6GcJ7ARyrb8UXkC0bNGgHQyZAdb6j30H1QH7ZB8Mzz6HlVeOF0v7FShqQTSCsTJAhZ2Nmo6MRn19Ep0soqUg7-ga1qjobA/s2016/IMG_5939.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeZ_7h5VBDcsWFvbROjKB2nUOpralJgPqOQ9fTZCoWgdFMPkSpQpZbGgHFsU6_SRwDlBHWrEZ9qEr_gHocljHpoo-TzaZx6GcJ7ARyrb8UXkC0bNGgHQyZAdb6j30H1QH7ZB8Mzz6HlVeOF0v7FShqQTSCsTJAhZ2Nmo6MRn19Ep0soqUg7-ga1qjobA/s400/IMG_5939.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We have a fridge and a small freezer aboard Nerio.<br>
But the fridge died in Las Palmas. We tried to revive it in Gran Canarias and
in Mindelo, but in vein: seems the compressor died.<br/>
<br/>The freezer is now used as fridge. There is a minor issue, which was
resolved in Mindelo.<br/>
<br/>But that also limited our capacity to provision in fresh foods, or to
pre-cook meals and freeze them.<br/>
<br/>We have a bit of chicken and beef left, as fresh food, oh and some tomatoes.
Pumpkin and sweet potatoes, and one banana. Oh and onions+garlic too.<br/>
<br/>But “ à la guerre comme à la guerre”: we row with the reams we have: Beyond
fresh food, we have plenty of dry food rations (cans, dried stuff,…)…<br>
Our bilge is pretty full with a variety of stuff: canned fruits and vegetables,
meats and fish, soups and sauces, pasta/rice/grains. cereals, dried toast,
tortilla, choco paste, marmalade, stock… Tea, coffee, milk, oh and some trays
of eggs.<br/>
<br/>And we have to backup rations of these varieties in the back garage too.<br/>
<br/>We won’t starve, that is for sure.<br/>
<br/>Oh our “grab box” in the saloon of “quick bites” proved to be popular
amongst the crew: in that box, we have a variety of snacks: from dried noodles,
up-a-soups, chocolate, sweet and salty biscuits, sweets, chips. All :comfort
food and quick snacks while on watch.<br/>
<br/>We have plenty of flour, sugar, salt, mustard, mayo, ketchup, spices and
stock cubes.<br/>
<br/>It seems like the sweet drinks (coke, Fanta, tonic) have been popular. We’ll
be running out of them soon. But we have lemon concentrate to flavor the water
from our water maker.<br/>
<br/>And we have a reserve of beers too, rationed to one sunset beer per person
per day. <br/>
<br/>Mmm. I just realize I am getting hungry!<br/>I prepared fresh pizza dough for this evening!<br/>
<br/>PP.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>The tough life of a flying fish near Nerio</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 08 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
38.350 N 37º 03.070 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7W6enFXAKEMdVdW1Ib8jG31x8tA-iuieP1e3YeI07EIbgrkk88trhP4IEnSZ_s2kRS3AI2uZekvZTAWv64euYHd8WLMq3SfAVsau2Ww4WSGVrVRJmqMSMZcbpD7Q3SZIx-gaH3KN0RVZn5cnqWw4sZ1R0dhjO2pC32HfL-0YcrGuu0oCp2eaFVP3wrs/s1024/e282f739-d28b-4966-9b29-a23a0b00bfb4.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7W6enFXAKEMdVdW1Ib8jG31x8tA-iuieP1e3YeI07EIbgrkk88trhP4IEnSZ_s2kRS3AI2uZekvZTAWv64euYHd8WLMq3SfAVsau2Ww4WSGVrVRJmqMSMZcbpD7Q3SZIx-gaH3KN0RVZn5cnqWw4sZ1R0dhjO2pC32HfL-0YcrGuu0oCp2eaFVP3wrs/s400/e282f739-d28b-4966-9b29-a23a0b00bfb4.JPG"/></a></div>
<br/>We’ve seen a lot of fish lately… There are always shoals of flying fish
around, often scared up by the boat, or being chased by predators. Two mornings
ago, we had a group of mackerel around the boat hunting smaller fish and flying
fish too. The mackerel stayed near the boat for hours.<br/>
<br/>I guess the dolphins also like flying fish as hors d’oeuvre…<br/>
<br/>And then there are the seabirds that hover around the boat sometimes for
hours, looking for fish, preferably flying fish, flying off, scared up by the
boat. The birds often float -ieieiewaaaaaaaaah- centimeters above the water
trying to catch the flying fish.<br/>
<br/>And as if that is not enough, every night some flying fish fly onto the
boat.<br/>
<br/>Imagine the life of a flying fish in these areas: you work the whole day
escaping the tuna, mackerel, birds chasing you and then in the night you go for
a flight in the moonlight and BOOOM- there is Nerio. Too late to avoid a
collision. Bam. Onto the deck. Boum. Onto the cockpit edges. Crash. Into the rigging.
If you are lucky, as a flying fish, you can splatter around and fall back
overboard. Chances are meager, though.<br>
If not: life as you knew it as a flying fish is over. Done.<br/>
<br/>Your body is then picked up by one of the crew, once you are cold, stiff and
stinky, and tossed overboard.<br/>
<br/>Life ain’t easy if you are a flying fish.<br>
Even worse around Barbados where "fried flying fish" is a traditional
dish. Or is it "flied frying fish"?<br/>
<br/>PP<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>The time and space equilibrium</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 08 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
38.350 N 37º 03.070 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTrFTGzWlM82oHhzWAk43rIJNozFLF9q3tj1mhOiEElZniBxiBcxyVjvd6xlSEZ6CcYDlqFnsZ3Z7Ys8QJlOooVWzkLO9LXIiHj-vtk3eiTjmkNBQQqGBI7sxu4Qq3G1w1Qlip2ABvt-VR8jFjHggMuEinDnk8Fh-FcOY68qF3Th-pdqjYFFYv95hX38/s2016/IMG_5944.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTrFTGzWlM82oHhzWAk43rIJNozFLF9q3tj1mhOiEElZniBxiBcxyVjvd6xlSEZ6CcYDlqFnsZ3Z7Ys8QJlOooVWzkLO9LXIiHj-vtk3eiTjmkNBQQqGBI7sxu4Qq3G1w1Qlip2ABvt-VR8jFjHggMuEinDnk8Fh-FcOY68qF3Th-pdqjYFFYv95hX38/s400/IMG_5944.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Out of the hundreds of comments we get via email, it seems many of you
wonder how we “keep time” on Nerio, as we move westwards.<br/>
<br/>Good question! Time is important as all our watches need to by sync-ed so
everyone knows when to come on deck for their watch, when dinner is served and
when we have cocktail hour…<br/>
<br/>On Nerio, we have established a taskforce to get together a broad
stakeholders group, gathered into a working group, governed by a steering group
and an oversight team.<br>
This working group will decide where the meetings will be held (most seem to
agree on Xabi’s bunk) for the team of highly paid consultants to deliberate on
“what time are we on”, and “do we move our clock back as we go West”, and how
do we inform all stakeholders that time has changed.<br>
The Terms of Reference of the team of experts has also been broadened to
analyse the wider time & space equilibrium, based in Einstein’s work.<br/>
<br/>Initial findings of the working group will be presented to the standing
committee of the steering group, in New York in January 2026.<br/>
<br/>In the mean time, on Nerio, we keep our watches on Mindelo time, and will
only change our<br>
watches when we are in Barbados drinking our first rum punch.<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Pizza, bread and wind</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 08 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
43.2 N 37º 30.320 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqHq5MfHW9G_oUyfYw1iSN8NM3w0tNSrCXXmBsroVXKjYj9a_cw6H225mjfodFCUQNolUB6yY-ttY3PS-v-HsEs-TWcsBJn2ffQq2TiPZhWqq45y9VtkCG4wKNmyy7m00r5x7ciEZd1FPC-Xvad0-tL72JSIJnlFDV4vP8Y1YRWGm99CqroJExjtWQGw/s2016/IMG_5979.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqHq5MfHW9G_oUyfYw1iSN8NM3w0tNSrCXXmBsroVXKjYj9a_cw6H225mjfodFCUQNolUB6yY-ttY3PS-v-HsEs-TWcsBJn2ffQq2TiPZhWqq45y9VtkCG4wKNmyy7m00r5x7ciEZd1FPC-Xvad0-tL72JSIJnlFDV4vP8Y1YRWGm99CqroJExjtWQGw/s400/IMG_5979.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Today, as predicted, winds were lighter, but we continued to sail, up to
sunset when the wind completely died.<br>
We took all sails down and are now motoring at 6-6.5 rpm on our 220 hp engine.<br>
Winds are only predicted to pick up tomorrow evening. We might have some
sailable wind during the day, but they will be light.<br>
The real wind will only pick up tomorrow night. But as of then they will gradually
increase, hopefully up to Barbados.<br>
In honor of the wind increasing to 20 knots in a few days, I changed into my
red sailing shorts. These are my speed shorts. ***I received many compliments
from the other crew members on how handsome I looked.<br/>
<br/>As we ran out of the bread we bought in Mindelo, I baked a bread with whole-wheat
flower. In preparation for this trip, I practiced baking bread at home in
Italy. And it worked out great. *** I received many compliments from the other
crew members how good the bread tasted.<br>
(a pretty expensive bread, though, as it had to bake for an hour in the oven,
and as Nerio has no gas cooker, we had to run the generator)…<br/>
<br/>BUT I also made fresh pizza (with freshly dough, tomatoe paste, olives,
chorizo and cheese topping. Actually I made 3 pizzas!<br>
*** I received many compliments from the other crewmembers how good the pizza
tasted.<br/>
<br/>So obviously, I felt very complimented and loved.
<br/>And… as this is day 8 of our passage, we changed crew watch hours: Jan and I
now run the 08:00-12:00 and 20:00-00:00 shifts.<br>
This meant that the crew had to change their sleeping routine, so there were a
lot of complaints filed on our customer service and complaints telephone
number. They will be taken care off by our ombudsperson.<br/>
<br/>PS: tonight it is really warm and humid on deck tonight. There are heavy
clouds around the boat tonight. Some slight rain is in the air.<br/>
<br/>I hope they %## will not £&&& disturb ££££ the Iridium
%%#^^^^**** phone €€€$$~~<>###}}{][]{~<> transmissions $$$€€%%##<strong><span
style='font-family:Times'>]]{{}}}}%%</span></strong>.<br/>
<br/>This broadcast is now temporarily interrupted due to technical problems.<br>
Do not worry, the crew is fine. The autopilot is on and nothing can go wrong.
iepwieet. krak. nothing can go wrong. iepwieet. krak nothing can go wrong.
iepwieet. nothing can go wrong. iepwieet. nothing can go wrong. iepwieet.
nothing can go wrong. iepwieet. nothing can go wrong. iepwieet.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Sunrise shift</h1>
<br/>Date: Fri Dec 09 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
25.7 N 38º 50.4 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaCDGdLNGqgbHQd7-7CF3JpnDZyH_Ajqmw1asy5zRLxRjHyUC87oNR0Iiuu9zqJ5k7RIJp0_x9LXfqdHz7qbnmE8RA5NdWQ_Gv0Lhp91do4RCwE4OjIvoOkOsYYigrF9-CaLQLrogDq7B45WP4E0s-sIO-hCHFzmj4lb8piIRda89o1cQmtC5NU-cFIo/s2016/IMG_5984.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaCDGdLNGqgbHQd7-7CF3JpnDZyH_Ajqmw1asy5zRLxRjHyUC87oNR0Iiuu9zqJ5k7RIJp0_x9LXfqdHz7qbnmE8RA5NdWQ_Gv0Lhp91do4RCwE4OjIvoOkOsYYigrF9-CaLQLrogDq7B45WP4E0s-sIO-hCHFzmj4lb8piIRda89o1cQmtC5NU-cFIo/s400/IMG_5984.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Jan and I started this trip having the sunrise and sunset shifts. We are now
in our third week-watch schedule. And we thought this shift (08:00-12:00 -
20:00-24:00) would be after sunset/sunrise, BUT as we sail West without
changing our clock/watches, we just came on watch at sun rise.<br/>
<br/>All of this to say I can not write to you, as we have to watch the sun rise <br/>
<br/>PP<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>An ocean passage: the most boring time or the most exciting
time of our lives?</h1>
<br/>Date: Fri Dec 09 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
25.7 N 38º 50.4 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyXCmKiTW7qPYIXGQYciuUDJaQEl7cBbrAAD2nQuhiHtxfve89uenhuMgUQsLRbmCVtwF81vfsB3j4Ks8zRvm274RNBQyWwGTXbzmJNhq5AsgmaCtSiwkT_xC0byQlqhF3VA4PEcpVrGMs0LYKpxaGnHdANzUh4KsjsAT-wRGx2Lq-kLqOFUYb8iDe44/s2016/IMG_5994.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyXCmKiTW7qPYIXGQYciuUDJaQEl7cBbrAAD2nQuhiHtxfve89uenhuMgUQsLRbmCVtwF81vfsB3j4Ks8zRvm274RNBQyWwGTXbzmJNhq5AsgmaCtSiwkT_xC0byQlqhF3VA4PEcpVrGMs0LYKpxaGnHdANzUh4KsjsAT-wRGx2Lq-kLqOFUYb8iDe44/s400/IMG_5994.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>A typical/average passage from Cape Verde to the Caribbean takes 16 days
(based on historical data).<br/>
<br/>Many people find those days, as for any long passage, boring: get up, eat,
do your watch, cook, eat, sleep and start again. Once all downloaded movies are
watched and time can not be “killed” by reading, often people complain about
boredom.<br/>
<br/>For many others, including me, these are some of our most exciting times of
our lives. And “there is always something to do”: beyond cooking or experiment
with new recipes, overall boat maintenance and minor repairs, there is
cleaning, vacuuming, rinsing the heads and sinks with vinegar, rinse the deck,
wipe cockpit windows, playing around with weather data and routing, prepare
landfall (checking with the marina, approach/pilotage). There is refilling the
fridge and bilge supplies, planning and preparing the next meals. Even just
scavenging through the food supplies and finding two pots of pesto you forgot
about.<br/>
<br/>And if there is more leisure time, I write, log our progress, check mail, and
think about the future. And then sometimes sailing boats appear on our AIS. I
love talking to other sailboats, and keep in contact with them for as long as we
can, over VHF.<br/>
<br/>And then take pictures and short videos to snapshot the experience, these
unique moments.<br/>
<br/>And beyond that, there is this massive amount of nature around us, which
never ceases to surprise me. What does the sea tell me? What do the shape if
the waves tell me? What story do the clouds tell? What wildlife do we have
around us? What does the temperature and air pressure tell me?<br/>
<br/>An additional challenge is the feeling of fatigue which often goes in a
vicious circle with boredom and “becoming lazy”, with a feeling of annoyance,
being hot, being tired, and starting to be annoyed.<br/>
<br/>Me? I am having the time of my life. I am soo excited to be here, to suffer
from the lack of sleeping, a painful back, sore hands. This is my place. I feel
I belong here.<br/>
<br/>I love wind in my hair and salt on my skin.<br/>
<br/>Hold on: wind is picking up. Decision time: do we unfurl the genoa? Will we
be able to keep the sails inflated? Will we do the right course?<br/>
<br/>Wooohoooo! <span class=hashtag>#exciting</span>!<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>And yeah we’re going a bit further south again</h1>
<br/>Date: Fri Dec 09 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
25.7 N 38º 50.4 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUqnbRteL5C_rzU_tM0DijFI549FzP1uukte9_Rm5J9GkjPAgaB4oCrirsCv0IhKaEsER2PCQ2Lh9WyDhBM-GcpgzyDsuWRb0TV-MVoHnF9xEtVPZCbosNIOsyBlHzCEJ2UvufzJ0c96fWHC9-h6v789sSO3ros-qA4mDT1Ii8gw8qQz5QdgTfDkF7MA/s2016/IMG_6011.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUqnbRteL5C_rzU_tM0DijFI549FzP1uukte9_Rm5J9GkjPAgaB4oCrirsCv0IhKaEsER2PCQ2Lh9WyDhBM-GcpgzyDsuWRb0TV-MVoHnF9xEtVPZCbosNIOsyBlHzCEJ2UvufzJ0c96fWHC9-h6v789sSO3ros-qA4mDT1Ii8gw8qQz5QdgTfDkF7MA/s400/IMG_6011.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Thank you for your hundreds of questions…<br>
Many of you seem concerned about the fact that we have slightly turned south
again.<br/>
<br/>This is not due to a short circuit when spilling a dry martini cocktail over
the autopilot. Nor was it because someone was doing naughty things on top of
the auto pilot control buttons… Not was it because the helms(wo)man being
drunk.<br/>
<br/>Nono, it simply because the wind comes mostly from the East, so we need a
bit of angle to the wind (a sailboat can not sail into the wind and has
problems sailing straight downwind). So we slightly zigzag until we have
Barbados within our right angle. That angle we don’t call rhumba/line but
rum(punch)-line.<br/>
<br/>PS: I am sitting in the foredeck in the shade of the boom looking over the
ocean. Really enjoying this. I have now only my shorts on.<br>
Ok: let’s vote: should I take those off too and get my bottom some tan?<br/>
<br/>Cheers!<br/>
<br/>Peter Bottoms Pan.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>The Great Gybe</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Dec 10 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
01.580 N 41º 00.630 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOiNtXOefEPqak4_SDILOKzhujuqkV4dfw4pQmn2fL18LWlb8Xjnwn8L3dIdznNRXbXqPKDWG6pMlnroRMkSJp4lyzFxKrVMfbvqvUWNTgy5cswMj2L-R2-gQCJQNABJ91GEGwNvi_cTgon4wvBdXQa5SOut81io2NpRaSyWxmqcqHU7r6lRldRpLG3k/s2016/IMG_5974.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOiNtXOefEPqak4_SDILOKzhujuqkV4dfw4pQmn2fL18LWlb8Xjnwn8L3dIdznNRXbXqPKDWG6pMlnroRMkSJp4lyzFxKrVMfbvqvUWNTgy5cswMj2L-R2-gQCJQNABJ91GEGwNvi_cTgon4wvBdXQa5SOut81io2NpRaSyWxmqcqHU7r6lRldRpLG3k/s400/IMG_5974.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>It happened last night.<br>
It happened at 22:30.<br>
The moment we had anticipated.<br>
The instance we had longed for.<br>
The maneuver, which looked as if it would never come.<br>
That moment finally happened…<br/>
<br/>We did The Great gybe.<br>
The gybe towards Barbados.<br>
The gybe West.<br/>
<br/>Since we left Mindelo 10 days ago, we have been dodging those damned North
Atlantic depressions which sucked up “our wind”. We had to go much further south
than anticipated.<br/>
<br/>But last night at sunset we clearly saw the very high wind clouds in the
higher altitude pointing towards behind us. There were no traces of those
clouds in front of us. So that was a sign that the last big depression‘s winds
were past.<br/>
<br/>At sunset we motored for 2-3 hours and then raised the genoa again on a port
tack. For a while we were pointing SW, but then…. the final good sign:
gradually the wind did not only pick up, but started to go more northerly: 90
degrees, 80 degrees, 70 degrees and it stayed there:<br/>
<br/>Our trade winds were back. We calculated that with a gybe we could point
straight to Barbados.<br/>
<br/>So at 22.30, we did The Great Gybe.<br>
The Gybe to Barbados.<br/>
<br/>Since then, we have been pointing nothing else but Barbados. And, as
predicted, the wind remained stable in direction and is steadily increasing.<br>
Today we expect gusts of > 20 kts. And good winds seem in the making until
we arrive in Barbados.<br/>
<br/>Barbados, the land of Plenty, theland of Rum, the land of hula-hula, where
we get a lei on arrival.<br/>
<br/>Barrabaadossa, here we come. See us flying now!<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>To prove or not to prove, that is the question</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Dec 10 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
04.250 N 41º 20.9 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOFJmz4rY9DSx6_NGoKseavBZwQOY549IhcerYXhh1ViIebEFBNTCjjKwp14dM3cQlwN9YAUTXRDyOgJSazQZ_cpvO4wyOM4ETfgOv0u1JDvYC7Kix-RKo9JI2rvm53OaPxEr3DB1fdldPNTKzlzxdjUMQmKDcBB52BxsXKbJrx1AZNj1XiFvcGdUaN0/s2016/IMG_6012.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOFJmz4rY9DSx6_NGoKseavBZwQOY549IhcerYXhh1ViIebEFBNTCjjKwp14dM3cQlwN9YAUTXRDyOgJSazQZ_cpvO4wyOM4ETfgOv0u1JDvYC7Kix-RKo9JI2rvm53OaPxEr3DB1fdldPNTKzlzxdjUMQmKDcBB52BxsXKbJrx1AZNj1XiFvcGdUaN0/s400/IMG_6012.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>I learned a new word (from Sushi, imagine that): “to prove”: it is the thing
which describes the yeast doing its thing in bread, making the bread raise.<br/>
<br/>Well last night I prepared the dough for today’s bread, but I covered the bowl
with plastic foil, so this morning the proving was not ready as the dough got
too warm and was still too wet.<br>
Too little proving - so we put the dough on deck, which had it proving in 5
minutes.<br>
Dough saved. Bread ready!<br/>
<br/>Another meal prepared at 1 AM was a curry soup, based on Sushi’s curry meal
prepared with veggies, chickpeas and beans. Which was awesome.<br>
So last night I turned it into a soup with bacon in it. Unfortunately, it was
too hot in the kitchen, during the night.<br>
So when I opened the soup pot this morning, the soup was happily bubbling.
Proving, fermenting, whatever. But no good to eat. Maybe we should have let it
stay and invent a new form of alcoholic drink…<br/>
<br/>Soup could not be saved. Overboard it went.<br/>
<br/>To one, it proved too much, and the other too little…<br/>
<br/>“There is always something”<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Progress!</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Dec 10 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
04.250 N 41º 20.9 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdViJMnuzGfgm3IzTl-mEnKN_Y2w0H_4z6omt4RQ8xSwV2bCzdIJIICsekTn4Ezw33zSvIbypNWk4kogU_SfwWWhduEYmN4I7YemP_RQe_bMdiKoV1cewawB9cnyYdcpDVuaT3UfML2LXDxZwnw4DHXfppRxwBWUJrhUjRYi99mVVHplr-pT7vejuqL_I/s2016/IMG_5972.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdViJMnuzGfgm3IzTl-mEnKN_Y2w0H_4z6omt4RQ8xSwV2bCzdIJIICsekTn4Ezw33zSvIbypNWk4kogU_SfwWWhduEYmN4I7YemP_RQe_bMdiKoV1cewawB9cnyYdcpDVuaT3UfML2LXDxZwnw4DHXfppRxwBWUJrhUjRYi99mVVHplr-pT7vejuqL_I/s400/IMG_5972.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Progress made towards Barbados:<br>
24h ending at 15:00 local time on:<br>
7/12: 130 Nm<br>
8/12: 131 Nm<br>
9/12: 128 Nm<br>
10/12: 129 Nm<br/>
<br/>It is a nice sunny day. Swell picked up considerable. We’re cruuuuiiising…<br/>
<br/>Bego made a smashing tortilla de patatas with fresh tomatoes on the side.<br/>
<br/>I am asked to report to Maria Angeles that Xabi has eaten all his
vegetables. Today he has been a good boy and is behaving! He even dived into the garage to get extra food supplies! (picture)<br>
Sushi is a different case. Sam: we will need to have a serious talk.<br/>
<br/>P.<br/>
<br/><h1>We’re half way</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Dec 11 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
34.110 N 43º 10.4 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XajXI2YcCEtMnK3FTDsqtf-pp2RBILYq9npL4PSrog2XphU1beci937bVuUiEJi-nJIpx5IaoqHv_cQOf4aRvCutndz0ppYkYH_2BjhzN4DKjXVqGrtH-RSppzfRa_343vQUWGDfDzhX4-x2Y1WzD1qNxKFoezFB7HyeSQtwSISX_MczStjhJfsHFXU/s2016/IMG_5977.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XajXI2YcCEtMnK3FTDsqtf-pp2RBILYq9npL4PSrog2XphU1beci937bVuUiEJi-nJIpx5IaoqHv_cQOf4aRvCutndz0ppYkYH_2BjhzN4DKjXVqGrtH-RSppzfRa_343vQUWGDfDzhX4-x2Y1WzD1qNxKFoezFB7HyeSQtwSISX_MczStjhJfsHFXU/s400/IMG_5977.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>Good morning people!<br/>
<br/>We agreed that in rhumbline (the shortest distance between Barbados and
Mindelo), was 2000 Nmiles (roughly 3600 km).<br/>
<br/>Last night we went past the mid point: in a straight line, we have less than
1000 Nm to go.<br/>
<br/>“Timewise” we are well over half way….<br>
I hope…<br/>
<br/>We’ve been at sea for 10 days and now have 6-7 days left.<br>
I hope…<br/>
<br/>We “lost” a lot of time in the first 10 days by going south and gybing our
way westwards. Needed to be done, though. But now, we are sailing straight to
Barbados.<br>
I hope.<br/>
<br/>ETA looks like Sunday. Not today-Sunday, but next week Sunday.<br>
We want to be in time for the 10 AM mass.<br>
I hope.<br/>
<br/>At this moment, we are doing 6-7 knots in 15 knots wind, at 170 degrees.<br>
Wind is E - ESE (90-100° TWD). It ell turn to a more favorable 60-70 by
Tuesday, though.<br/>
<br/>Still amazing how stable Nerio is, on 2-3 m swell with a 170° wind angle.<br>
Genoa is flying wide and high.<br/>
<br/>Yeeehaaaaaa…<br>
I hope<br/>
<br/>Peter<br/>
<br/><h1>Trading in the trade winds</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Dec 11 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
34.110 N 43º 10.4 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixpcuPM542ugxCAzX62r2hhYn6XzdKqN4kW1oWci1CBLOa7bNLTd-nclv6KhaPJFEhnSVx7LRZ5bohRLqug-pO_O967OSdFrrETPxwz5iu7XauTX0Z0lscN_u05lE9slUEHC2u9NbJM2juaCqX2Xlbj2Bw0EcmZBXeYNC26kOJi7Qz4UMf7Q0zIjUmXYM/s2016/IMG_6013.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixpcuPM542ugxCAzX62r2hhYn6XzdKqN4kW1oWci1CBLOa7bNLTd-nclv6KhaPJFEhnSVx7LRZ5bohRLqug-pO_O967OSdFrrETPxwz5iu7XauTX0Z0lscN_u05lE9slUEHC2u9NbJM2juaCqX2Xlbj2Bw0EcmZBXeYNC26kOJi7Qz4UMf7Q0zIjUmXYM/s400/IMG_6013.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>This morning, Jan visually spotted another sailing vessel about 8 miles off
our starboard.<br>
They had no IAS signal, so we gave a generic call on channel 16 (the
international VHF calling channel): “This is sailing vessel Nerio on channel
one-six. We are at position xxx North xxx West. We currently have a sailing vessel
90 degrees off our starboard. Kindly identify yourself and state if your
intensions are friendly” (the last bit was meant as a joke to break the ice)<br/>
<br/>After a second call, they came back to us so we started chatting. They were
“Safe Landing” a 40xx foot Catamaran on delivery from La Rochelle (France) via
Madeira to Antigua and final destination the British Virgin Islands.<br>
Skipper was Anthony with 3 crew on board.<br/>
<br/>We started chatting about fresh food supplies as we reckoned they were
running out of that, having been at sea since Madeira.<br/>
<br/>So we stated as our fresh food supply:<br>
1x potato (normal)<br>
1x potato (sweet)<br>
1.5 tomatoes (well more like 1.75 tomatoes)<br>
14 eggs.<br/>
<br/>They gave their inventory which included fresh pine apple, apples, oranges,
papaya, cabbage, potatoes, lime. And it just went on and on.<br/>
<br/>So, as they were a male-only crew, we agreed to trade…<br/>
<br/>——<br>
Telegram:<br>
ZCZCZC<br/>
<br/>From: S/V Nerio, 950 Nm West off Barbados<br>
To: Sam<br/>
<br/>Dear Sam <br/>
<br/>Have decided to trade Saoirse for two papayas with S/V Perfect Landing <br/>
<br/>Other party threw in one ( 1 ) free bottle of rum <br/>
<br/>Bye <br/>
<br/>NNNN<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Operational announcement</h1>
<br/>Date: Sun Dec 11 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
34.110 N 43º 10.4 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpY5trsGKnl5WkDm_49FFKV4fRmNczWVtL7bfBViupwG2kTkpu_Z_3hb1Y3X1-GUluJhgmElznS4gbkt7seFd6XVFy_yxu8kc5HPYU1vBEwASV_Xa8ylDbEn35wVhMnYUHbbvS4k3twOmdXVsKm6E2C5zZJxcyj9i9HeRz_BFMowuE9OKcFEFqvbTp7A/s2016/IMG_5908.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpY5trsGKnl5WkDm_49FFKV4fRmNczWVtL7bfBViupwG2kTkpu_Z_3hb1Y3X1-GUluJhgmElznS4gbkt7seFd6XVFy_yxu8kc5HPYU1vBEwASV_Xa8ylDbEn35wVhMnYUHbbvS4k3twOmdXVsKm6E2C5zZJxcyj9i9HeRz_BFMowuE9OKcFEFqvbTp7A/s400/IMG_5908.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>All ships, all ships, all ships.<br/>
<br/>Let it be known that for operational reasons, the performance of our Spanish
crew on the foredeck of Nerio will be postponed until 16:30.<br/>
<br/>The performance will include a pole dancing session by Xabi, a flamenco
impression by Her Bego-ness, and a recital of the first paragraphs from
Isabelle Allende’s book “I gave it all up for the sea”. (Or was it “for the
sex” — I can not remember.)<br/>
<br/>All ships, all ships, all ships - end of message.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Eenie meenie mouse</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Dec 12 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
41.0 N 45º 08.5 W<br/>
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<br/>Without telling anyone, we did two mini gybes last night, as we missed some
action.<br/>
<br/>Seriously, last night’s watch was a bit intense with shifting winds,
shifting waves, and a boat not finding her groove.<br/>
<br/>But we’re well on track!<br/>
<br/>That first rum punch on arrival will be sooo nice!<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Like a train on a track, finally</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Dec 12 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
42.4 N 45º 25.9 W<br/>
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<p class=track-display-blog-post-date>we are cruuuising along at 6-8 knots
speed winds 16-17 kts coming from SE-SSE (60 degrees), giving us an AWA of
140°.<br>
We are heading 270° COG, thus straight to Barbados.<span style='mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"'><br/>
<br/>We are almost on the waves, so not much rolling now. Seas are still quiet with
1-2 m waves (as it was quiet during the night).<br/>
<br/>Wind predictions show the same for the next days with slightly increasing
winds and waves building a bit.<br/>
<br/>It looks like we should arrive in Barbados by Saturday evening/night.<br/>
<br/>But let’s not jinx it. We still have some ways to go.<br/>
<br/>PS: one potatoes left.<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Progress</h1>
<br/>Date: Mon Dec 12 2022 <br>
Position: 11º
42.4 N 45º 25.9 W<br/>
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<br/>In the last 24 hours, we made 121 Nm progress towards Barbados. we have
about 800 Nm to go.<br/>
<br/>Peter<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>My favorite shift</h1>
<br/>Date: Tue Dec 13 2022 <br>
Position: 12º
01.2 N 47º 43.6 W<br/>
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<br/>My favorite shift by far, is the sunrise shift.<br>
As we are moving West without changing our clock, that is the 08:00-12:00
Shift:<br/>
<br/>First of all, as the sun comes up, energy kicks in. Not only in our bodies
and minds but also around us: this is typically where the wind kicks in.<br/>
<br/>Secondly: this is when the boat is quiet: most people are still asleep.<br/>
<br/>And… I love to wake up to the sound of waves.<br/>
<br/>This morning I woke up as I hardly felt the boat move. I thought we had
fallen out of wind. But as I came on deck, Bego was is full swing. shouting;
“20 knots. babyyyyy!”. 20 knots and the boat hardly moved.<br/>
<br/>ow that is what I call a good start of the day. That and a cup of coffee.<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Progress today</h1>
<br/>Date: Tue Dec 13 2022 <br>
Position: 12º
16.270 N 49º 07.840 W<br/>
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<br/>Ayayaaay caramba! we had our best progress day in this passage:<br>
in the past 24 hours, we came 161 Nm closer to Barbados.<br/>
<br/>We’re still some ways off of our total record day in this voyage, which was
186 Nm in 24 hours (the first day we left Las Palmas).<br/>
<br/>But we’re happy. Even although the waves picked up a lot. I guess we have
now 3.5 meter waves.<br/>
<br/>The boat rocks a lot… A challenge for Nerio’s sail, but also for the crew.<br/>
<br/>Bego made a cake today. The dough was quite liquid when it went in the oven.<br>
The cake was delicious. Half of it was eaten straight off the sides of the oven.
<br/>
<br/>We had a chickpea, rice and tomatoe combo for dinner. And right now the oven
is baking an olive bread.<br/>
<br/>All is well on Nerio…<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Going strong!</h1>
<br/>Date: Wed Dec 14 2022 <br>
Position: 12º
32.5 N 50º 37.2 W<br/>
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<br/>Quite rolly but good winds through the night, and into this morning.<br>
19-22 knots of wind, right now from NE. Nerio starts surfing on the waves,
regularly going at 9 knots for 10-15 seconds as she slides sown a wave.<br/>
<br/>Sun is about to come up in 30 minutes, and winds will further pick up.<br/>
<br/>Nice sailing!<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>My routine</h1>
<br/>Date: Wed Dec 14 2022 <br>
Position: 12º
37.290 N 52º 06.8 W<br/>
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<br/>07:30 - Get up, put coffee on and get dressed<br>
08:00 - 12:00 - Morning watch with Jan and loads of coffee (at this moment, the
sun comes up around 09:00 boat time<br>
12:00-13:00 - if we have mother watch: check what we will have for dinner,
possibly prepare something already<br>
13:00-17:00 - I mostly hang out on the foredeck, listen to music, write some,
doze off (often someone prepares a lunch or I make a sandwich<br>
18:00-19:00: evening meal<br>
19:00-20:00: prepare evening shift, hang out in the cockpit,<br>
20:00-00.00: Evening watch.<br/>
<br/>And repeat.<br/>
<br/>Talked to Rebecca, on Artemis, a Dutch sailing vessel which we also saw in
Mindelo. They were 21 Nm ahead of us. they are sailing in the same direction,
though they are heading to St Lucia.<br>
I think Rebecca likes me.<br/>
<br/>I miss Sushi. But the papayas were super nice!<br/>
<br/>We’ve been flying along at 7-9 kts boat speed today. Wind has been pretty
consistent, and almost constantly over 20 kts.<br/>
<br/>We did 170Nm last 24 hours.<br/>
<br/>If we had winds like this for the whole passage, we could have done it in 12
days.<br>
Then again if my auntie was a man. she would have been my uncle.<br/>
<br/>Allez, i am going to talk to Rebecca again and see what she had for dinner.
And then start my shift.<br/>
<br/>xxx<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Flying</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 15 2022 <br>
Position: 12º 51.2 N 53º 52.9 W<br/>
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<br/>During our evening shift, Jan and I had 20-23 kts of sustained wind. For a
while we had 27-28 kts as a heavy cloud passed us. For a couple of hours, the
boat speed did bot go below 8kts, with long stretches of 9-10 kts sustained.
Our peak boat speed was 13.5 kts.<br/>
<br/>It seems Peter 1 and Sushi had their share of it too. Jan and just came on
watch, and can see in the logbook they had rainsqualls with heavy rain and wind
gusts to 32 kts.<br/>
<br/>This morning, it looks a bit quieter. It still blows 32 kts and the boat
still runs at 8 kts.<br/>
<br/>The sun is coming up in an hour. We’re onto our second pot of coffee. Life
is good. Talked to Rebecca again.<br/>
<br/>Peter<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Average speed</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 15 2022 <br>
Position: 12º
51.2 N 53º 52.9 W<br/>
<br/>Predictwind calculated our average speed over the past 14 hours as 8.2 kts.<br/>
<br/>That is average, not peaks.<br/>
<br/>Missed my scheduled call with Rebecca.<br/>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p>
<br/><br/><h1>A record day</h1>
<br/>Date: Thu Dec 15 2022 <br>
Position: 13º 12.680 N 55º 03.160 W<br/>
<br/>The past 24 hours, we did 189Nm, an all time record on this trip, and for as
far as I know, also for Nerio!<br/>
<br/>Winds are a bit lower today, so we’re also enjoying smoother seas right now.<br/>
<br/>ETA Barbados is midday Saturday.<br/>
<br/>Peter<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Unfortunately</h1>
<br/>Date: Fri Dec 16 2022 <br>
Position: 13º 34.0 N 56º 57.2 W<br/>
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<br/>Unfortunately, last night one of the seams in our genoa became undone, so we
had to furl it in and run on the staysail (jib) only.<br>
We make progress, but quite s bit slower than before.<br/>
<br/>We expect to arrive in Port St Charles, Barbados tomorrow night.<br/>
<br/>Peter<br/>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p>
<br/><br/><h1>And there were 70 miles to go</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Dec 17 2022 <br>
Position: 13º 37.4 N 58º 31.2 W<br/>
<br/>Just came on watch at 04:00 AM boat time, 1 AM local time.<br>
And Barbados was only 70 Nm off… As we approach the island via the North, which
is more uninhabited, we don’t see any glow on the horizon yet. But it is
there…! <br/>
<br/>Despite running on jib only, we made good progress the last 24 hours: 120
Nm… The winds have been good to us, filling the sails.<br>
At his speed, we should reach the land in 10-12 hours. If we are lucky, we can
get into the marina during daylight still!!<br/>
<br/>Fingers crossed. These are the last miles!<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan.<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>Land in sight. Or not? Shall we counter-jinx it?</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Dec 17 2022 <br>
Position: 13º 36.2 N 59º 18.8 W<br/>
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<br/>11:00 AM boat time - 08:00 AM local time.<br/>
<br/>We’re some 25 Nm from the Northern tip of Barbados. The horizon is very
cloudy, so the bets are on if the darker shadows we see in the distant clouds
are land or not.<br/>
<br/>My bet is, they are not. Not yet <br/>
<br/>Anyways, I don’t want to jinx it but it seems we might arrive in the marina
of Port St Charles before sunset.<br/>
<br/>“Not wanting to jinx it” - is related to the fact that during our last
year’s passage and also this year, we seem to jinx things when saying stuff
like “Oh, nice breeze today”, and the next minute the wind dies.<br>
Or “we have a nice run, in the right heading”, which is followed by a 40 degree
wind shift.<br/>
<br/>So, nope. We’re now saying: “we will not arrive today, nor anywhere this
week or even this year”.<br/>
<br/>This is called “counter-jinxing”.<br/>
<br/>That is also why, according to me, we don’t have any land in sight, by far.<br>
I am counter-jinxing it.<br/>
<br/>Peter<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>The sheer power…</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Dec 17 2022 <br>
Position: 13º 36.2 N 59º 18.8 W<br/>
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<br/>If you think of it, it is amazing that this boat, all 45 tons of her, was
pulled across 2,000Nm - or 3600 km only on “a piece of canvas”: the genoa.<br/>
<br/>And at wind speeds of 32 knots and up to 13 knots of boat speed. The
pressure on the sail, rigging and mast is just awesome.<br/>
<br/>The more as on Nerio we don’t have a whisker pole, which is “normally” used
to keep the genoa stretched outwards and under pressure.<br>
During our passage it has been continuous work to keep the genoa under pressure
so it does not deflate and re-inflate.<br/>
<br/>Sometimes the waves come from a wrong angle or a freak wave pushes the boat
sideways, suddenly deflating the foresail. When it re-inflates, it does so with
a big bang, which makes the boat shiver. At that point, the sail’s clew (the
bottom outer corner), lashes like a whip. Some claim that the speed of this
whipping is near the speed of sound, similar to the<br>
clapping of a whip.<br/>
<br/>A few days ago, we were witness of this raw power:<br>
On the side of the boat we have an aluminum ladder lashed to the side railing.
On one of the occasions when the genoa deflated, the lazy sheet, attached to
the clew, also deflated and got underneath the outer edge of the ladder’s leg.
When the sheet got under pressure again, with a massive flap, in a fraction of
a second, it pulled off 20 cm of the ladder’s leg. The piece went flying into
the air and ended on deck. The force was so strong that it pulled that piece
off, totally straight: no bending. A straight cut, as if someone had used a saw
to cut it off.<br/>
<br/>(s)aw(e)some.<br/>
<br/>At this moment we’re approaching Barbados under jib (staysail)’only—
at 5-8 knots, under a stiff breeze.<br>
A nice way to end this trip, in style and in speed.<br/>
<br/>But we are not there yet <br>
Let’s not jinx it. We still have pieces of ladder, which can be pulled off.<br/>
<br/>Peter<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>The last and final gybe</h1>
<br/>Date: Sat Dec 17 2022 <br>
Position: 13º 33.9 N 59º 30.7 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBnckutKeMpikA38PGRe_4oZbel7G7uHMMFY03yFgcHF1gIfSkqhLfvxnoyGVC1_40jpTvPxHLlqXT49BnbiDFb4jOPDPt5EArYHBPTHPJ-NLp3KX-MBsUqTDNPvKhsKLWkWUh6utNrgD03qyQvK5AtRQ0uhWtI6QxzA7bniK1o8wb2oE1HgIi46_A0M/s1280/IMG_9396.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBnckutKeMpikA38PGRe_4oZbel7G7uHMMFY03yFgcHF1gIfSkqhLfvxnoyGVC1_40jpTvPxHLlqXT49BnbiDFb4jOPDPt5EArYHBPTHPJ-NLp3KX-MBsUqTDNPvKhsKLWkWUh6utNrgD03qyQvK5AtRQ0uhWtI6QxzA7bniK1o8wb2oE1HgIi46_A0M/s400/IMG_9396.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>We just did the last and final gybe to round the North point of Barbados.<br/>
<br/>And just as we turned Nerio, land came out of the cloudy horizon.<br/>
<br/>Barbados! After 600+800+2000 Nm = 3,400 Nm or well over 6,000 km.<br/>
<br/>Barbados, the destination, the land of plenty, the land of rum punches, of
hula-hula girls, of green hills and savory maidens (and slinder men). The
island of promise, of flied frying fish, of Bajun spices and tuk-tuks and
boga-bogas and surfers and white beaches. And fresh fruit. And fresh meat. And
fresh vegetables. And spring water. And non-moving showers. And beds without
lee-cloths. And shops. And “other people”. And cars and bicycles. And utter
happiness.<br/>
<br/>Honey, daddy’s a-coming!<br/>
<br/>Peter Pan<br/>
<br/><br/><h1>We arrived<br/></h1></br>
<br/>Date:
Sat Dec 17 2022 <br>
Position: 13º 15.8 N 59º 38.7 W<br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglM1EtJQsGgObJytQkH2-0BuxG37EN-tGIhN2hyphenhyphenjcHxvV3gNuh12-qjLsFRsp9z4mMsO1UG_20AYk_mx74SHe0727NS2ORWM6vp89I6ILnbsaUfKqhwQmO__UXeRF437Qj_adkQHi76mdnbujcwE2AXkuXz44LHbMXW2D9kYcMFS-J3nYrejQAWpr2_08/s4032/IMG_5089.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglM1EtJQsGgObJytQkH2-0BuxG37EN-tGIhN2hyphenhyphenjcHxvV3gNuh12-qjLsFRsp9z4mMsO1UG_20AYk_mx74SHe0727NS2ORWM6vp89I6ILnbsaUfKqhwQmO__UXeRF437Qj_adkQHi76mdnbujcwE2AXkuXz44LHbMXW2D9kYcMFS-J3nYrejQAWpr2_08/s400/IMG_5089.jpg"/></a></div>
<br/>…
We safely arrived in Port St.Charles, Barbados! (picture) <br/><br/>
Had way too many rum-sours that evening, I confess... (picture)<br/><br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_xmWaO3xRlGeC1FqmtMzQkrnmlqViXZv78DuzTp1dAf5wo9KBHVRA0TuEE3xlEGyBtW_TO4_Xsjh9-sZNV1ZyJC7mKxlXpMrnf5V6fx_Ip5-IjlV7XV9CBmGQ-es2l6EGSw-JFlO6m9LPH90u_dwgGNzoHG3oRA6gNjNu06a6X3VZr1zYcwYIO_NMMA/s1340/09fedb8e-0706-44d9-afdf-ccdbd4eaca1b.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1340" data-original-width="954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_xmWaO3xRlGeC1FqmtMzQkrnmlqViXZv78DuzTp1dAf5wo9KBHVRA0TuEE3xlEGyBtW_TO4_Xsjh9-sZNV1ZyJC7mKxlXpMrnf5V6fx_Ip5-IjlV7XV9CBmGQ-es2l6EGSw-JFlO6m9LPH90u_dwgGNzoHG3oRA6gNjNu06a6X3VZr1zYcwYIO_NMMA/s400/09fedb8e-0706-44d9-afdf-ccdbd4eaca1b.JPG"/></a></div>
But with Jan, I was still sober enough to re-run Nerio's mooring lines when we hit the dock hard with a shifting swell in the marina, at 3:00 AM! The rest of the crew slept through that!!<br/><br/>
With a big thanks to Peter 1, our skipper (picture), for a safe passage!!! May we meet again soon! <br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPt3_AwJn9OW6qXoZ25gITcBxQDEm7Tk26pg09PMFCCJsDsshPDBf31XHyEHefA8Fv-8XKWFMpYfWBwKwjYBN_BtcGf6StH4UUoESqNxaJFygf-C0XGjBTnncwgoH3YYgTNiuqZ8tKK05SbjS3hHmD1SS4O_pkymOBG-eqdD-A0mDqyiQSrWGweZ0O6-s/s1024/19e39cc4-50e3-45a0-84e0-c89e12b31371.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPt3_AwJn9OW6qXoZ25gITcBxQDEm7Tk26pg09PMFCCJsDsshPDBf31XHyEHefA8Fv-8XKWFMpYfWBwKwjYBN_BtcGf6StH4UUoESqNxaJFygf-C0XGjBTnncwgoH3YYgTNiuqZ8tKK05SbjS3hHmD1SS4O_pkymOBG-eqdD-A0mDqyiQSrWGweZ0O6-s/s400/19e39cc4-50e3-45a0-84e0-c89e12b31371.JPG"/></a></div>
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-6047735329660104892019-04-03T10:21:00.001+01:002019-04-03T20:36:50.221+01:00Solveig's song<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="200" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R8AD75_sNJM" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
<i>"Perhaps there will go both winter and spring, <br />
And next summer also and the whole year, <br />
<br />
But one time you will come,<br />
I know this for sure, <br />
<br />
And I shall surely wait for I promised that last."</i>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-473353260749484852018-05-02T11:47:00.001+01:002018-05-02T11:56:05.819+01:00Sunset worshippers<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O-HsW142T5g" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
Where I live on the Italian west coast, near Rome, there is a beach bar. It is one of my three favourite bars in the whole world.<br />
<br />
It is nothing more than a shack on the beach, but they have a tradition of celebrating sunsets. <br />
<br />
They have a sound system spread over the beach, which envelops people into the wave of the music.<br />
<br />
People, young and old, gather here every day, to celebrate the day, and the sunset closing the day.<br />
<br />
Each day starting in spring and ending in late fall, people gather here by sunset, up to 1,000 people or more. <br />
<br />
As the sun is setting, the music fades out, for a while. And as the last sun rays break through, this music plays in a daily tradition.<br />
<br />
People stop talking, and stand up, holding hands, and look at the sunset, listening to the music, surrounded by the sound and sight of the last sun rays.<br />
<br />
At the moment the sun disappears, every day, a guy comes up and gently hits a massive gong, while everyone applauds when the last rays break through. They applaud for one more day gone, one more sun gone, celebrating the sun set. <br />
<br />
Remembering the day that went by, and thinking of the days that are still to come.<br />
<br />
Celebrating what has been, and what is still to come. Celebrating love and the things that matter<br />
<br />
Celebrating the sunset.<br />
<br />
<br />
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-46662155585540600792015-09-17T19:04:00.001+01:002015-09-17T19:13:55.293+01:00UNESCO: Not exactly "Greening the Blue" - an open letter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/unesco%20waste%20bin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/unesco%20waste%20bin.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div><br />
Open letter to Irina Bokova, Director General UNESCO, Paris.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Dear Ms Bokova,<br />
<br />
I attended a scientific conference - on climate change, above all - at UNESCO in July. I was very surprised that UNESCO does not have an up to date recycling policy, nor any infrastructure to separate recyclable waste and have it processed/disposed of. I could not find any bins to separate plastics, metal waste or clearly marked paper-only bins. <br />
<br />
And that in the midst of a "Greening the Blue" campaign within the UN (http://www.greeningtheblue.org/ ), and good common sense and practice for all citizens, leave along UN staff. <br />
<br />
I also take note of your "Staff Guide to Greening UNESCO" http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001914/191471e.pdf which urges your HQ staff to...: <br />
"use your own bags to collect bottles, cans, wrappers, etc. Then carry them home for recycling in the designated yellow or white bins"<br />
<br />
This might have been ok in the 60's, but, dear Ms Bokova, we are 2015, where any UN organization should show the lead in environmental protection, recycling and green-living awareness. Especially UNESCO.<br />
<br />
I am very much looking forward to your answer on this, which will be published.<br />
<br />
Kindly,<br />
<br />
Peter Casier<br />
Retired UN staff. <br />
</i><br />
<br />
<span id="fullpost">Officially, this is what <a href="http://www.greeningtheblue.org/what-the-un-is-doing/united-nations-educational-scientific-and-cultural-organization-unesco">Ms Bokova states on UNESCO's commitment to "Greening the UN"</a>: <br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>"Limiting climate change requires a change of deep-rooted behaviours and a collective effort involving every individual. UNESCO promotes sustainability and is examining critically its greenhouse gas emissions so as to reduce the Organisation's carbon footprint."<br />
</i><br />
</blockquote>As far as I am concerned: one needs to put his/her money where his/her mouth is. And UNESCO does not. Much bla-bla but no boum-boum, where UNESCO should lead by example.<br />
<br />
Picture: A general waste bin at UNESCO headquarters in Paris (July 2015)... No recycling nor separating recycable wasts... In the year "2015-2015", as the song goes.<br />
</span><br />
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-12173893597267135242015-09-17T13:54:00.001+01:002015-09-17T17:23:39.748+01:00#jenesuispluscharlie<center><img border="0" src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/o-CHARLIE-HEBDO-571.jpg" /></center><br />
As said <a href="http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/2015/01/jesuischarlie-or-not.html">in an earlier post</a>, there is something to be said to define the border between press freedom, freedom of expression and just plain human decency.<br />
<br />
In their recent post, Charlie Hebdo crossed the border, in my book.<br />
<br />
Imagine it was one of your kids, and they would make fun of their death, their drowning... <br />
<br />
As one person commented on my Facebook stream: "If death (of a child) is the subject of satire, what kind of humans are we?"<br />
<br />
Sorry, Charlie Hebdo, but "#jenesuispluscharlie". Shame on you!<br />
<br />
To put it more bluntly: Fuck you, Charlie Hebdo,.. May you rot in hell.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-57137583374463100462015-03-12T12:19:00.000+01:002015-03-12T12:19:35.995+01:00Another view on our expedition to Heard Island<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/121445124" width="430" height="323" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
An excellent video by my friend James Brooks about our 1997 expedition to Heard Island in the Antarctic. <br />
<br />
This video draws an excellent parallel between our expedition and the first scientific expedition in 1947, 50 years before ours. It features some unique historic perspective and old film footage.<br />
<br />
The video was made in broadcast quality, geared for commercial TV stations. <br />
<br />
Another video about this expedition, geared for the radio amateur public <a href="http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/2014/02/the-crazy-things-people-do-have-you.html">can be viewed here</a>.<br />
If you are interested in expeditions to really remote locations all over the world, <a href="https://vimeo.com/user36455730">check out James' other videos</a>.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-72792183579548269342015-01-23T13:12:00.001+01:002015-01-23T14:52:32.661+01:00#jesuischarlie, or not?<img border="0" src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/he%20drew%20first.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Nothing justifies curtailing the freedom of expression, press freedom, nor the killing of journalists. Nothing justifies the slaughtering of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and journalists.<br />
<br />
But there is something to be said about tolerance and acceptance of other cultures.<br />
<br />
If I look through some of the previous Charlie Hebdo cartoons (and I purposely did not publish any here, but look <a href="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--3_OzoCcB--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/bjmir4cbrhsrfdwzxiux.png">here</a> and <a href="http://www.les-crises.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/charlie-hebdo-06.jpg">here</a>), I hesitate between freedom of expression and the right to insult purposely.<br />
<br />
We have the right to a freedom of expression, but I think nothing justifies intentionally insulting other cultures nor religions.<br />
<br />
That is my take on it.<br />
<br />
<i>Cartoon courtesy David Pope</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-68434055694916142482014-04-05T12:04:00.003+01:002014-04-05T12:05:00.599+01:00The Afghan Quarterback<center><img src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/Football.jpg" /></center><br />
The coach had put together the perfect team for the Chicago Bears. The only thing that was missing was a good quarterback. He had scouted all the colleges and even the Canadian and European Leagues, but he couldn't find a ringer who could ensure a Super Bowl win.<br />
<br />
Then one night while watching CNN he saw a war-zone scene in Afghanistan. In one corner of the background, he spotted a young Afghan soldier with a truly incredible arm. He threw a hand-grenade straight into a 15th story window 100 yards away. -KABOOM!<br />
<br />
He threw another hand-grenade 75 yards away, right into a chimney. -KA-BLOOEY!<br />
<br />
Then he threw another at a passing car going 90 mph. -BULLS-EYE!<br />
<br />
"I've got to get this guy!" Coach said to himself. "He has the perfect arm!"<br />
<br />
So, he brings him to the States and teaches him the great game of football. And the Bears go on to win the Super Bowl.<br />
<br />
The young Afghan is hailed as the great hero of football, and when the coach asks him what he wants, all the young man wants is to call his mother.<br />
<br />
"Mom," he says into the phone, "I just won the Super Bowl!"<br />
<br />
"I don't want to talk to you, the old Muslim woman says. "You are not my son!"<br />
<br />
"I don't think you understand, Mother," the young man pleads. "I've won the greatest sporting event in the world. I'm here among thousands of my adoring fans."<br />
<br />
"No! Let me tell you!" his mother retorts. "At this very moment, there are gunshots all around us. The neighborhood is a pile of rubble. Your two brothers were beaten within an inch of their lives last week, and I have to keep your sister in the house so she doesn't get raped!" The old lady pauses, and then tearfully says,<br />
<br />
"I will never forgive you for making us move to Chicago!<br />
<br />
<i>With thanks to TGIF-Jeff! </i>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-79441142195225219052014-03-16T14:08:00.001+01:002014-03-16T14:26:06.779+01:00The US and dirty wars<center><img src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/frog%20in%20pan.jpg" /></center><br />
They say if you put a frog in water and slowly warm up the pot, the frog will not notice the increasing temperature and boil to death. A metaphor showing how often we get used to situations, as they gradually get worse and run out of control...<br />
<br />
I watched <a href="http://dirtywars.org/">the documentary movie "Dirty Wars"</a> by Jeremy Scahill, an American investigative journalist who also exposed the "frog in boiling water" role of <a href="http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/2008/12/are-these-humanitarians-of-future.html">Blackwater</a> in US wars and homeland security. <br />
<br />
"Dirty Wars" exposes the increasing role of US covert operations to capture or (mostly) kill anyone, anywhere, without any due juridicial process or proper public oversight. "Dirty wars" takes the specific examples of the killing of civilians in Gardez (Afghanistan), women and children in Al Ma'jalah (Yemen) and of two US civilians in Yemen (cleric Anwar Awlaki and his 16-year-old son Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki). It focuses on the role of <a href="http://www.socom.mil/pages/jointspecialoperationscommand.aspx">JSOC</a>, the notorious US para-military branch which reports directly to the US President, bypassing the "normal" military chain of command.<br />
<br />
<span id="fullpost">I think this is a typical example of "a frog in boiling water"... We all sympathized with the US, and the victims of the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. There was a significant global consent of the US invasion of Afghanistan to eradicate the Taliban and kill Bin Laden. But as of then things have just turned for the worse and the US took the global sympathy of 9/11 to move on to abolish proper human rights, juridicial process, international law and public oversight. Be it <a href="http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/2008/12/rumble-horror-of-war-war-in-iraq-and.html">the invasion of Iraq</a> -now internationally recognized as based on fake evidence and subversive economic motives-, the capture and detention of civilians -<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/14/us-guantanamo-bay-nsa-un-committee">Guantanamo</a>-, to <a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/drones-war-drones/">random drone attacks</a> on the soil of sovereign countries -just about anywhere in the world-, <a href="http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/7416">to the use of private militia and obscure security firms</a> to execute its own "private" wars, and intrusion of the privacy of citizens -<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Edward-Snowden-is-a-hero-Apple-co-founder-Steve-Wozniak/articleshow/31975578.cms">the revelations of Edward Snowden on NSA practices</a>-,....<br />
<br />
As time went by, from 9/11 to now, I think it is time to jump out of the boiling water, and question the foreign politics of the US, with all of its related issues. How is it that a single country, which prouds itself to stand up for worldwide democracy, can get away with worldwide unilateral military action without being questioned?<br />
<br />
The issue is not just the accountability, oversight, human rights, states' sovereignty, etc.. But the issue is also that it is getting worse. "Dirty wars" claims that the unilateral covert operations increased over time -more now under Obama than under Bush JR, for God's sake-. It gradually shaped the world's perception of the US, and how it turns the world more polarized "extremist" action against the US and its foreign policy. The issue is not just the foreign policy actions themselves, but how they clearly don't work. Proof in case is that the initial feeling of sympathy for the US in Afghanistan and even Iraq, turned completely against the US, and how they polarized the world so much "with us or against us". With a growing sense of "against us".<br />
<br />
No matter how cynical it might be, but somewhere it is comforting to see how Russia bluntly and publicly put the US foreign policy with its back against the wall: in Syria - where Putin took the wind out of Obama's sails for an imminent assault on Syria through shrewd foreign diplomacy, and did so again in the Ukraine -by invading the country before the US could say "1-2-3"-. While the latter - the invasion of a sovereign country- can not be justified, it is reassuring that somewhere the world powers might be slightly more balanced than in 2001-2003, even it were by matching the US through employing the same foreign tactics.<br />
<br />
It is time for us, frogs, the leap out of the boiling water, and call the US to justice. It would not only serve international political balance, but most of all serve the rights of us, the citizens of the world.<br />
<br />
Photo courtesy <a href="http://jronaldlee.com/" target="_blank">J.Ronald Lee</a> <br />
</span>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-74824069967594645512014-02-23T20:01:00.000+01:002014-02-23T21:32:25.772+01:00Travel the world in just a minute<center><iframe width="430" height="242" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/J8sLZq4b6io?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><br />
<a href="http://www.rickmereki.com/">Rick Mereki</a> -filmmaker and traveller traveled through 11 countries in 44 days and made this video which is both simple and complex at the same time.. <br />
<br />
Love it.<br />
<br />
PS: 11 countries in 44 days, I did better than that back in 2000... Did not have a video camera, though :-)<br />
<br />
<i>Video discovered via <a href="http://sobadsogood.com">So Bad So Good</a></i>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-304195045509032282014-02-23T17:30:00.001+01:002014-02-23T20:01:38.281+01:00The crazy things people do: Have you ever heard of Heard Island?<iframe width="430" height="242" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mEkc6LbWM-0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
Take a point somewhere in the middle between Africa and India, and then go South until you hit Antarctica... Somewhere there, lays a small island called Heard Island. "Property" of Australia, the island was settled by seal hunters a century ago. <br />
So isolated that over thousands of years, several animals developed into unique species, not to be found anywhere else.<br />
<br />
Dominated by an active volcano, and covered in black ash, Heard comes as inhospitable as any island comes.<br />
<br />
That island was the destination of our 1997 expedition. And this is the video we made of that trip. Probably the trip which was also a turning point in my professional career, when I started to grasp what it took to manage a high performant team, under harsh circumstances....<br />
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The video is a rip from a VHS tape...Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0Heard Island and McDonald Islands-53.08181 73.504157999999961-53.387061499999994 72.858710999999957 -52.7765585 74.149604999999966tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-45331197709853578942014-01-05T16:48:00.001+01:002014-01-05T16:52:13.899+01:00The crazy things people do: My first Antarctic expedition<center><object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/CYRy94cFK4M?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/CYRy94cFK4M?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br />
It feels like yesterday, but it was 20 years ago, almost to the date, when I left for my first Antarctic expedition. Our target was Peter I island, one of the most remote corners of the world's most remote continent.<br />
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It is still difficult to believe how we pulled off this expedition, challenged by logistical "mission impossible's". But we did.<br />
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Enjoy this video, even though it is a lower resolution rip from a VHS tape. The views, with this music in the background still gets the hair on my arms stand up :-)<br />
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Read <a href="http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/search/label/Peter%20I%20Island">more stories about this expedition</a> on The Road.Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com2Peter 1 Island-68.8335717 -90.628194000000008-69.0170167 -91.273641000000012 -68.650126699999987 -89.982747tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-10491293743514799832013-12-27T15:10:00.000+01:002014-01-05T16:51:41.661+01:00The crazy things people do: Howland Island<center><object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/zeLfBdT1IMw?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/zeLfBdT1IMw?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br />
This must be the very first video I ever made, an all-analog tale from an expedition to Howland Islands, in the middle of the Pacific, back in 1993. <br />
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The video is a capture of the magical moments, with music which inspired me at that time. <br />
Sit back, relax, and imagine how it feels like, to travel to the middle of no-where...<br />
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If you are interested, <a href="http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/2012/07/from-past-expedition-to-howland-island.html">here is another video</a> from the same expedition. Years ago, I also wrote <a href="http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/2007/01/tales-of-horizon-how-cigarettes-once.html">a short story</a> of my adventures on Howland Island.<br />
For the handful of you reading Dutch, I also <a href="http://verslaafdaandehorizon.blogspot.com/">published the full story</a> of my first expeditions.Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-60051312059426455812013-12-22T16:24:00.000+01:002013-12-22T16:25:25.580+01:00Shocking graph revealed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/Shocking%20graph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/Shocking%20graph.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Actual meaning yet to be explained.<br />
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Courtesy <a href="http://www.speld.nl/2013/11/26/schokkende-grafiek-opgedoken/">De Speld</a>, with HT <a href="https://twitter.com/janradio">@JanRadio</a><br />
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-46020354766204044942013-12-02T07:14:00.000+01:002014-02-23T21:33:32.545+01:00Empower youth by highlighting their projects<center><iframe width="430" height="242" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/XOLOLrUBRBY?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><br />
In the recent years, I had the opportunity to help highlighting the work young people do, throwing the spotlight on their projects and success stories, their struggles and challenges. <br />
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I firmly believe that putting young people on a platform, enabling them to bring their message, automatically empowers them, their causes and youth in general. It not only gives the individual a well-deserved chance to show their project, but each of those projects reminds the world that young people *are* the future deserving our attention, support, guidance, mentoring and funding. <br />
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And the youth have the drive, the ingenuity, the geniality and true spirit to make a change. <br />
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I was privileged to be part of the group giving that spotlight to people like <a href="http://www.cgiar.org/consortium-news/the-facebook-farmer-2/" target="_blank">Joseph Macharia from Kenya</a> or <a href="http://www.cgiar.org/consortium-news/ugandas-green-general/" target="_blank">Joseph Otim from Uganda</a> just a few weeks ago.<br />
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It is in that spirit you should watch the video from Kelvin Doe, a fifteen year old from Sierra Leone, who picks parts from trash, to make his own radio station - including its mini-generator - in Sierra Leone.<br />
I invite you to support <a href="http://www.crowdrise.com/InnovateSalone" target="_blank">"Innovate Salone"</a> with similar initiatives.<br />
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Thanks to Kay Chapman for the tip on the video..Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-22642678583695666292013-12-01T11:58:00.000+01:002013-12-01T11:58:00.453+01:00Climate scientists become climate models<iframe width="450" height="338" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1942258570/2014-climate-models-wall-calendar/widget/video.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"> </iframe><br />
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Kickstarter recently <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1942258570/2014-climate-models-wall-calendar" target="_blank">featured a funding request</a> for an interesting project by Rebecca Fowler and Francesco Fiondella. The project wants to make a 2014 calendar with "the hottest climate science", and the scientists -the people- behind it.<br />
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The photos in the calendar not only highlights the climate change issues in an interesting and provocative way, but also combines it with the science behind it.<br />
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I wish I would have come up with that idea! :-)<br />
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-24946059844197386402013-11-30T11:50:00.000+01:002013-11-30T11:50:38.475+01:00Italy: sunsets and garbage men<center><img src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/sunset%20Nov%202013.JPG" alt="Sunset Italy" /></center><br />
Last night, just before sunset, I saw a large garbage truck, parked next to the alley way giving access to beach. I walked onto the sand and I saw the two garbage men.<br />
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Both of them looked straight West, as the sun was sinking behind the horizon, in a sky transitioning from bright yellow to dark blue, over a flat wave-less sea.<br />
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As I passed the two men, I heard one of them say: "Mamma mia, che bello!"<br />
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At that moment, I thought: "Probably, Italy might be the only place on earth, where two garbage men would interrupt their route, just to watch a sunset".<br />
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Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-86818413131101851162013-03-23T12:06:00.000+01:002013-03-23T12:06:08.591+01:00Follow the frog<object width="430" height="242"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/3iIkOi3srLo?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/3iIkOi3srLo?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="430" height="242" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
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In our ongoing quest to find good and exciting advocacy videos, I found this one from <a href="http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/">the RainForest Alliance</a>.<br />
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HT to Susan for the tip!Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-27574328976562450032013-02-18T08:38:00.000+01:002013-02-23T07:25:34.613+01:005 Broken Cameras<object height="323" width="430"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/F_tQEgiYoV4?version=3&hl=en_GB"></param>
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"5 Broken Cameras" is a film, shot almost entirely by a Palestinian farmer, Emad Burnat. Emad bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son. He registers life in the Occupied Territories, following his family through five years of village turmoil. Emad watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost, through a cycle of five cameras. Each camera gets destroyed in a violent incident.<br />
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This is an extraordinary work, a deeply personal, first-hand account of the Palestinian resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. <br />
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The footage was later given to Israeli co-director Guy Davidi to edit. The film was nominated for "Best Documentary Feature" in the 2013 Academy Awards. (More in <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-palestinians-filmmaker-qa-20130203,0,6108191.story" target="_blank">this LA Times article</a>)<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Update (Feb 22)</span>:<br />
Emad Burnat travelled to the US with his wife and son to attend the Oscar's ceremony. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/emad-burnat-the-oscarnominated-palestinian-farmer-who-survived-bullets-arrests-and-being-held-at-lax-airport-8507614.html" target="_blank">He was held up by US immigration</a> on the account of "not having the right invitation", he was eventually released.<br />
Reminded me of <a href="http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/2007/02/day-i-got-exiled-from-us.html" target="_blank">my own horror story</a> with US immigration.Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com2Palestinian Territories31.952162 35.23315400000001330.226647 32.651367000000015 33.677677 37.814941000000012tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-76551496035465416462013-02-12T11:01:00.000+01:002013-02-18T08:55:06.616+01:00This is what winning looks like<center><img src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/funny-soldiermilitary.jpg" alt="soldier does camel" title="soldier does camel" width="430" height="382" /></center><br />
John Allen, the US general in charge of NATO's troops in Afghanistan, handed over his command to his successor. But not without a farewell speech, in which he declared:<br />
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<blockquote>"This is victory, this is what winning looks like, and we should not shrink from using these words." (<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/victory-in-sight-for-afghans-us-general-20130211-2e8x2.html#ixzz2Kfzo9aIY" target="_blank">Full</a>)</blockquote><br />
<span id="fullpost">Dear General Allen, I have some news from you: you have not accomplished shit in Afghanistan. The Taliban have not been defeated, and are just waiting for you to leave. The living conditions of the Afghani people have not become better and certainly not safer. <br />
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Actually your intervention did make a difference. Nowadays, Afghanistan is once again, one of the largest exporters of heroin, while poppy growing was fully eradicated under the Taliban rule before your invasion.<br />
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If this is what US victory looks like, you can keep it.<br />
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Picture courtesy <a href="http://thechive.com">TheChive</a></span>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-71766620751810060112013-02-06T13:20:00.003+01:002013-02-06T19:11:33.767+01:00Alitalia crash reveals dead bodies in the closet<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/alitalia%20before%20painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/alitalia%20before%20painting.jpg" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crashed "Alitalia" plane as it looked on Saturday</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Last Saturday night, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2273415/Alitalia-Leased-plane-crash-painted.html#axzz2K0way3hF" target="_blank">a plane crashed at Fiumicino</a> (FCO), Rome's main airport. The initial news reports mentioned "an Alitalia flight from Pisa to Rome, veering off the runway after landing in strong winds".<br />
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Already from that moment, I was a bit surprised: I live 5 miles from the landing strip, and the wind was not unusually strong. Luckily only one person was seriously injured. But surprise: it was a flight attendent who was apparently not strapped in. Why would a flight attendant not be strapped in, during landing in strong winds?<br />
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And within hours, a more obscure story came up: While the plane had the colours and insignia from Alitalia, Italy's national carrier, and had an Alitalia flight number, it had nothing to do with Alitalia. The plane was not only operated by Carpatair, an obscure Romanian budget airline, with a Romanian crew, but was also owned by that same obscure airline. The plane itself was actually registered in Romania, and not in Italy, as Alitalia planes normally are...<br />
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<span id="fullpost">More suspicion came in when I saw <a href="http://www.carpatair.com/Content/EN/MEDIA/Files/News_Media/crises/Carpatair%20Press%20Release%20%20Key%20Points_EN.pdf">this Carpatair press release</a> (.PDF):<br />
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<blockquote>The <b><i>forcasted</i></b> (sic) winds in FCO were in the limits for the ATR as aircraft type as well as those of Carpatair. Windshear <b><i>predicition</i></b> (sic) information was not available <b><i>in the in the</i></b> (sic) reports regarding actual weather and <b><i>forecstaed</i></b> (sic) meteorological conditions given to the crew before the flight, it was not mentioned to the pilots in the weather updates info through the ATIS (actual weather special radio frequency) during the flight or <i><b>by on the tower</b></i> (sic) frequency before landing</blockquote><br />
I am a firm believer that small details often reveal a full picture. A sloppy press release full of spelling/grammatical errors, puts Carpatair in the category of "duct tape and shoe lace"-airlines, in my book. <br />
Now beyond that, what are they trying to say: that their ATR-72 aircraft should not have been flying in this weather, but nobody informed them? I smell rotten fish.<br />
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So here is my question: <i>Explain why this is not plain fraud? While code sharing and the practice of "flights of one airline being operated by another", is common practice, in this case, there is absolutely nothing that ties this flight to Alitalia. Except the flight number.</i><br />
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And of course, less than 24 hours after the crash, the plane was neatly repainted, hiding all references to Alitalia.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/alitalia%20after%20painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://theroadtothehorizon.net/photo/alitalia%20after%20painting.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "Alitalia" plane, one day after the crash</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Smell the dead bodies in the closet? Next thing we will hear is that a Moldovian hooker was giving the captain a blow job at the time of the crash, like with <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16558910">the Italian Costa Concordia cruise ship</a>, which ran aground off the coast almost exactly a year ago...<br />
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Pictures courtesy <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2273415/Alitalia-Leased-plane-crash-painted.html" target="_blank">Daily Mail</a> and EPA.</span>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.com4