The Trans-Atlantic 8th Update
"The ARC" (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers)
Day 1 Sunday
(25th Nov),
The day has come, we leave today to cross the Atlantic. Are we ready?
We better be! All seemed in order, we slipped our lines from the pontoon
and made for the start line. 12.30am was our "Ten Minute Gun", and at
12.40am "The Race" had begun. 25 to 30 knots of wind were encountered
as we sailed with full main and spinnaker.
After too many broaches we took down the spinnaker. In this process it
got a large rip in it. One sail lost on the first day out. Later when
trying to pole out the genoa I found the end of the pole was jammed.
After inspection, dismantling and reassembling we were back in action.
We clocked a maximum of 38 knots of wind today, during which we broached
a lot, so by the time we got to settle in for the evening the galley was
a complete mess.
Day 2 Monday (26th Nov)
More teething problems that have to be sorted out on the run. We lost
a shackle from the main sheet. Cara fell and broke the under sink locker
door. The toilet seat broke it's hinges (well someone broke them). On
a brighter note I fixed the spinnaker pole and we got to see a tanker
and a cruise ship pass us during the night. Day
3 Tuesday (27th Nov)
My new "Iridium" satelite phone wouldn't connect my laptop to the internet
so with no weather info I called Jon Quinn (Rebellious) to get info. He
was great. He had Hurricane Olga placed before she became a Hurricane
and had advised us to get far south, just in case. We did, just in case.
The water maker is giving trouble, but nothing a little tinkering wouldn't
sort out. One of my running back stays came adrift and Ronan went to the
rescue to resecure it while it was swinging dangerously. Then we got the
official warning. Hurricane Olga was everybody's concern. Hannes (from
Lanzarote) and Jon had joined forces to keep us up to date with all the
developments. Cheers guys!!!! That night the Auto-pilot started to make
some strange squeeks. A squirt of grease on the ram didn't sort it out.
Hmmmm!?!?!?!?! Then the ram jammed up completely leaving us with no steering
at all. Even in "Standby mode". I then instantly disconnected it, this
gave us manual steering.
Day 4 Wednesday (28th Nov)
The water tanks don't seem to be filling all the way for some
reason. This is an ongoing problem that just means we have to run it every
day now. I took the Auto pilot apart to see if there was anything obvious
wrong but no, so reassembled and tried it again anyway. Same story. Left
it off and called the 24 hour help line. They agreed nothing could be
done on the run. Replacement will be waiting for me in St. Lucia. That's
no good to me here and now though. Watch duties just got tougher. Now
we need one person on the wheel and one on standby to sail the boat. That
leaves not much rest for anyone. When "Auto" went it totally drained the
battery banks which left me more concerned, but they charged up over night
and are fine since. The "Preventer" pulley block broke during an accidental
jibe. Replaced it. While in the "Heads" (toilet) I fell against the shower
drain switch and broke it … Oooops!!! I couldn't find the replacement
I had got just before leaving, just in case, and still can't find it.
At least we have a full moon to help our night watches.
Day 5 Thursday (29th Nov)
Back on track now and sailing well. Nothing broke today and we actually
caught up to and passed our first boat ... a fellow Sigma called "Disco
Inferno" … which was moored just opposite us at the marina in Las Palmas.
We chatted on the radio for a while. Night was uneventful … the usual
flying fish and dolphins. Day 6 Friday (30th Nov)
All is well except for these nasty looking black clouds that seem to be
building up during the night and then pouring rain for a while. This not
a problem as most passed us by. One looked very severe so we altered course
to avoid it, as it seemed to be chasing us.
Day 7 Sat (1st Dec)
6 am one of these clouds caught us off the hop. It poured rain
and the winds blew up to Gale force 8. We had full main up and full No
1 Genoa with the No2 poled out opposite (twin-winged). Too much sail.
We got hammered and soaked wet but survived it well. That was the first
time I have used the deep reef on this boat. Later we repaired the sail
batten pouch that frayed in the squall earlier. Most repairs are done
at this stage except the auto pilot. Then we noticed the 3rd reef line
had lost it's stopper knot and run through the boom. Eventually replaced
it with the 1st reef line not needed as much. Day
8 Sun (2nd Dec)
Hard sailing now, dead down wind and down big swells. We are all very
tired now without "auto". Sighted 2 white flares this night, altered course
to the north to investigate. Called "all ships" on the VHF for info to
find that the "Atlantic Rowing teams" set them off to alert ships of their
where-abouts. Resume course, happier now.
Day 9 Mon (3rd Dec)
Nice day, calmer conditions, perfect for resting. Night 9, not so steady
winds, and more dodgy clouds. Day 10 Tue (4th Dec),
Half way. Yahooooo!!!!! "Feel Good" factor.
Day 11 Wednesday (5th Dec)
Wind dropped off to nothing. Thinking about motor sailing and changing
from Racing Class to Cruising. Will wait a bit. Genny repaired but it
looks very fragile from sun damage. Generator charging the batteries instead
of the motor. Time to refuel the diesel tank for further recharging by
the motor. Then realised the planned petrol cans to fuel the generator
had diesel in them so no petrol for genny just enough in her for emergencies.
Day 12 Thursday (6th Dec)
Now drifting at a slightly faster rate of 4 knots. Still thinking about
motor sailing. We are almost out of "Treats" (nice things to eat), still
have lots of food and water and fuel, just no treats.
Day 13 Friday (7th Dec)
The wind finally picked up again. That also brought up the Morale. Forget
about motoring (for now anyway). We still might have chance in the race,
according to Jon, from Rebellious, who is tracking us everyday, monitoring
the weather for us and relaying this information to us via our new "Iridium"
satellite phone. Also today the "Water maker" sprung another leak but
again not it's fault. Someone had forgot to open one of the valves. I
fixed it again. It really is a marvelous machine. Less than 1000 miles
to go.
Day 14 Saturday (8th Dec)
After a night of fast sailing at 8, 9 and 10 knots I spent some
time out running a nasty looking lightning cloud (storm???) on my tail.
In this process I clocked 11.7 knots in 30 plus knots of wind with full
main up, No.1 winged and No.2 poled out as a twin wing. Yes a bit too
much sail up again but it was exciting stuff, until the No.2 got ripped
while taking it down. This all took place at about 7am (GMT) in the dark.
Four hours of "Cat and Mouse", all hands on deck, no sleep for anyone
… hard work … the rest of the night we took it easy with 2nd reef in Main
only … too tired to try!
Day 15 Sunday (9th Dec)
Same story main only … main 2nd reef only … well I guess Sunday is a "Day
of Rest" … still 7 knots though. Day 16 Monday (10th Dec) Another quiet
night weather wise. A ship called "Northern Enterprise" called on the
VHF for "White Sands", who reported a sighting of two red flares earlier.
We had seen two flares also but thought they were white (debatedly so,
but white), just like the two other nights previous We could hear them
on the radio as they searched on in vain. An uneventful day apart from
some old repairs on the No. 1 Genoa coming adrift again. More "Duct Tape"
done the job as I lost the "Sail Repair Tape" overboard earlier in the
trip. Then we heard a call on the VHF from the "US Coastguard Aircraft"
requesting more info on the "Red Flares". They said they had been searching
all day and found nothing. That's the last we heard. While I was on "Helm
Duty" Cara answered a call from our "Info source" Jon, I don't know wither
to take this warning seriously but, he says a small Island called "Diamond
Island" has a small volcano called "Kicking Jenny" which may erupt and
may cause a "Small Tidal Wave" … Hmmm!?!?!?
Day 17 Tuesday (11th Dec)
Nothing strange at all today. Sunshine and plenty of wind, not too much,
enough to push us along at approximately 8 knots.
Day 18 Wednesday (12th Dec)
Patched a small rip in the main sail. Nothing else to report today.
No VHF calls, no phone calls, so sightings of other boats … oops we did
see one yacht in front of us last night and kept it in our sights 'til
morning but she then disappeared south of us. Last night we decided to
try doing 2 hour watches each so we could all rest well in preparation
for the festivities when we get there. Everyone seemed happy with this
idea … so be it. Tonight should be our last night at sea for this trip
with only 160 miles to go. Land fall tomorrow! Party, Party, Party.
Day 19 Thursday (13th Dec)
After a night of not much rest, even though we are on 2 hour watches
with 6 hours off, when daylight came (10am GMT) I went to bed until 1pm
(GMT). Now feeling a lot better, I'm ready for "Land Fall". 40 miles to
go. No other boats in sight. We can hear the finish line boat on the radio.
We told them we are five miles out … almost there. It was about 6pm (GMT)
or 2pm (Local) when we crossed the line … a very exciting time …big cheers
from all around. We crossed the line in sunshine, but as we took our sails
down it poured from the heavens … I couldn't believe our luck … our official
landing on St. Lucia was in the rain. The local welcome party wouldn't
come to meet us until the rain stopped. So much for the Caribbean weather!
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