Another missing yacht overdue France

[Roberto]

Cape verde - Brazil is only couple of weeks in the trades, big diff from north atlantic.

now you have scared me :smile:


Next year I have to bring the boat back to Europe, and I am very tempted to sail the leg Carib-Açores singlehanded... will be asking for advice soon :smile:


cheers

 

[rickym]

I know someone who motored almost all the way from Bermuda to the Azores! Maybe should have gone further North to find the wind?

 

[KellysEye]

When we were in the Caribbean one of the weather nets read out boat alerts where relatives reported a boat was overdue. The interesting thing was 25% of the alerts were for single handers. Given that they probably account for less than 1% of cruising boats it persuaded me never to single hand on long passages. Around 40% of all the alerts were solved but I suspect that many that were safe weren't reported.

 

[Conachair]

now you have scared me :smile:


Next year I have to bring the boat back to Europe, and I am very tempted to sail the leg Carib-Açores singlehanded... will be asking for advice soon :smile:

Nah, easy mate The one time I did it anyway, lovely current up to the Carib then have plenty fuel to get up to the wind. fast after that. Azores are lovely.

Reading completely between the lines with next to no info but if this guy was inexperienced then it would show on the boat, not him sailing it. The sailing bit is quite easy, making your boat bullet proof for offshore work is where the experience shows. Wind vanes shouldn't break, and when things that shouldn't break as essential as that do break then you should have all the bits onboard to fix them. Ocd is a wonderful thing in certain cases

Re the missing lists, I would always calc on 100Nm a day the round up the the next weekend then add another week to arrival estimates.

 

[lenseman]

now you have scared me :smile: . . . . Next year I have to bring the boat back to Europe, and I am very tempted to sail the leg Carib-Açores singlehanded... . . . . .

His inexperience caused him to leave his departure far too late in the season. Too far south at this time of the year and he was heading into a procession, (almost a conveyor belt), of tropical wave-fronts and tropical cyclones created over the Sahara which then build into hurricanes as they track westwards!

Too far north this late in the season and he would be meeting the remnants of dying hurricanes as they turn north then east and give us our first autumnal/winter storms. These were the east going the weather systems which the New Zealand yacht experienced a week or two earlier.

Just look at the track of Hurricane Ophelia and latterly Philippe in the mid and western Atlantic and follow its progress. Ophelia is due northern UK sometime on the 6th October creating very unsettled weather:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Ophelia track:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?5-daynl#contents

Philippe track:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at2.shtml?5-daynl#contents

You need to leave in the direction of north and east and ride across the top of the Azores 'High' towards Biscay and UK.

Conachair is your man for a more full picture of route and equipment needed.

 

[Blue Fox]

I saw a Frenchman in Bermuda coming in (see picture) with an emergency mast. He told me he had lost his rig somewhere near Guyana and could only afford a telephone pole. He had to go back to his job, so was motoring all the way to France. I think he made it, because we saw him at the Azores as well.
Chris

 

[snowleopard]

It's very easy to sit in a safe armchair and say what someone else should have done. Singlehanding long distances in adverse conditions can have drastic effects on the mind. The temptation to get off and let someone else take charge can be overwhelming.

 

[Koeketiene]

Singlehanding long distances in adverse conditions can have drastic effects on the mind.

Extreme example: Crowhurst

 

[capnsensible]

I know someone who motored almost all the way from Bermuda to the Azores! Maybe should have gone further North to find the wind?

I know someone too.....me!

Was delivering a yacht from Miami to Gib, late season, June. Owner was in a rush, work stuff so we went to Bermuda, got loads of extra diesel in cans, extra fuel filters and went for it.

Etap 39. As it happened we arrived in Horta with diesel to spare despite motoring almost the entire way. Actually quite enjoyed it, cd player up to cover engine noise and no neighbours to annoy.

 

[Conachair]

It's very easy to sit in a safe armchair and say what someone else should have done. Singlehanding long distances in adverse conditions can have drastic effects on the mind. The temptation to get off and let someone else take charge can be overwhelming.

Calms are worse ime. At least with the breeze up you're moving, stuck day after day on an oily sea can get just a tad frustrating.

Armchair or not the guy left too late.

 

[Liz_I]

I saw a Frenchman in Bermuda coming in (see picture) with an emergency mast. He told me he had lost his rig somewhere near Guyana and could only afford a telephone pole. He had to go back to his job, so was motoring all the way to France. I think he made it, because we saw him at the Azores as well.
Chris

He arrived in Port Napoleon about a year ago. Boat is now back in the water and re rigged. He has no plans to go off again soon as he's working.