Atlantic crossing 2025

[geem]

Update from the Atlantic. We have 1011nm to go to Antigua. I think you can describe this a full trades kind of passage. I came on watch this morning to 30/33kts. No squalls. Clear sky. Gradient winds blowing hard.
We set our sails 7 days ago and apart from rolling some genoa in and out, we have had nothing to do in the sail department. The sail area is set to keep the boat speed below hull speed. This keeps her running true and straight. As soon as we do consistent speeds above 8 knots, she starts to squirm around, working the autopilot harder. 7kt average over the last 24hrs with every 24hr run above 160nm since we cleared the very large wind shadow of the Cape Verdes. It should calm down a bit later.
On previous Atlantic crossings, we have left early in the season to have a more gentle crossing. Trades get stronger after Xmas. We sail with just me and the wife and the dog. (dog is on her 5th crossing) this is the windiest crossing we have had going in this direction.
We hope to be in Antigua in 7 days.

 

[capnsensible]

Enjoying reading your reports from the passage, ta.

 

[Roberto]

Fair winds
Are you seeing a lot of sargassum?

 

[geem]

Fair winds
Are you seeing a lot of sargassum?

No weed. Yet. We have found in the past that it's the last 1000nm when you start to get weed. We have less than 1000nm to go now so I expect to see some soon. When it happens, fishing will be over.
We have caught less fish this year and they are smaller. Even the flying fish are less numerous and smaller. It's depressing to see on Marine traffic, fishing boats halfway across thr Atlantic with huge nets set, scooping up everything. We are killing the oceans. They have AIS pingers on their nets

 

[Roberto]

No weed. Yet. We have found in the past that it's the last 1000nm when you apart to get weed. We have less than 1000nm to go now so I expect to see some soon. When it happens, fishing will be over.
We have caught less fish this year and they are smaller. Even the flying fish are less numerous and smaller. It's depressing to see on Marine traffic, fishing boats halfway across thr Atlantic with huge nets set, scooping up everything. We are killing the oceans. They have AIS pingers on their nets

As you have internet...
Central Atlantic Data — College of Marine Science — University of South Florida

 

[geem]

Enjoying reading your reports from the passage, ta.

Update from the Atlantic.
We have just completed day 10. 1630nm by the log. Looks like 3 more nights at sea if the wind holds. We have 16/20kts of wind and 2.1m seas. Champagne sailing conditions, assisted by a nice big moon. A far cry from the rough days very reefed down earlier in the passage.
527nm to go to Antigua.
Looking on Marine Traffic, it looks very crowded out here but we haven't seen a single yacht and only 1 ship that was too close for comfort. That needed a vhf call to explain that we were a sailing vessel with poled out sails heading down wind. The master of the 185m bulk carrier agreed to alter course.
Although we have AIS we haven't seen more than a couple of targets, 13 or 14nm away. It's a very large ocean out here.
The sargasso weed appeared at 700nm to go, so fishing is game over.
Beers going in the fridge ready for arrival. It's funny how your perspective changes. We are nearly there

 

[capnsensible]

Friends of ours are in Santa Cruz, Tenerife at the moment. Have sorted the last of the preps will victual over the weekend and head off Monday.

I'll let them know about the weed.

 

[geem]

Friends of ours are in Santa Cruz, Tenerife at the moment. Have sorted the last of the preps will victual over the weekend and head off Monday.

I'll let them know about the weed.

Friends of ours just left Santa Cruz yesterday.
The weed mustny be full coverage because I put the fishing lines back out today. Weed has gone, temporarily

 

[geem]

End of day 11, start of day 12. 365nm to go to Antigua. 169nm daily run by the log. 364nm DMG.
When we left Mindelo, we set up our twin poles. We can gybe the genoa across the poles. We have sailed wing on wing with a reefed mainsail all the way across. Currently we have 2 reefs in the main, the working jib is set on the same side as the main and the reefed genoa poled out opposite.,we did our first gybe of the trip last night. 10 days on one tack.
We are a Solent rigged ketch. The mizzen mast has been redundant on this passage. This has never happened before. Normally we will do numerous sail changes, mainly because leaving early in the season means light winds. Not this time. The spinnaker and mizzen staysail haven't been out of their bags.
The good news is we caught two more mahi mahi as the sagasso weed disappeared. Our small freezer was full so I converted one of the fridges over to a freezer. The lines may be back out this morning if we are still weed free

 

[Flynnbarr]

Could we have more info on the dog please…..5th crossing wow

 

[geem]

Could we have more info on the dog please…..5th crossing wow

Certainly. Pip is a 14 years old Patterdale terrier. She is very as home on the boat having spent 9 years of her life afloat. When we sailed back to the UK last year and moved back into our house, she was very lost. Wasn't really that happy. Her happy place is afloat. She has a bean bag in a custom built box under the saloon table. She loves that spot. She is only allowed down in the evening if she has been to the loo. She like to go infront of the mast. Fine if the weather is settled, but after a week of 3 reefs in the mainsail we had to get imaginative with dealing with it. She gets super excited with balloons. Inflating those and taking them on deck certainly helped persuade her to go!
She is a tough little dog and doesn't get phased by much.

 

[Wandering Star]

Certainly. Pip is a 14 years old Patterdale terrier. She is very as home on the boat having spent 9 years of her life afloat. When we sailed back to the UK last year and moved back into our house, she was very lost. Wasn't really that happy. Her happy place is afloat. She has a bean bag in a custom built box under the saloon table. She loves that spot. She is only allowed down in the evening if she has been to the loo. She like to go infront of the mast. Fine if the weather is settled, but after a week of 3 reefs in the mainsail we had to get imaginative with dealing with it. She gets super excited with balloons. Inflating those and taking them on deck certainly helped persuade her to go!
She is a tough little dog and doesn't get phased by much.

Would you like to swap her for my wife? She seems an ideal shipmate ( the dog not my wife).

 

[Flynnbarr]

Certainly. Pip is a 14 years old Patterdale terrier. She is very as home on the boat having spent 9 years of her life afloat. When we sailed back to the UK last year and moved back into our house, she was very lost. Wasn't really that happy. Her happy place is afloat. She has a bean bag in a custom built box under the saloon table. She loves that spot. She is only allowed down in the evening if she has been to the loo. She like to go infront of the mast. Fine if the weather is settled, but after a week of 3 reefs in the mainsail we had to get imaginative with dealing with it. She gets super excited with balloons. Inflating those and taking them on deck certainly helped persuade her to go!
She is a tough little dog and doesn't get phased by much.

Brilliant thanks for sharing that

 

[Blueboatman]

Certainly. Pip is a 14 years old Patterdale terrier. She is very as home on the boat having spent 9 years of her life afloat. When we sailed back to the UK last year and moved back into our house, she was very lost. Wasn't really that happy. Her happy place is afloat. She has a bean bag in a custom built box under the saloon table. She loves that spot. She is only allowed down in the evening if she has been to the loo. She like to go infront of the mast. Fine if the weather is settled, but after a week of 3 reefs in the mainsail we had to get imaginative with dealing with it. She gets super excited with balloons. Inflating those and taking them on deck certainly helped persuade her to go!
She is a tough little dog and doesn't get phased by much.

Brilliant
Happy landing
It sounds like you have the right boat for heavy air passage masking.
I read one crossing on a sister ship to my old Rustler where they basically had the wind forward of the beam the whole way across.

Love the ships dog . If I had a dog that would bark at approaching ships, or hear them in fog, that would be even better.

 

[Sybarite]

Would you like to swap her for my wife? She seems an ideal shipmate ( the dog not my wife).

I got a dog for my wife. I thought it was a fair swap.

 

[geem]

Brilliant
Happy landing
It sounds like you have the right boat for heavy air passage masking.
I read one crossing on a sister ship to my old Rustler where they basically had the wind forward of the beam the whole way across.

Love the ships dog . If I had a dog that would bark at approaching ships, or hear them in fog, that would be even better.

We met a French guy sailing singlehanded. He picked up a stray dog in Cuba. He carried on into the Pacific. By then the dog had developed a talent for barking when it saw another vessel. Very handy for a singlehander

 

[geem]

Atlantic crossing update.
162nm to go to Falmouth Harbour, Antigua. Last 24 hr run by the log 176nm. DMG 173nm. We turned the wick up a little bit over night. Full genoa, jib and 2 reefs in the main. This morning we are on single reef in the main. Wind is forecast to drop to about 13kts so we expect to be on full canvas for at least some of the final 24hrs. This will be the first time we have had full sail, since the day we left Mindelo on 26th November.
The sail plan has worked extremely well on this passage. Our 45 year old Trintella has a tendency to roll dead down wind, especially if you carry too much sail. Something common with boat designs of this era. We have been sailing at 160/165° mostly, in a wing on wing configuration, with the addition of the jib sheeted tight on the same side as the main. This dramatically reduces rolling. The boat sits more upright and is far more comfy.
Apart from the first day clearing the 150nm long wind shadow of the Cape Verdes, every days run has been over 160nm. Thank you Mr Van de Stadt.
This will be the completion of our 7th Atlantic crossing.
Looking forward to some rest and a beer tomorrow

 

[capnsensible]

Ice cold Wadadli!

 

[Bajansailor]

In a previous life 30 years ago I crossed from Tenerife to Antigua on an old 54' wooden yawl in 18 days (4 of us on board) - we sailed on 140 apparent pretty much the whole way, gybing every couple of days or so and the motion was very comfortable, with very little rolling - we even managed a few 200 mile days between noon positions, and arrived in early December. .
We had the yankee jib (not attached to a stay) poled out to windward, with the hanked on genoa to leeward behind the mainsail, along with the mizzen, and she was very happy under this arrangement.
We would usually have the mizzen staysail up as well during the day and sometimes we would drop the headsails and fly the spinnaker instead.

Edit - I just realised that the headsail arrangement was the other way around, and I have just corrected it.

 

[geem]

In a previous life 30 years ago I crossed from Tenerife to Antigua on an old 54' wooden yawl in 18 days (4 of us on board) - we sailed on 140 apparent pretty much the whole way, gybing every couple of days or so and the motion was very comfortable, with very little rolling - we even managed a few 200 mile days between noon positions, and arrived in early December. .
We had the hanked on yankee jib poled out to windward, with the genoa flying loose (ie not hanked on) to leeward behind the mainsail, along with the mizzen, and she was very happy under this arrangement.
We would usually have the mizzen staysail up as well during the day and sometimes we would drop the headsails and fly the spinnaker instead.

We have done a similar sail set up on previous crossings but this time we tried this 3 sail arrangement, mainsail, jib and genoa. We have twin poles set so we can gybe the genoa across the poles. The poles have been up since 26th Nov when we left Mindelo.
The advantage of this sail plan compared to other arrangements we have tried is that we are more flexible, less rolly and faster. We are currently sailing wing on wing plus the jib at 160° but we can go as far as 168° and we still get the benefit of the jib. If we need to sail DDW we roll the jib away. DDW without the jib is noticeably more rolly, so we tend not to do it. We have crossed this time and only gybed 6 times in 2150nm by the log. We may have a couple more to do so we don't bump into Antigua. Our waypoint off Falmouth is 29nm away.
Who said old boat were slow. 13 days from Mindelo. With a crew of two and a dog