nimuemusic
New Member
What is the best time of year to make an Atlantic crossing from Antigua to Azores? Is leaving late April too early. Is rhum line route best or should we head further north towards Bermuda?
Atlantic crossing west to east
- Thread starter nimuemusic
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john_morris_uk
Well-Known Member
I think April is a good time. You don't want to leave much later or you get into the hurricane season starting June - but who knows nowadays. Interested to see what others think as well.
Watch the weather charts, and from memory (I can get the routing charts out if your really want...) you go Northish to get out of the Trade Winds and try and pick up some Westerlys to get you back across.
Watch the weather charts, and from memory (I can get the routing charts out if your really want...) you go Northish to get out of the Trade Winds and try and pick up some Westerlys to get you back across.
D
Deleted member 478
Guest
Hi nimm
Welcome to the forum. By the way, posting the same post on different forums is not considered good form.
Anyway, a west to east crossing is best done late April and heading north-ish as far as Bermuda, then turn right and head for the Azores. If you can receive gribs or weatherfax on board, make sure you stay south of any low pressure systems. If you cannot receive any weather forecasts, you can use the old trick of facing your back to the wind and sticking your left arm out and your hand will be pointing to the low pressure system. Do this a few times a day and then adjust your heading to ensure the low remains to the north of you.
Welcome to the forum. By the way, posting the same post on different forums is not considered good form.
Anyway, a west to east crossing is best done late April and heading north-ish as far as Bermuda, then turn right and head for the Azores. If you can receive gribs or weatherfax on board, make sure you stay south of any low pressure systems. If you cannot receive any weather forecasts, you can use the old trick of facing your back to the wind and sticking your left arm out and your hand will be pointing to the low pressure system. Do this a few times a day and then adjust your heading to ensure the low remains to the north of you.
nimuemusic
New Member
Thanks to John Morris & Stingo for your replies. Much appreciated, as is advice about two forums. I'll desist in future.
jamesjermain
Well-Known Member
Traditional wisdom is to leave Antigua between the middle of April and the end of June, heading north to Bermuda then picking up the westerly air flow across the Atlantic to the Azores.
However, more yachts are now following what used to be called the 'devil-may-care' route (According to Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes) which goes directly from Antigua to the Azores. This route is 500 miles shorter but there is a greater rist of headwinds and you need to leave later (not before the beginning of May) to reduce the risk of Atlantic gales.
The recommendation is to head north east in mainly east to south-east Trade Winds until you reach the calms of the Horse Latitudes. You may well need to burn some diesel to get through this belt. Once into the Westerlies you can then decide whether to head for the Azores or continue on a north easterly course direct for northern Europe or even duck south of the Azores, pick up the North East Trades and head for the Med. If you stop off in the Azores on your way to Britain - well worth doing - you may be faced with some head winds for the first day or so until back in the westerlies.
However, more yachts are now following what used to be called the 'devil-may-care' route (According to Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes) which goes directly from Antigua to the Azores. This route is 500 miles shorter but there is a greater rist of headwinds and you need to leave later (not before the beginning of May) to reduce the risk of Atlantic gales.
The recommendation is to head north east in mainly east to south-east Trade Winds until you reach the calms of the Horse Latitudes. You may well need to burn some diesel to get through this belt. Once into the Westerlies you can then decide whether to head for the Azores or continue on a north easterly course direct for northern Europe or even duck south of the Azores, pick up the North East Trades and head for the Med. If you stop off in the Azores on your way to Britain - well worth doing - you may be faced with some head winds for the first day or so until back in the westerlies.
ParaHandy
Well-Known Member
worth reading abt Sean Seymour II and Flying Colours, both of whom were caught by Andrea on 7 May last year. Both boats were lost and the latter, all her crew.
Andrea came up from nowhere, and very quickly, directly on the Bermuda route from Antigua/caribean (although I did see a UK Met Office claim that it had seen the storm 60 hours before any other model). Jimmy Cornell's probability prediction of a storm in that part of the atlantic was nil, if i remember correctly, but i did like his comment that his statistics might not be accurate because people didn't report experiencing storm conditions as they're unlikely to have deliberately headed towards them ...!
Looking at the mess that was the northerly (north of 40) route last year, JJ's to-hell-with-it pointer looked good.
Andrea came up from nowhere, and very quickly, directly on the Bermuda route from Antigua/caribean (although I did see a UK Met Office claim that it had seen the storm 60 hours before any other model). Jimmy Cornell's probability prediction of a storm in that part of the atlantic was nil, if i remember correctly, but i did like his comment that his statistics might not be accurate because people didn't report experiencing storm conditions as they're unlikely to have deliberately headed towards them ...!
Looking at the mess that was the northerly (north of 40) route last year, JJ's to-hell-with-it pointer looked good.
snowleopard
Well-Known Member
A few people miss out Bermuda but as the best route passes nearby and the direct route requires sailing to windward through the trades, why not go there?
The direct route from Antigua to Bermuda is as good as any. You will probably have to motor for a bit once clear of the trades. The conventional route from Bermuda to the Azores is to head NE until on the latitude of the Azores then run your easting down. That tends to get you into the bottom of N Atlantic lows giving westerlies to help you along.
If you leave Bermuda before around 1st June it is better to stay further South to avoid gale systems. Last time I did the passage there was a front lying along the rhumb line with westerlies below it and North-Easterlies above. In the end we managed to stay in the westerlies until 100m due South of Faial leaving us with an uncomfortable final 12 hours.
The week before we left there was a large group being guided by Herb who were advised to turn back to Bermuda from around 400 miles out because of a deep low sitting on the route. They eventually left again with us.
The direct route from Antigua to Bermuda is as good as any. You will probably have to motor for a bit once clear of the trades. The conventional route from Bermuda to the Azores is to head NE until on the latitude of the Azores then run your easting down. That tends to get you into the bottom of N Atlantic lows giving westerlies to help you along.
If you leave Bermuda before around 1st June it is better to stay further South to avoid gale systems. Last time I did the passage there was a front lying along the rhumb line with westerlies below it and North-Easterlies above. In the end we managed to stay in the westerlies until 100m due South of Faial leaving us with an uncomfortable final 12 hours.
The week before we left there was a large group being guided by Herb who were advised to turn back to Bermuda from around 400 miles out because of a deep low sitting on the route. They eventually left again with us.
jerryat
Well-Known Member
>> The direct route from Antigua to Bermuda is as good as any. You will probably have to motor for a bit once clear of the trades. <<
Tee hee! That's exactly what the American yachts were telling us before we made our first passage from St. Thomas in the American Virgins some years ago. 'Hell, you guys'll have to motor most of the way' they said.
So we crammed the boat with spare fuel cans and off we went. About two days later in came a real howler and we were hove-to for 42 hours!! Herb was aware of it, but even he was caught out by its strength. At least once it had shoved off we had a fabulous sail to Bermuda.
As others have implied, it seems nothings certain on any of these routes!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Tee hee! That's exactly what the American yachts were telling us before we made our first passage from St. Thomas in the American Virgins some years ago. 'Hell, you guys'll have to motor most of the way' they said.
So we crammed the boat with spare fuel cans and off we went. About two days later in came a real howler and we were hove-to for 42 hours!! Herb was aware of it, but even he was caught out by its strength. At least once it had shoved off we had a fabulous sail to Bermuda.
As others have implied, it seems nothings certain on any of these routes!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
FAITIRA
Well-Known Member
Left solo on 1st May from Tortola direct to Kinsale, I went well North to stay in G Stream and wind, 32 days to Kinsale, it could have been a few days less, but I was nervous of the pole at night! I would follow the same plan again. Bill.
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