Atlantic crossing

[dansaskip]

Definitely not with a rally . Why pay them the money when you can use it for better things. Did it without a rally - it is a better adventure. A thing I don't like about rallies is that they crowd out the facilities/marinas/harbours and even anchorages making it more difficult for everyone else..

 

[zoidberg]

.....memorable landfalls. We also forget the nagging uncertainty....

I'm always pleased to find that Ireland is still where I left it!

Of course, if one is downwind, one can do a 'homing' procedure on the waft of the Guinness ( or, off County Cork, it's the Murphy's...! )

 

[john_morris_uk]

I'm always pleased to find that Ireland is still where I left it!

Of course, if one is downwind, one can do a 'homing' procedure on the waft of the Guinness ( or, off County Cork, it's the Murphy's...! )

I’d explained to some of my first time ocean crosses in our recent passage that after days and days at sea you can smell the land when you make landfall. They didn’t believe me until they did!

 

[zoidberg]

I do hope this doesn't initiate - or 'trigger' - a thread on what is the whiffiest old set of foulies.

I'd better get my retaliation in first and offer my aged second-hand 'Fazisi' drysuit.

 

[mjcoon]

I’d explained To some of my first time ocean crosses in our recent passage set after days and days at sea you can smell the land when you make landfall. They didn’t believe me until they did!

I've never crossed an ocean (except by airliner). But remember one of my first Mediterranean island-hopping holidays approaching land from down-wind and getting a powerful smell of vegetation, probably the maquis.

 

[lustyd]

I hate to say it, but having mostly been my own skipper for a number of years I’d go for the easy option. The sheer joy of someone else making a decision is bliss. I know it’s not relinquishing much but any decision made easier is happiness in a jar. Even just someone else collating info is a win. Maybe I take skippering too seriously but when it’s all on me I definitely feel more pressure.

It’s too easy to confuse ability to do something with enjoyment. I enjoy sailing. I can skipper and navigate an ocean. If there was someone else skippering I would certainly enjoy the trip more. No shame in that. I know this isn’t fully giving over responsibility, but every little helps.

 

[capnsensible]

The scent of the sea whooshing down the fin into the control room of a submarine after weeks dived instantly conjours up thoughts of wine, women and song.

 

[richardh10]

I’d explained To some of my first time ocean crosses in our recent passage set after days and days at sea you can smell the land when you make landfall. They didn’t believe me until they did!

After our crossing, arriving about 5 miles off the coast of Barbados we were hit by the smell of weed! And it wasn't just a faint whiff!

 

[zoidberg]

The scent of the sea whooshing down the fin into the control room of a submarine after weeks dived instantly conjours up thoughts of wine, women and song.

Huh! You're easily pleased if Helensburgh is your notion of 'show me a good time'....

I'm told that a blind man could tell the nationality of a submarine from a sniff of the atmosphere below.... If it's stale wine and garlic, it's French; If it's pickled cabbage, it's Russian; If it's hamburgers and fried onions, it's a Yank; and if it's old sweaty sox and underpants, it is an 'O' Class RN boat.

 

[capnsensible]

Huh! You're easily pleased if Helensburgh is your notion of 'show me a good time'....

I'm told that a blind man could tell the nationality of a submarine from a sniff of the atmosphere below.... If it's stale wine and garlic, it's French; If it's pickled cabbage, it's Russian; If it's hamburgers and fried onions, it's a Yank; and if it's old sweaty sox and underpants, it is an 'O' Class RN boat.

With the Swiss ones, it's Toblerone....

 

[Daydream believer]

A thing I don't like about rallies is that they crowd out the facilities/marinas/harbours and even anchorages making it more difficult for everyone else..

Well surely if they crowd out the facilities they ARE, effectively, everyone else

 

[Daydream believer]

With the Swiss ones, it's Toblerone....

If it is Italian it is testosterone

 

[Stingo]

With the Swiss ones, it's Toblerone....

The Swiss have submarines? Nope, spin me another tall one!

 

[Daydream believer]

The Swiss have submarines? Nope, spin me another tall one!

They won the Americas cup twice on the trot

 

[Stingo]

They won the Americas cup twice on the trot

Bet they weren't sailing a submarine.

 

[Kelpie]

Having just done this, I have no regrets about not getting involved with a rally. IMHO if you feel you need a rally to tell you what safety equipment to buy, are you honestly competent to skipper a boat across an ocean? Even if you're in a rally, you are still ultimately responsible for your own boat and crew.

 

[Bajansailor]

After our crossing, arriving about 5 miles off the coast of Barbados we were hit by the smell of weed! And it wasn't just a faint whiff!

Well, the sargassum weed has been very plentiful and pungent in recent years..... or do you mean that other type of (much more potent) weed?

 

[Bajansailor]

I think most of us who remember sailing without electronic aids have a few memorable landfalls.

An old ham radio pal crossed in an (even older) Hillyard (@Wansworth I am sure you would approve) from the Canaries to Barbados in the late 70's - he could just about take a sun sight (roughly), and record the time, but he did not have a clue about the calculations. So he would send his sights and times via ham radio to Bill in Morocco (CN8CW) who would then process them for him, and tell him where he was. And Bill got him to Barbados in fine style.

And I remember one day seeing a small English singlehanded yacht coming around Needhams Point and dropping anchor. I paddled over to say hello.
His first words were 'Hi, is this Barbados?'
It turned out that he did not have a chart or a pilot guide for Barbados, and he had not managed to get any sights for more than a week (I can't remember the reason why this was), and he was not sure of his DR.
He was very relieved and happy to find that his DR had stood him in good stead when I answered in the affirmative.

 

[franksingleton]

Shades of Joshua Slocum.

 

[zoidberg]

His first words were 'Hi, is this Barbados?' It turned out that he did not have a chart or a pilot guide for Barbados.

We've all been there......