Transatlantic crossing experience - anyone?

[Anne Hulbert]

A lot of excellent advice here. We crossed in 2010 from Potugal via Madeira and Canaries to Guadeloupe and had a fabulous few years in the Eastern Caribbean and south America and now doing Bahamas and East Coast USA. if you want to do south America it would be better to cross to Brazil, French Guiana or Suriname then work north due to contrary winds and currents.

Chris Parker in Florida has an excellent weather service; you can listen for free on his ssb broadcast for Caribbean, Bahamas and US waters, but subscribe for specific information, he does an Atlantic service https://mwxc.com

Windvane better than electronic autohelm; there are many makes, they all seem to work. Hydrovane most expensive, we have Windpilot which is half the price and very practical.

 

[jdc]

Good luck, you will enjoy. Going to Cape Verde is good plan and then consider the shortest crossing to Jacare in Brazil. A safe river, moorings and marina berths. Then north to French Guyana and Caribbean, or south to Salvador, or CV to Salvador.
Different and fun.

If going to Brazil from CV, then it may be better to aim further south than Jacare. Salvador in the state of Bahia is normally recommended but I think you might actually be better going even further south and making landfall at Vitora in the state of Espirito Santo or even in Rio de Janeiro. This is because the further south the more 'European' the cities, people and formalities. We crossed from Mindelo to Salvador this February (2016), taking 15 days, and it was pretty straight forward.

Salvador is 'vibrant and colourful' - for which you should read violent and bewildering - whereas Vitoria was much more relaxing: one can walk to the shops or to restaurants without having to take taxis for fear of muggings and it just felt a much more relaxing place. Further south, Buzios is worth a visit, Rio is a must and Isla Grande is the best cruising ground in Brazil (it's a bay with 365 islands and even more anchorages).

 

[PDrenton]

Thank you everyone for your advice and stories. I like the idea of making my way down to Brazil first and then making my way north. Fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese, that could be a great adventure. Are there any pros to heading to South America first with regards to conditions or speed of crossing?
Thanks and keep the gems of knowledge coming.
Much appreciated!
Paul

 

[PDrenton]

Yes, keep it simple! Remember the longer the boat is the better the motion onboard and hence less tiring. Have a good wind vane for steering. Then no worries about producing electricity. Learn to fish and take a long handled gaff for pulling them onboard. Have some alcohol in a spray bottle to spray any caught fish over their gills. This kills them without the trauma of bashing them over the head and having a mess everywhere. Buy a bird book. It's surprising how may birds you see mid ocean. Take a sextant and appropriate tables and teach yourself how to do sun and star sights. It will keep your mind active and give you a dying maritime skill.
Most importantly, if you don't leave harbour until your boat is ready...you will never go anywhere.

Thanks Sinbad1951, I'm looking forward to fishing along the way and have never over-complicated my voyages. That's all part of the adventure and helps to be prepared for anything.

 

[GHA]

Are there any pros to heading to South America first with regards to conditions or speed of crossing?

Shorter and no hurricane season to worry about. It means crossing the itcz but that's more a badge of honour than a dreadful experience The passage up the the Caribbean from jacare was one of the best, lots of favorable current, Isle De salut nice stopover as was Suriname. Downside is that even the Caribbean seems a little bit tame and like a holiday camp afterwards

 

[James Marinero]

I've always had a dream of crossing the atlantic and meandering around the coastlines of the Americas. I've found myself in a decent position now to be able to start planning to make the adventure a reality.

South America or North America? There is a choice...Brazil well worth visiting.

 

[TQA]

Thank you everyone for your advice and stories. I like the idea of making my way down to Brazil first and then making my way north. Fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese, that could be a great adventure. Are there any pros to heading to South America first with regards to conditions or speed of crossing?
Thanks and keep the gems of knowledge coming.
Much appreciated!
Paul

If you try to get to Brazil from the Caribbean it is a real hard slog. best to do Brazil etc then the Carib.

 

[Halcyon Yachts]

Always a fantastic experience - I wrote a blog with my top 5 tips:

http://www.halcyonyachts.com/top-5-tips-crossing-atlantic/

I hope it's some use...

Pete

 

[daveg45]

Hi, I did Barcelona to Antigua this winter. We departed Barcelona on the 15 Feb and Arrived in Antigua end of March. What I have learnt is there are LOTS of people with opinions based on what they have read who simply over think the whole thing. Basically you will be sailing down downwind for 15 days or so depending on boat speed. I did it on an AWB, beneteau actually with a short keel (1.5m) and a long mast and we ended up doing it with just a poled out Genoa and gave up on goose winging the main. So, regarding rig it's doable with anything but saying that the boat was unbalanced because the point of effort was off the port bow with wind and waves off the starboard quarter. If I take my own boat I will use twin headsails and leave the main in the bag.

The hardest weather was getting out of the med and first night out of Barcelona we had 43 knots of wind and ended up bare pole motoring towards Cartagena.

We left Gran Canaria bound for Antigua but catching decent trades pushed us south for stronger wind so we went into Cape Verde for a night. 15 days from Cape Verde to Antigua. Boat speed makes a difference. Even 1 knot over 2000 miles shaves off a day or so and believe me when you reach the other side a day or two is important.

With regarding weather, you will be south of Atlantic storms but the swell can still hit you, however the rule of thumb is if something develops then sail south to avoid it.

A decent autopilot is up to the job so forget wind pilots unless you particularly want one. A freezer would be useful. The boat I was delivering was relying on the engine to charge batteries. Definitely NOT the way to go. Get solar, and possibly wind as the Caribbean has less sunlight hours, more cloud and constant wind, most of the time.

Forget SSB radio but maybe a receiver. Use iridium for communication and grib files.

A crew of three worked for us with 3 hours on and 6 off shift

I have info and real time experience on this subject. I wouldn't do ARC or Cornell. Just go when you are ready. The trades are always there. Obviously arriving March cuts the time down because of the hurricane season but the boat is in San Blas now out of the way of them

 

[oldvarnish]

http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-rcc-pilotage-foundation-atlantic-crossing-guide-9781408113806/

 

[cmedsailor]

I did it on an AWB, beneteau actually with a short keel (1.5m) and a long mast

May I ask what model please?
Thanks

 

[capnsensible]

If anyone has specific questions about certain yachts, I am happy to help.

Moody 33 four times

Jeanneau 45 twice

Warrior 40 twice

Etap 39 once

Lavezzi 40 cat once.

:encouragement:

 

[geem]

Hi, I did Barcelona to Antigua this winter. We departed Barcelona on the 15 Feb and Arrived in Antigua end of March. What I have learnt is there are LOTS of people with opinions based on what they have read who simply over think the whole thing. Basically you will be sailing down downwind for 15 days or so depending on boat speed. I did it on an AWB, beneteau actually with a short keel (1.5m) and a long mast and we ended up doing it with just a poled out Genoa and gave up on goose winging the main. So, regarding rig it's doable with anything but saying that the boat was unbalanced because the point of effort was off the port bow with wind and waves off the starboard quarter. If I take my own boat I will use twin headsails and leave the main in the bag.

The hardest weather was getting out of the med and first night out of Barcelona we had 43 knots of wind and ended up bare pole motoring towards Cartagena.

We left Gran Canaria bound for Antigua but catching decent trades pushed us south for stronger wind so we went into Cape Verde for a night. 15 days from Cape Verde to Antigua. Boat speed makes a difference. Even 1 knot over 2000 miles shaves off a day or so and believe me when you reach the other side a day or two is important.

With regarding weather, you will be south of Atlantic storms but the swell can still hit you, however the rule of thumb is if something develops then sail south to avoid it.

A decent autopilot is up to the job so forget wind pilots unless you particularly want one. A freezer would be useful. The boat I was delivering was relying on the engine to charge batteries. Definitely NOT the way to go. Get solar, and possibly wind as the Caribbean has less sunlight hours, more cloud and constant wind, most of the time.

Forget SSB radio but maybe a receiver. Use iridium for communication and grib files.

A crew of three worked for us with 3 hours on and 6 off shift

I have info and real time experience on this subject. I wouldn't do ARC or Cornell. Just go when you are ready. The trades are always there. Obviously arriving March cuts the time down because of the hurricane season but the boat is in San Blas now out of the way of them

Like a lot of these things there is always a difference of opinion. I have crossed the Atlantic three times as owner/skipper. My opinion is based on that experience.
Autopilots go wrong. Either have a complete spare or use wind steering.
Solar provided far more Amos than wind on a crossing. Out of the three charging systems we have the solar and towed generator are best. The wind adds amps but is not our main source of amps when compared to solar.
Sails. We have a ketch. On our last crossing we had every conceivable sail plan up. The spinnaker was useful during light winds. We also had twin headsails up at one point. The more sails you have the more options you have available.
The SSB is great. Join a radio net whilst crossing the pond. Lots of,people communicate whilst in then.caribbean on SSB. If you are heading beyond the Atlantic then it becomes even more useful.
Satellite phones and gribs are very expensive. We use a Delorme SE for text communication and a friend weather routes us with sail text messages. Very easy and cheap at $65 per month for unlimited use. You only need to pay for a month.
Good fishing gear and a freezer adds to the trip. We caught 80kg of fish on route. We ate fish all the time and froze what we couldn't eat. Tuna and Dorada were the main catch.
Don't rush across. Enjoy the trip. Sailing comfortably is far more pleasurable than pushing the boat and giving the off watch crew a bumpy trip. You also reduce the risk of damage and accidents

 

[daveg45]

It was a Beneteau Oceanis 393 (12 meters length, 4 meters wide).

 

[daveg45]

May I ask what model please?
Thanks

Beneteau Oceanis 393 (12 meters length, 4 meters wide)

 

[cmedsailor]

Beneteau Oceanis 393 (12 meters length, 4 meters wide)

Oh, that's a great boat. The boat I always say to myself I should have bought in the first place! But definately with the standard keel of 1.90m.