Ana
Transat - Repairs off the beaten track and another lesson learned - part 3
Between the suitcase and the new autopilot, I was already close to my weight allowance leaving only room for some clothes I could use to pad
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TRANSAT EAST TO WEST (2023)
Our first Atlantic crossing passage (January 2023) was not the traditional route that takes most sailors directly to the Caribbean. We chose to head further south into the South Atlantic to Brazil. An adventure of a lifetime.
The day-to-day of a transatlantic passage and all other related topics.
Where have we been?
Ana
Apr 2, 2023
Transat - Repairs off the beaten track and another lesson learned - part 2
After having our spirits crushed again when the autopilot blew the fuse after a couple of hours of use, we decided, we had nothing to loose
Ana
Mar 11, 2023
Transat - Repairs off the beaten track and another lesson learned - part 1
The dark cloud had rolled back over our heads, and we knew we had an urgent problem to be solved before we could start exploring the country
Ana
Feb 25, 2023
Transat - the Hydrovane and the jury rig
Despite being back at steering with the Hydrovane quite successfully, the failure of the autopilot presented a huge problem.
Ana
Feb 11, 2023
Atlantic Crossing - Last leg - Fernando de Noronha to Recife
I explained we couldn’t go much more to the shallows and that we were just waiting for the night tide to come in although we were having tro
Ana
Feb 5, 2023
Transat - Breakages and risk mitigation
When we set about on this passage we knew that this was not just yet another long passage. This was a challenging route driven by three mome
Sailing The Dream
Jan 31, 2023
Brazil, Fernando de Noronha - checking in
Everyone already knew we had arrived before we dropped anchor, not because of our AIS or some fancy monitoring system.
Ana
Jan 29, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 10 + 5 hours and 40 minutes - Land Oh Brazil!
It’s quite an interesting experience to hand steer a 50ft through a mooring field of 30+ft boats after spending more than 10 days at sea
Ana
Jan 29, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 10 - We caught a fish!
We look at our beast! It is gorgeous and will keep us fed for really long time, nothing will go to waste.
Ana
Jan 28, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 9 - Bye bye Northern Hemisphere!
A lot of discussion of our track and decisions and we still think our planning was the best bet that involved minimal time in the doldrums
Ana
Jan 27, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 8 - The Doldrums
After a near sleepless night going through what it felt like the deluge of a lifetime we needed to complete the installation of the tiller
Ana
Jan 26, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 7 - Could it be that we are free?
After a few hours rest we start working on John’s plan to sort out a structure to mount the tiller Pilot we bought specifically for this
Ana
Jan 25, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 6 - Acceptance
We did a quick test of the autopilot now that it had cooled off but it seems it’s dead. It was just too much pressure from the sea weed
Ana
Jan 24, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 5 - The butter has melted and maybe also did the autopilot
No matter how we trim the sails we seem to be doing less speed than before, can only imagine how much of this seaweed we are trailing
Ana
Jan 23, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 4 - Caught in the evil golden claws of Sargassum sea weed
Since we lost the 240v on the first day the menu consisted of room temperature seafood paella twice, room temperature
Ana
Jan 22, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 3 - Loom and gloom
For some reason I’m not being able to settle the hydrovane on an angle of 110AWA but I can 120-130 and even 80-90AWA but not what we need. (
Ana
Jan 21, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 2 - No 240v, no hot meals or drinks…
We spent the entire first half of the day trying to catch up on our sleep but not very effectively, too many things going through our minds.
Ana
Jan 21, 2023
Transat Diary - Day 1 - A rough start
More discussion, after all there was no fat chance to get it fixed in the Cape Verdes so we decided to proceed and shut the raw water intake
Ana
Jan 16, 2023
Transat - the last day, the last preparations
With all that done it was time to relax in the cockpit.
My mind however had different plans and was constantly going through lists
Sailing The Dream
Jan 6, 2023
Cape Verde, Mindelo - checking in, out and about
He explains he will keep our boat registration documents and that before moving on to another island we need to come here to get a clearance
Ana
Jan 1, 2023
Mindelo, São Vicente Island, Cape Verde - the wrong turn
That’s when we came to full realisation of our mistake. We should have made landfall on the most Eastern island of the archipelago, Sal.
Sailing The Dream
Dec 29, 2022
2022-12-17>23 Passito Blanco, Gran Canaria, Canaries, Spain > Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde
Logbook extract for the sailing trip from Canary Islands, Spain to Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde 849 nautical miles in 152 hours
Ana
Dec 26, 2022
First trade winds of many - Gran Canaria to Mindelo, Cape Verde’s
We kept the two sails poled for a short while and until after sunset when the wind decided to pick up more than we felt comfortable with
Ana
Nov 13, 2022
An upwind sail from Madeira to La Graciosa, Canaries
This was it we were going to sail upwind to the Canaries when most people sail downwid to get there!
Sailing The Dream
Oct 30, 2022
2022-10-25>27 Machico, Madeira, Portugal > Playa Francesca, La Graciosa, Canaries, Spain
Logbook extract for the sailing trip from Madeira, Portugal to La Graciosa, Canary Islands, Spain 272 nautical miles in 46 hours
Ana
Oct 12, 2022
Half-day sail from Porto Santo island to Madeira Island
We start getting closer to Madeira, the winds start pressing blowing close to 20 knots true wind, and we pick up a bit more speed 7/8 knots
Sailing The Dream
Sep 25, 2022
2022-09-17>20 Cascais, Portugal > Porto Santo, Madeira, Portugal
Extract of the Logbook for the sailing trip from Cascais, Portugal to Porto Santo, Madeira, Portugal 486 nautical miles in 79 hours
Ana
Sep 21, 2022
A fast run from Cascais to the Madeira Archipelago
The PredictWind routing weather forecast did tell us the previous days that we should have tracked north to try and keep with the winds
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