Crossing the Atlantic was something that was definitely not on my bucket list. For me sailing is all about the destination, not about the journey. I would prefer being anchored in a pristine bay surrounded by white beaches and palm trees than being bounced around on the high seas. When we bought Aura in Turkey, I knew the time would come that we would need to cross the Atlantic to start heading for home. I had no issues with crossing the Pacific but for some reason the thought of crossing the Atlantic filled me with fear. Late season hurricanes, wild storms, big seas, hitting a whale or a shipping container all played heavily on my mind. To ease some of concerns, we joined the Jimmy Cornell Barbados 50 fleet. Just sharing these fears with others participants on the rally went a long way alleviating many of my concerns, not to mention that I studied the weather maps fanatically for two weeks prior. At the end of the day, none of that really mattered. Once you are out there you just have to deal with what is thrown at you and to have faith that you and your yacht are all up to the task of getting safely to the other side.

We were delayed by two days in Mindelo, Cape Verde with the majority of the fleet leaving us behind. The impeller on the generator decided to fail as we were sailing back to Mindelo two days prior to the start of the rally. Our spare that we purchased in Gibraltar was incorrectly supplied, it was the wrong size. Fortunately we had a friend on another yacht that was in the UK and returning to Mindelo. We were able to get the required part shipped to Ann and she kindly carried the part with her albeit the day after the fleet had sailed. At the same time, we also had our engine battery expire on us and a replacement was required. I must say it was sad watching the other boats sail away but these things can’t be helped and best to have everything in prime working order.

The day of our departure had finally arrived. Five other yachts had also been delayed and would be departing on the same day. It had been very windy over the past few days and we knew to expect some strong winds as we made our way through the “acceleration zone”. This is basically a wind tunnel between the two islands as you left the port of Mindelo. It did not disappoint! I insisted on heavily reefing the main sail. My philosophy is that you can always increase the sail if required. It was the right decision as we got smashed. It was blowing 40-50 knots with the highest gust being 63 knots. An all-time record for Aura. We had a few hairy moments but with Simon’s brilliant hand steering (the autopilot was not to be over worked), we eventually made it further off shore to calmer winds (30-40 knots) and less choppy seas.

The first couple of days of a passage are always the hardest as you find your sea legs and get into the routine of watches. Fortunately we had Karolina (aka Linka) join us for the passage and the three of us did 4 hour watches from 8pm to 8am. That way we all managed to get a good night’s rest. I also prepared meals for the first few days. The green chicken curry and lasagne were a great success but that first night making rice was difficult.

The following outlines a day at sea written by Simon to give you an idea of how we fill our days while bouncing around in the big blue. It almost the same every day. Variations may include a few course changes or furling/unfurling the sails due to wind or lack of it and catching and cleaning a fish. You get into a daily s routine and it is all about the weather and the days menu:

Midnight: The start of my watch and time to relieve Linka. The sound of the motor resinates throughout the yacht, it is a horrible droning noise. The wind has increased and looks like we can finally sail. I turn Aura 180 degrees into the wind and unfurl the main sail and re-set the autopilot so it tracks to our waypoint. The genoa is next, the pole is already set, unfurled and the sheet tightened. The engine is turned off and we are sailing with only the sound of the following waves to be heard. This task takes less than 5 minutes to complete. Something that that a few months ago was viewed with trepidation, as this is our first yacht with a furling main. Linka heads to bed, I make tea and chat with Kim who is/was sleeping on the saloon lounge. I relocate the laptop to the cockpit, set-up the iPad with the chart plotter app next to it and decide that I may need to put a shirt on as the wind is starting to pick up. I kick back and watch a movie with multiple intermissions for scanning the horizon and checking that we have sufficient power. If not, I start the generator. Half way through my watch, I treat myself to some half melted ice cream.

0400: End of my shift, I complete the boat log and give Kim a run down on where things are at. Bed time for me. Kim is on deck.

0530: I’m awoken to help with furling the sails as Kim thinks there is a squall on our tail. Ten minutes later I’m back in my cabin.

0800: I wake to the smell of Kim’s freshly baked banana bread. A perfect start to my day and an ideal match with my morning coffee. The sun is shining and time for a few routine checks. The sails look good, the seas are calm. I remove a dead flying fish from the deck (one morning we did have 11 to clean from the deck)

0930: Our course looks good, now where is my Kindle?

1030: We discuss the required area for the download of the weather data (GRIB) and hook up the Sat phone. We download the weather data so we can consider if our course is optimal and identify any weather changes or issues.. Discussions continue along the lines of wind speed and direction, location of other yachts emails from a few friends and family.

1145: Today I’m cooking the Mahi-Mahi, a simple dish as this fish doesn’t need any assistance. Just a little butter, oil in the pan, lightly floured and fried. Kim’s organised an accompanying spinach salad and the frozen chips are heated in the oven. Lunch ends with a discussion about what is on the menu plan for dinner tonight?”

1330: Time for my afternoon nap.

1630: I’m not sure where the afternoon went but it’s now time for our “sun downers”. How many days since I had a drink? We enjoy lime lemonade and a few nibbles.

1800 – Kim is back in the galley preparing dinner. I offer up support by being close at hand reading my book. I have not had time to read a novel since 2008. Its feels really good to have “spare” time again to enjoy a book..

1845: This is a bad habit that is only reserved for passages (and our former working lives) – dinner in front of the TV. Well it’s the PC but same thing. Are we watching Mr Robot or Poldark?

2000: Final check of wind strength, direction and our course. The sails look good, a short briefing with Linka “if anything changes wake me”. Bed for me.

Repeat :-)

Mindelo

The passage took 15 days to complete. Although the seas were considered “calm”, it feels like you are walking on the moon with every step taken with care as you never know which way the boat is going to move. We had two different wave directions that meant we were constantly rolling from one side to the other. The simple things like making a cup of tea or making a loaf of bread is a challenge as you always have to prepare yourself for that unexpected wave to hit the boat and send everything flying.

We mostly had good winds between 15 to 25 knots. The first week we had one 24 hrs period of motoring. Fortunately this was contrary to the grib files that showed light winds for the majority of the trip. We were even working out how many days we could motor based on how much fuel we were carrying. The second week the wind was not as consistent and would vary from 11 knots to 20 knots, often with the wind flickering from one side to the other. Just when you thought that the wind had increased, we would put out the sails. Fifteen minutes later the sails would start flogging so we would have to start the engine and bring them in again. Fortunately the engine was never on for more than a few hours. The constant drone of the engine is enough to turn anyone batty.

The weather was great, lovely blue skies with fluffy white cloud. There was the occasional day that we were surrounded by dark rain clouds but these tended to go around us. We only experienced two squalls…both bringing lovely rain that washed our decks of salt and flying fish debris. Yes we had a number of free loaders land on our decks with a thud, fortunately they always seemed to pick Simon’s watch J

We did have some success in the fishing department with the successful catch of a tuna, a wahoo and a mahi mahi. In the process we did lose two lures (one that broke the trace) and a mahi mahi that was taken by a bigger fish before we could get it on-board. As Aura has a flat swimming board on the stern that is perfect for bringing in a fish but very unsafe for the person doing the retrieval and gutting, I would tether Simon with a rope just in case he went in.

We are currently 20 nm to our waypoint south of Barbados. We can clearly see the lights. The sea is a bit rough as we are going from the Atlantic to the shallow water of the island. Also there is meant to be a significant current against us but as yet, not very strong. We have only a reefed main up as it is blowing up to 30 knots and we are not allowed to go into the custom dock until 8am. Slowing down has been a challenge. I’m getting a bit excited now we shall soon reunite with the rest of the fleet and hear how they went. It was not smooth sailing for all the fleet as a few have experienced some issues. Thankfully we have just about made it across safely. The bottle of Verve is in the fridge and will be very much appreciated once we safely arrive.