Aussie lessons from the Atlantic

Practical: Bluewater sailing

Don and Agnes Reed share the lessons they learned crossing the Atlantic in their Adams ketch, Honey Moon.

Our departure port was San Sebastian on de la Gomera, a very The Atlantic Cruising Rally (ARC)) of 2007 Ð with a fleet of 234 yachts Ð had departed on November 25 from Grand Canary where we had watched their frenzied preparation. After gathering as much weather information as we could to confirm the NE trades were established, we left December 4, the day after our good friend Wes George who was sharing the passage with us, arrived from the US.

The wind was light as we were in the wind shadow of the 3717m Tenerife Island, so our first 24 hours were in comfortable but slow conditions. It was good to settle into life at sea gently and we did not even take seasick pills as we sometimes do at the beginning of a passage.

Watch routine
We established our watch routine, usually rather casual during the day with someone in the cockpit keeping an eye out while others had a nap so we were ready for the night watches, which we officially begin after dinner. Normally we do a three-hour then two-hour watches each when there is just the two of us on board. Now with the extra crew we were getting much more off-watch time so more sleep, although Don is always ready to make sail changes. We all wear harness with built-in lifejackets at night and really like the Stormy Seas yachtsmen's harness vest. It is quick to put on and has lots of pockets for torches, knives and a personal EPIRB. When Don goes up on the foredeck I like to be awake if it is rough, even though he always is tethered onto the straps that run the full length of the yacht. It is a scary thought to wake up after a nap and find yourself alone in the middle of the ocean.

Shipping
During our first days at sea we kept a very careful watch for the rowers and passed close by two which were difficult to see with their low lights. We scan the horizon for shipping about every 10-12 minutes and fortunately very few ships seem to be on this route but Wes did spot whale in the distance. We had a recent ugly reminder of what can happen if you collide with a ship. In Las Palmas, the French yacht Amigo that was hit beam-on by a large container ship near the Canary Islands. He lost his rig, sustained substantial hull damage but remained watertight and was able to motor into port. The three crew were not badly injured and were thankful they owned a steel yacht because many other types of construction would have sunk. The ship did not stop and no ship reported having hit anyone. The owner was left with a smashed yacht. He had no insurance but happy to be alive.

By the second evening we had found the steady easterly winds of more than 20 knots and soon Don had up our favourite downwind rig, in winds too strong for a spinnaker (see notes on our downwind rig)

Net
Contact with other yachts is important and fun. Usually a group of cruising yachts get together and arrange a time and channel on the single sideband HF radio for a net. We have found in the past it is usually the American yachts that do this well. Because of the steel yacht and a good aerial set up our ICOM 710 performs well. Don had his turn at net controller and 32 yachts of various nationalities, out in the Atlantic Ocean called in to report their position, weather conditions and any problems or emergencies.

We heard of some yachts ahead having good catches of dorado, and we were pleased when we also started landing these delicious fish. The radio also allowed us to request up-to-date weather information through sailmail grib-files, and send and receive text emails from family and friends interested in our progress. Herb from Southbound II transmits daily at 1750 UTC on 12 359mz and offers a free excellent service of weather routing, that we have taken advantage of on this passage and his advice has been accurate and helpful.

Power
Our battery drain is high when we transmit on the radio but our array of solar panels Ð which brings in a maximum of 18 amps Ð just about managed to keep up the power supply, which we top up with a half an hour of running the engine only every second day if it is cloudy. This has the added advantage of making hot water for our brief but appreciated showers. We have opted for using a Raymarine ST 6001G autopilot and 12-volt fridge-freezer as well as laptop computer for navigation and plenty of lights and music.

Easiest yet
We dropped anchor in Carlisle Bay on Barbados after 15 and a half days at sea. It was the easiest most enjoyable long-distance passage we have ever done. We had the luxury of a whole night's sleep and were soon ready to explore the island and party with the other yachties who also did the crossing.

When to cross?
Passage-planning references suggest the best time to cross the Atlantic from east to west is from late November to February and the ideal time is not before the NE trade winds have been established. We decided to leave in early December and hopefully arrive for Christmas. We also wanted to be in Trinidad for Carnival in early February and then make our way north through the chain to be in Antigua for race week in April.

Where to go for landfall?
After researching the guide books and discussing our options with yachties who had gone before us we decided on making Barbados our landfall because it is the most eastern of the Caribbean islands, less visited, as it is to windward of the long chain of islands stretching from the Virgin Islands down to Trinidad in the south.

What to take?
Stocking up for the passage basically involved getting enough food on board for four weeks for three people. As a back-up in case the freezer dies, I usually preserve 10 jars of meat using my pressure cooker, but there was plenty of canned meat available in the large supermarkets as well as a good variety of fish and vegetables in tins. We left with 500L of diesel and 800L of water, but we have a water-maker as a backup and also had 50L of bottled water. We are also well set-up to catch fish.

Our favourite downwind cruising rig
On our cruising yacht is a steel Adam's 45 centreboarder, clipper bow version and it is ketch rigged. We have two forestays. The front one carries the roller furler with a genoa on it. The second forestay runs parallel to the first stay but about 400mm behind it and is removable if necessary (if some serious tacking is needed) with a bottle-screw fitting to allow for adjustment. On to this forestay we can either hank on a large lightweight 2.5-ounce genoa, or in strong winds a heavy No 3 yankee. We also have a cutter stay used for the staysail and the storm-jib, if needed, can hanked on here.

When running downwind we have a number of different sail combinations that work well for us. If the wind is 15-30¡ off dead downwind and we are not using a spinnaker we pole out the most forward of the two headsails to windward and the second jib Ð which is hanked onto our second forestay Ð is hoisted and sheeted in its usual position. It catches wind that is deflected off the windward, poled-out headsail, as well as the normal wind flow through the gap between the mast and the forestay. This keeps the sail drawing well. This adds considerably to our speed and helps stabilise the rolling motion.

As the wind increases, we reef the main, leaving up the headsails until we need to replace the No light genoa with a stronger yankee, we can then also partly furl the roller furler to balance the two sails. As the wind increases we like to drop the main sail altogether. With the wind directly from the stern we like to run with the two headsails both poled out. With these smaller twin poled out headsails, and no main we can carry this set up in winds of up to 35 to 40 knots comfortably, with minimal roll. With 2 genoas poled we reach our preferred cruising speed of 7 to 8 knots in 18 to 22 knots of wind.

This is our favourite downwind cruising rig. It is quiet, with no mainsail slatting, the autopilot handles it easily, and there is no risk of accidental jibbing of the mainsail. The yacht is being pulled along rather than pushed and the ride is more comfortable with less roll than a wing and wing setup.

An option of two roller furlers, one behind the other with a genoa on one and a number 2 or 3 on the other would offer similar advantages of being able to run the twin poled out headsails, but in lighter winds you would not have the choice of hanking on a larger genoa. A twin groove furler with two similar size sails on the one foil is a good downwind option being able to roll both sails together to reduce the size easily in stronger winds.

Another advantage of having an extra forestay is, if the roller furler fails you have a strong backup. We have had a forestay inside the roller furler break on a previous yacht, and are reluctant to rely totally on this one stay. However, the roller furler is a great place to store a sail. With headwinds we have a variety of headsail options and rarely use, a lees efficient, partly furled headsail.

Agnes and Don Reed.
Agnes and Don left Australia on yacht Honey Moon in 2002 and are currently in the Caribbean, after cruising to the Med via the Red Sea, then through the French canals to Holland, Scandinavia then to Spain via Scotland and Ireland. Previously they have cruised the Australian east coast and south Pacific islands on their yacht Moonraker and also circled the Pacific via Japan and Alaska on their yacht Moonshadow. A total of 80,000nm.

Tips for a successful passage

1. Check all weather forecasts but expect any weather.
2. Have a back-up for everything; navigation gear, steering, autopilot etc. Have gear to be able to have a go of repairing it.
3. Have a watch plan and make sure everyone gets plenty of rest. If something goes wrong you need to be alert and able to deal with it.
4. Keep a good lookout, remembering it takes a ship only 10 minutes to appear over the horizon and run you down.
5. Have good safety gear and know how to use it.
6. Have a comfortable sheltered cockpit with a strong dodger and shade for the tro7. Go for a daily walk around the deck to check for loose bolts etc, and chaffing on lines and sails.
8. If on watch and something does not make sense like a strange light, or a ship's course you can't work out always ask another person for their opinion. It is amazing how you can convince yourself about something.
9 Run an extra boom downhaul by lashing it down to the deck in the middle, to help the boomvang, and support the gooseneck fitting Ð possible breaking points.
10. Run extra jib sheets as a back-up to spread the load, on the poled-out headsails.

Facts & further info

24-hour run
* 180 -185 miles - 4 days
* 170-180 miles - 5 days
* 160-170 miles - 2 days
* 150-160 miles - 2 days
* 135 miles - 1 day

Sail combinations

* A poled-out genoa and a headsail set to leeward plus a mainsail Ð seven and a half days.
* Two poled-out headsails only Ð four and a half days
* Main and spinnaker one day
* A headsail poled out and a main(wing and wing) Ð two and a half days

A note for the girls

1. Use panty liners to save washing.
2. Make time to lather on the sunscreen and moisturiser, as the passage is cruel on the skin.
3. You can wash your hair in salt water if you use Pert shampoo and towel dry well, if your yacht has not much water.
4. Baby wipes are an easy waterless way to freshen up.
5. Paper towels to wipe plates etc before washing up avoids the need to rinse.

References

* Atlantic Islands, Anne Hammick. Published by Imary Laurie Norie & Wilson Ltd, UK.
* Grenada to the Virgin Islands, Jaques Patuelli. Published by Imary Laurie Norie Wilson Ltd, UK.
* Eastern Caribbean, Lonely Planet Publications Melbourne.
* WWW.weatheronline.co.uk