Trans Atlantic Crossing (towards Europe)
Date: 12 May to 11 June 2004
(all pictures are clickable)
There is not too much to say here... I sailed my boat singlehanded from Martinique to Ostend without the usual stopover in the Azores. I did it singlehanded for 2
reasons:
- the person who should have come with me, changed her mind (for a good reason)
- I took this opportunity to fullfil a challenge I was wondering I could do
The fact that I didn't stop in the Azores, was an idea that germed in my head before leaving (I took enough food + some extras) and that I took once underway. The following
picture show you my route (in green), while the brownish line represents the shortest route.
Result? A nice crossing, where I took my time (I didn't push the boat) to save the boat and because of some damages I had. A crossing means managing the boat knowing
there is no other help around except yourself! I did 4660 nm (nautical miles) which is about 8630 km in 30 days. I lost 1.5 day in the first 2 windless zones I encountered
and I lost another 1.5 day trying to avoid a high pressure zone (windless) blocking the passage to the Channel. I run my engines (one at a time) for about 44 hours. I
didn't have much nice weather, sailed nearly 5 days in the fog (around the Azores, with a useless radar which I didn't know of at the time) and had a maximum wind of 39kn
(8 Bft).
The damages are:
- 2 days before departure, I noticed that my solar panels where "useless". Their energy production dropped. I had to use my generators extensively (less fuel for the
engines, but that appeared not to be an issue).
- Found some extra leaks (from the ceiling) in the cabins !
- A broken (and lost) daggerboard at day 4. It was my fault and a stupid accident...
- One broken first reef line (for those not knowing sailing: needed to reduce sail when the wind blows harder). I made a workaround (strap).
- One broken clew outhaul traveller (needed to attach the mainsail). I made a workaround (strap).
- One small rip in spinnaker. I patched it.
- The tubes of the furling genoa got loose, resulting in small damage to the genoa.
- The second reef line became unusable (luckily in the last week, where I didn't get strong winds).
- The radar stopped working after 2 weeks... It couldn't even "see" a containership at 1 mile !
- Some minor issues on the main sail, that I fixed.
On the other side, I've seen lots of dolphins and twice whales (first time for me).
So this is it briefly. I also made some pictures. Enjoy !
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| Before |
After "cleanup"... |
No wind |
Whale ! |
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|
Fresh tuna |
