Leg 2 Atlantic Crossing

After our run down from Gibraltar it was nice to have a week making the final preparations for the Atlantic in Tenerife. We were able to use the facilities of the Real Club Nautico to relax and also to have a tour of the island by bus. As we climbed up Mt Teide we were able to see over the coastal mist and enjoy the lovely forest where the Canaries pine with its long needles is the predominant tree.

On Tuesday 15th November we set off South on the Atlantic crossing. Winds were forecast to be light and falling away still further so we were trying to get away from the islands before we were becalmed. Progress was slow and rather frustrating but the conditions gave us some good dawns and sunsets.

On Tuesday 15th November we set off South on the Atlantic crossing. Winds were forecast to be light and falling away still further so we were trying to get away from the islands before we were becalmed. Progress was slow and rather frustrating but the conditions gave us some good dawns and sunsets.

We enjoyed some good weather as well and some successful fishing. The usual catch was the dorado and although we never caught anything very big we had plenty to eat.

After a week the wind picked up but not from the right direction and we found ourselves beating south into a stiff head wind. The forecast was not good and getting worse. A deep depression in mid Atlantic was right in our path and was predicted to become a tropical storm - possibly a hurricane by the name of 'Delta'.

We were hard on the wind for most of the time and we had to get used to living life at 30 degrees with its particular problems. We thought this was bad but later when we were sailing down wind with a cross swell we were rolling from gunwale to gunwale and that was even harder since you could lose everything in either direction!

Wind was from every point of the compass and we had to battle hard for every mile made South and West. The advice we were given from the weather watchers on land was to head South to around 15 degrees North to be sure of clearing Delta. We were concerned that that would make us too safe and we might be left with no wind at all and continued along the 17th parallel. This turned out to be a good strategy.

Many of the Blue Water Rally boats decided to divert to the Cap Verde Islands to await better conditions, but by the time the full extent of what was in store was fully revealed, some of us were well West of the Cap Verde's and to go there would have meant giving up a lot of Westing and a two day beat to windward to get there. We opted to carry on and we ran into the weather surrounding the Tropical Storm. Pictures cannot convey the conditions but the rain came down in bucketfuls that made Ft. William rain look like a light shower, all accompanied by huge winds. (We experienced a gust of 57Knots)

Finally we broke through and clear of Delta and trade winds started to build behind us. We were now bowling along at a good speed but with very big seas. During this period we managed to blow out our spinnaker, partly due to an increase in wind, but mostly due to the rough sea which was rolling us badly. Better weather was a bonus and we saw the sun once again!

Fishing was resumed and here a wahoo, a member of the mackerel family was landed. This was by far the best eating of anything we managed to catch.

Then, finally the dawn we had been waiting for. We approached Antigua in the dark and as we passed the South of the Island, with English harbour on our starboard beam the sun rose to give us our first view of the island.

Just after dawn on the 8th December we were the first of the Blue Water Rally boats to tie up at the Customs Quay and step onto dry land. In a replay of the hare and tortoise story we passed Fleur De Mer at anchor in the approach to Jolly harbour, they had arrived at two in the morning and decided not to enter until first light. The picture shows the first three arrivals, our crew, Dan, Donald & Stephen, in front of Spirit of Affric with Fleur De Mer outside us and Bamsen to the left of the picture

And now it is time to relax, here on one of the hundreds of white ground shell beaches just half a mile walk from the boat, where the sea is at 30 degrees and the palm trees fringe the sand. Sue had arrived two days before us and in spite of our best efforts to get here had had to wait on her own... Camp following can be tough... We will remain in Antigua until the new year when we will start heading South through the Windward and Leward Islands before the passage to Panama.

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