Okay, so we try not to complain about passages too much as we know we're lucky to we have this opportunity to sail around the world but some voyages are just plain uncomfortable! Luckily we had enough wind to sail the whole way across and avoided any really bad squalls, but with a swell out of the north and another one out of the south colliding with us in the middle, Blue Moon quickly became a cork in a washing machine. Endless meals found their way onto the galley floor followed by screams of frustration and ultimately resulting in bumps and bruises for whoever had to clean it up.
We stuck to a pretty strict watch pattern of 3 hours on and off at night and whatever we needed during the day - usually half a day each. The sails were set down wind wing on wing with the head sail poled out and a reefed main on the opposite side. Other than switching them over if the wind changed and reefing for squalls we pretty much left them alone most of the trip. Luckily 'Heidi' our wind steering vane worked almost perfectly although we do have to sit and watch that she doesn't decide to make a detour off course with a gentle pull on the helm now and then to bring her back on track.
About 10 days into the trip our limited supply of fresh food from the Cape Verdes was exhausted so we had to get creative with cans of ham, corned beef, tuna and vegetables...luckily it makes for quick and easy cooking with no chopping and dicing required! We did catch a beautiful Mahi Mahi towards the beginning of the trip which supplied us with fillets for five days but after that our luck ran dry.
A welcome relief to the passage was our daily check in every morning and evening to the Magellan Net on our SSB radio. We have role call in the morning with over 20 other yachts making the crossing to find out every ones position and weather conditions. In the evening Captain Fatty off Wild Card would host a more informal net that would lighten the mood with stories of fish caught and funny things that happen on board that only cruisers would appreciate.
Unfortunately we lost the ability to transmit on our SSB radio half way across and even though we could still hear other yachts we began to feel very isolated. We also lost our email connection so couldn't keep contact with family and friends back home or receive weather updates - until then I don't think we realised how much of a life line the radio is. Jimmy spent days trying to locate the problem going over all the connections and even raising a new antenna but of no avail so he had to mutter the fate full words 'we'll have to get a professional to look at it'!!
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| Christmas Lunch - A real treat instead of Pasta |
Our first Christmas at sea was probably the best day of the trip...miraculously the weather and seas calmed off just for one day and we treated our selves to a movie on the lap top and dinner of ham, mash potatoes and green bean casserole. By night fall the weather picked back up and it was a return to discomfort.
After 16 days we finally got a welcome change in scenery as the low island of Barbados began to take shape on the horizon. With it's turquoise blue waters and white, palm tree lined beaches we are very happy to have made it across the Atlantic to make land fall in paradise!!
