Nics Diary – Part 9 – The Atlantic Crossing
Thought I would write a wee diary of the adventures of a 16 day ocean crossing. Something to amuse myself with, if nothing else!
Day 1 - 5.12 – 3pm – 2150 miles to go!
So finally we are off!! After weeks of preparing e.g. new
crew, rotas and massive shopping lists, it feels like such a relief to finally
be doing our crossing. We left the Cape Verdes approximately 1 ½ hrs ago and
the sun is shining, and the swell is much calmer than we thought it may be. A
lot of boats (at least 10 diverted from the ARC plus others), have been coming
into the marina over the last few days. Some had no masts, and others had their
sails torn to shreds. So as you can imagine, we were all a little anxious as to
how it was out here. But fingers crossed, it appears to be fine. My first watch
is 12-3am, so hopefully things will remain calm until then. I am about to
settle into the 3rd 50 shades book, then a little rest, before James
cooks us some homemade burgers for dinner. All good xx
Day 2 - 6.12 – 5pm
Well, so far (be careful what you wish for) we have been
pretty disappointed with the trade winds. Last night we were totally becalmed
for a little while, and we heard other yachts on the radio saying the same. We
are hoping that as we progress further, the winds may pick up a little, if not
we should have enough fuel to motor half of the way (cheats I know). My night
watch was pretty uneventful, except for the same clunk noise reappearing (Nics
Diary – Part 7). Our first worry was that the welded steering plate was broken
again. It turned out to just be loose – so problem easily solved. Today I have
amused myself preparing stewed steak (or is it Cape Verde dog meat?) for
dinner, and making some banana (Cape Verde - 1 day old mushy ones) and white
chocolate cookies – yummy! Then we will probably have a movie night. We often
sit down together after dinner and watch a wee movie. It gives us all a chance
to relax and think of something else, other than sailing.
I struggled to sleep last night (pretty normal for the first
night), and thought I would fill you in on what it feels like when trying to
sleep. You lie in the unconscious position to prevent yourself rolling over.
You are aware of your skeleton and rib cage etc being quite rigid, but all of
your muscles and organs swish swosh around and inside of you. I always tell
myself ‘rock a bye baby, on the tree top’ and try not to think ‘damn
rollercoaster’. Anyway, now that I should be getting a little more used to it,
I should hopefully sleep tonight.
Has my nephew been born yet?? Today is the 6th
and I am waiting a sat phone message to say all is well, and then I will have a
wee glass of wine to celebrate.
My birthday is in 2 days, and my only wish is for Stevie to
bake and decorate a cake for me. I think it will be a whole day of
entertainment watching him juggle flour, scales etc (you need to be an octopus
to cook on a boat). Apparently he has never baked a cake before. I am hoping I
can persuade him to wear my apron so that I really can have a good giggle.
Day 3 - 7.12 – 5pm
I got up during the night last night, on Stevies watch, as I couldn't sleep. Still no wind, but we had the jib poled out with our new super dooper
pole, that prevents the sail flogging on the swell and in light winds. One
large swell came, and there was a thud. I assumed that something downstairs had
fallen, but found nothing. A couple of mins later Stevie noticed that the jib
had dropped a foot. Not good news. We rolled it away, as it was too dark to
investigate. A whole night of worrying what had broken. Either the jib was
torn, the shackle or rope had broken (we have spares of all 3), or the drum at
the top of the jib had broken meaning we could bypass the furling and use it like a hanked on sail.
Stevie and I decided to unfurl the jib this morning to have a better look and the damn thing fell straight into the water – Emergency stop, and shout up all crew to help pull it back onto the deck before we got it mangled in the propeller. Iona then went up the mast to investigate, and luckily it was the shackle that had broken, and the noise I heard was it bouncing off the deck. Problem easily solved, and thanks Iona.
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| James posing with our new pole behind |
Stevie and I decided to unfurl the jib this morning to have a better look and the damn thing fell straight into the water – Emergency stop, and shout up all crew to help pull it back onto the deck before we got it mangled in the propeller. Iona then went up the mast to investigate, and luckily it was the shackle that had broken, and the noise I heard was it bouncing off the deck. Problem easily solved, and thanks Iona.
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| Iona up our 60ft mast mid-atlantic! |
Still poor wind (8-12kts wind and 5kts speed), but James
cheered us all up by catching another dorado – well done!! Dorados – colorful
tasty fish. When we catch them they are a turquoise-green colour. When we pull
them onto the deck they change colour to white-yellow, and when they are
killed, again they change to a navy blue-black colour. Magnificent to watch the
colour changes, a little sad to kill them – but they are a delicious tender
white meat!
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| Another dorado - where's all the tuna gone! |
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| Another messy massacre! |
Day 4 - 8.12 6am
Happy Birthday to me - thanks for my pressies mum xx and for
all my sat phone messages everyone!! xx
Well I hope it is a happy birthday as we have major battery
failure!! (Problem 3: and hopefully the last for a while). Stevie has been
doing an unbelievable amount of calculations, as we are considering diverting
to Brazil. The batteries for our housekeeping are failing (not the ones to start
the engine – they are fine). They are no longer holding their charge for longer
than a couple of hours. Also, still no wind!! From what I gather, if we motor
too long then we are frying them more– and without any wind, what choice do we
have. At the end of the day, they are pretty dead anyway.
Worst case scenario, we hand steer (no auto pilot, and no electronic GPS at night), however, we do have a hand help GPS, that runs on batteries, and we can charge it during the day with solar (unfortunately we may lose the fridge). Really it could be far worse. As I said to Stevie ‘If we had been struck by lightning we would be really in trouble so we are fine’. (conclusion -destination is still planned for Caribbean – solar will keep us going in day light and we will run the engine when required at night – until the batteries totally fail??).
Worst case scenario, we hand steer (no auto pilot, and no electronic GPS at night), however, we do have a hand help GPS, that runs on batteries, and we can charge it during the day with solar (unfortunately we may lose the fridge). Really it could be far worse. As I said to Stevie ‘If we had been struck by lightning we would be really in trouble so we are fine’. (conclusion -destination is still planned for Caribbean – solar will keep us going in day light and we will run the engine when required at night – until the batteries totally fail??).
Day 5 - 9.12 4pm
Yesterday turned out to be a fab birthday (after we got over
the battery drama) and the sun finally came out! We had pink champagne and a
dorado feast for lunch, followed by punch and TWO cakes (made by Stevie and
Iona). (Between me and you, I think Stevie really enjoyed baking and hand
decorating his first ever cake (although he denies it)). He refused to wear the pinny though, as it was
quite hot. Then we had a curry feast for dinner, and also decorated the boat
for xmas.
I bought everyone advent calendars, so we have been enjoying them too.
Hello to little Oscar, I look forward to seeing the photos when I reach civilization and congrats to both Zoe and my big bro xx
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| The look of concentration!! |
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| Wonderful job - it even tasted yummy too! |
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| Santa surfed out back the whole way - he had a ball! |
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| Dinner alfresco on my birthday |
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| Iona made a sticky toffee cake which we had with custard - my favourite - yummy! |
I bought everyone advent calendars, so we have been enjoying them too.
Hello to little Oscar, I look forward to seeing the photos when I reach civilization and congrats to both Zoe and my big bro xx
Yesterday I asked my mum to text Steve, our weather man, and
tell him we need wind - and today it came. Thanks Steve!! We are finally
sailing the great Ocean. It feels a relief to be making some proper progress.
The batteries are holding in there, and (touch wood) there have been no further
dramas & of course, we have beautiful sunshine!! This is more like what I
signed up for!!
Day 7 - 11.12 9pm – 1270 miles to go!
So last night at around 4am on my watch we started to see an
average of 17 knots of wind, and we have been flying along since. Just now we
are seeing an average of 20kts and we are a little anxious, as if it increases
to 25kts during the night then we will all have to get up, and work in the
dark, on a rolly deck to remove the pole from the jib and reduce the genoa (big sail at front).
Let’s hope it doesn't increase anymore. We are seeing between 7-8kts of speed,
and this is a bit of a problem, as we need to run the engine (with revs) every
few hours during the night because of our crap batteries. This means that we
will fly along even faster, and this can become a little dangerous. I don’t
think Stevie will be sleeping tonight.
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| The swell got a little large! |
Yesterday we caught a 3rd dorado. We tried to
gently remove the hook and put it back as we are a little dorado’ed out, and
would really like a tuna (also I am tired of cooking something different for
Stevie, as he claims not to like dorado). Anyway, the poor big guy died, so
once again it has been fish soup for lunch, probably another fish pie, paella,
and anything else we can come up with. It’s quite funny as all we seem to do is
eat food that needs to be eaten NOW. E.g. just now we are trying to ‘think
bread’ (as well as fish) as it has expired and we still have 3 massive loafs. Also,
more bananas and other fresh fruit have been past their best, so we have been
making different desserts etc. It has been very adventurous with regards to
food and what needs to be eaten.
We haven’t seen any boats for days. Occasionally we call
over the radio ‘Is there anybody out there??’, and we have had no reply. We
really are in the middle of nowhere!
Part of our daily routine now involves removing dead flying
fish from the deck each morning. Obviously the wee things don’t have very good
night vision. They are beautifully turquoise coloured fish, which fly about a
foot above the ocean, and we guess, at around 20 mph. They vary from around
1-10 inches long. James has been hit twice in the chest by them, and I now lie
down on a night shift, with my hood up, as I recon it would really hurt if one
of these slapped you in the face, never mind the fright!
We have had a few starry, starry nights, which are made even
more beautiful by the phosphorescence glowing in the wake of the boat. Unsure
where the moon is these days though?
We are planning a half way pirate party. (Depends on the weather,
as drinking punch is not recommended in rough seas!!). We have been collecting
our biodegradable (over board) rubbish, and are planning to build a little sail
boat out of empty beer cans, and paper plates etc, and to launch it for our big
party! We have pirate hats, and are also planning on baking pirate cupcakes and
decorate ginger bread men. Things you do to amuse yourself!
I had a ‘stitch and bitch’ session with Iona yesterday. A
what? Basically I repaired 3 items of clothing, (it’s like having a whole new
wardrobe again) and we sat and bitched. Mostly about the weather, but Stevies
smelly feet were also mentioned!!
All in all, we are having a fab time. I am really surprised
not to be bored yet, although some proper exercise would be good. I am also
really happy to say that I appear to have gotten over my knock down fright.
There were a few times after that incident, that I was really unsure that I
would be able to continue. It really scared the crap out of me. Anyway, let’s
not think about that just now- as I hear the wind pipe up outside!! Time for
some rest xx
Day 9 – 13.12 – 1pm – 1075 miles to go – half way – yippee
yippee yippee!!!
Stevie was wondering - did the world end yesterday? Will we
be arriving in the Caribbean, for it not to be there anymore?
Today we have lots of wind (up to F8 38 knots) and we are
surfing some big waves, at an average of 7.5 kts speed. We were hoping to have
our half way party, but unfortunately it’s too rough to drink much, but we will
be having one wee beer! I have spent my watch (9am-12) trying to take a good
video to show you all the fun we are having in the big waves.
Unfortunately we haven’t seen the sun for a few days, and we
have had the odd shower. No more starry starry nights! Also, movie nights have
become a thing of the past.
Last night on my watch I saw another sailing boat. It is the
first in around 7 days. I said ‘hi’ on the radio, and also I wanted to make
sure they had seen us, as they were coming up from behind (sometimes you forget
there are other boats out there, as you haven’t seen one for so long).
Day 11 - 15.12 – 850 miles to go!
Well since the wind came on day 7, it has done nothing but
slowly increase, and cause some pretty crazy seas. Unfortunately it has been
too wet outside to sit (rain and a lot of spray), and too hot and humid
downstairs. We are covered in bruises from slipping all over the place. One pot
meals were all I could manage, and the uncomfortable circumstances were
beginning to take their toll on my patience!! The wind originally came from the
west, but turned round almost 90 degrees to the south over time. Some of the
swell was mountainous, the rest a little smaller. The 2 different wind
directions produced some messy swell, that gave the boat a big knock on the back
corner, and splashed all over the cockpit, and making it a pretty bumpy ride.
Also, little creepies (as I called them) - breaking bits at the top of the
mountainous swell that would spray over the back and helped to give the boat a
good clean.
Last night the lightening started, and my knock down fear
returned. A massive dark rain cloud passed behind us, and seemed to draw 20
knots of wind towards it (onto the nose of the boat, from the west). This is
completely the opposite direction from where it had been coming from, so the
swell turned really weird, producing small waves on the top, in completely the
opposite direction. As a result, at 18,000 revs, we were hardly moving forward
(usually we would get around 5-6 knots from these revs.) As the night went on,
the swell completely calmed, the lightning storms stayed in the distance, and
eventually the stars came out. Relief. Today we have sun, and are planning our
half way party (although a little late!!). Everyone appears to be getting along
fine, and we are all happy to be making gingerbread men today!
One of the things I really enjoy about sailing was that even
though you are stuck on the same boat, in the same massive ocean, with the same
people day after day – no 2 watches are the same!! Sometimes there are stars,
dark clouds, big moon, no moon, rain (too cold), sun (too hot), big swells,
becalmed, no wind, too much etc. Weird how it’s never the same, although
everything else is!!
Day 12 – 16.12 – 4pm
Yesterday evening the wind and swell slowly started again.
We made our ginger bread men, an army of pirate cupcakes, and by the time of
pouring the filling into our quiche, the swell had become a little crazy,
resulting in it pouring out everywhere. However, it still cooked well in the
oven. We came to the conclusion that there should be a Baking Scale instead of
a Beaufort scale – with 1 = Fine and calm, bake anything you like especially
runny quiches! To 10 = Wild and swelly, not advised to attempt to juggle flour,
sieves, and scales etc. High risk of scalding from oven. Guaranteed to make a
big mess with the quiche filling!
We decided to abandon the build and launch of our little raft;
however, today we are becalmed (again), so it looks good for our raft. Also, we
are having a little punch again. We have come to the conclusion that Cape Verde
Fanta is full of illegal (in the UK) E additives and preservatives. It is
fluorescent in colour, and a lot of the locals seemed to prefer it to beer in
the pub. We have been adding it to our punch, and I would definitely say it
adds to the kick!
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| I don't ever remember making ginger bread men in my life - it was fun! |
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| An army of pirate cup cakes!! |
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| And of course we all dressed up for the occasion! |
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| Captain Stevie building our wee raft |
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| The big launch |
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| James and Stevie both went for a mid atlantic swim |
We did a stock take the other day, and I am really pleased to say that we are not going to run out of anything that I didn’t predict, and we still have quite a variety of meals to cook. We even still have some fresh food (potatoes, carrots etc). Also our tank and drinking water supply is doing well. The rod is out today though, and we are still hoping for yellow fin tuna! Failing that, it’s Morrisons ham roast – yummy (thanks again Has)!
Day 14 – 18.12 – 4pm
Well in the last 36 hours or so, the wind has completely
turned 360 degrees (we think we must have been passing the centre of a high
pressure area??). It has been good to change and use all points of sail, and
for most of the day yesterday we were close hauled, gliding along at 7-8 knots
all day. The boat cut beautifully through the water, like a hot knife cutting
through butter. Speaking of which, it is actually true that you head south
until the butter melts, then turn west to head for the Caribbean. Not just is
the butter melting, but so are our advent calendars!!
Yesterday was by far the best day of sailing, also the first
time for a long while that we had dolphins, and lots of them, cruising along
beside the boat – beautiful!
Sleep still varies from day to day, with an average of 5 hrs
a night – sometimes it is so hot that Stevie and I sleep in shifts in the bed.
Apparently when people arrive, they have a good few beers, and then sleep for
around 24 hours – sounds good to me!
We just caught another Dorado – the biggest yet! Fresh meat
– yummy – I was dreading having to use tins of chicken curry etc (yuck).
Instead it looks like fish curry tonight, fish chowder soup, and maybe
fishcakes tomorrow night. Stevie is finally starting to accept that fresh fish is
ok (so long as I try to disguise the flavour in curry etc).
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| It took both boys to land this monster! |
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| Home made dorado fish fingers (for Stevie) and mushy peas! |
Day 17 – 21.12 – 1pm – 78 miles to go!! 15 hours until we
safely drop anchor and breathe a sigh of relief!!
Can’t believe it’s our last day! Although it has been a long
time, it really has passed quite quickly – and I am really surprised I have not
been bored! Today I have a busy day, updating and minimising this blog,
painting my nails for xmas, and I have more stitching and bitching to do as the
strap of my dress broke. Hectic life, this life at sea!! Unfortunately we will
be arriving around 2-3am, and we have a severe lack of booze to celebrate
(plenty of red wine, but the boys aren’t too keen on it). We are going to drop
anchor in Falmouth harbour, Antigua. We plan to move to the marina in the
morning, where we hope to find a supermarket for some supplies for xmas, then
going for a late lunch, and some well-deserved drinks. The next plan is to
sleep until we waken (hopefully we don’t miss xmas!!)
Yesterday we got a little bit carried away (drunk) with
another punch. We are unsure why this one was so potent, as it contained the
same alcohol as the rest of them. All we can assume is the cola mixer (cape
verde), was full of hyper active E numbers – nothing to do with the alcohol. We
started drinking around 1pm and all 3 of us passed out around 5pm. Luckily Iona
doesn’t drink so she held the fort for a couple of hours (thanks Iona).
Last night I enjoyed my last 2 night shifts. I was lucky as
I had the best shift (9pm-12 and 9am-12 UTC). We have now passed through 4 time
zones, so sunrise is around 9.30am (UTC) = 5.30am ‘real time’. This morning the
sunrise was beautiful. We have also been planet spotting, and have identified
Mars and Jupiter. 3 boats have been spotted recently – more than we have seen
all journey!
The day before yesterday I read about the weather and had a
wee lesson from Stevie– different types of scary clouds etc. We also discussed
the different weather fronts that we have witnesses on our journey:
Day 7-10 = strong wind, big swell, and a little rain –
conclusion = we were passing the edge of an area of low pressure
Day 11-12 = Lightening and calmer seas – conclusion = we
passed through an occlusion zone
Day 13-14 = Poor wind (turning 360 degrees over 24 hours),
hot & humid – conclusion = we passed through the middle of a high pressure
area.
This is what we think – we could be wrong – but I would like
to believe that I have learnt something useful from my experience of an ocean
crossing!
As it is our last day I would like to take the opportunity
to say a few thanks:
Firstly, to our wonderful Crazy Diamond: You never fail us,
you are tough as old boots, and I have so much faith in you. Thanks for keeping
us all safe and coping with all conditions! Secondly, to Steve our weather man:
Your updates were appreciated. Sorry it was such a busy time of year. My mum:
for keeping everyone up to date on our progress. Our wonderful crew members,
Iona and James. Iona I would like to thank for your motivation and creativity
in cooking and baking. I would have struggled without you. And James, for being
keen and eager to learn. I think you motivated us all to open the odd textbook,
and I am sure Stevie has very much enjoyed your company. You are both welcome back anytime! And of
course, last but not least, my dearly beloved Captain Stevie. Well done on your
first ocean crossing. You had some pretty difficult decisions to make, little
sleep, and 3 big problems to solve in our first 3 days. Well done for keeping
us all safe and coping so well!!
Well that’s about all from me, merry xmas to everyone and thanks
for reading. All my love, second in command, Admiral Nic xx
Edit by steven , overall we covered 2300nm in 16.5 days, not the fastest crossing, but we arrived safe and well , we averaged 139.5 miles per day, An average of 5.8 kn.
Edit by steven , overall we covered 2300nm in 16.5 days, not the fastest crossing, but we arrived safe and well , we averaged 139.5 miles per day, An average of 5.8 kn.
