We ready for departure aiming for Tuesday 16th January. Fuel and Water tanks full plus 65 litres of bottled water, 72 tins of beer, food from supermarket, vegetable market and butcher- we aim for fresh meat for at least the first week to be augmented by fresh fish.
Monday and Tuesday become a bit hectic and in the end we postpone to Wednesday 17th - it will still be windy for 2 days and then the grib files show benign winds for the following 14. I hope for a 16 day passage (secretly thinking we might be a few days faster) In the end we do 16 days, most of which is a sedate chilled pace, stressing neither boat nor crew. We are all over 60!
You can see grib files on www.passageweather.com, though for a 16 day forecast you need to request files direct from NOAA using email. Grib files are gridded raw data that all weather forecasts use - the direct output of the computer models for the atmosphere.
This gives me Tuesday to look at the autopilot which had a brief hissy fit on two occasions on the way into Mindelo. I discover it is unable to steer from 270 to 030 degrees - a 120 degree segment. Unfortunately we want to go West... perhaps if we headed to Patagonia that would work... In the end after stripping circuit boards that look remarkably clean for their 40 years age I conclude a very special component is faulty. The autopilot uses a very old fashioned three phase syn-resolver technology, common in the 1960's The compass has three coils 120 degrees apart and the "knob" on the controller is connected to a three phase coil system spaced 120 degrees apart and a rotating coil. I conclude one of the coils in the knob is fubared. (google that word if you don't know it) A spare part would be almost impossible to get even if I was home and would be very expensive. I contrive a most ingenious hack to workaround the problem. there are three wires... if I "rotate" them I can fool the compass and controller by setting the knob to the desired course plus 120. This works and off we go with the botchhackery in place.
This guy (from another restaurant) wants a tip, we tell him to scrape his tongue (not really)
Next day we cash in our access cards which is just enough for a final breakfast in the floating bar at the marina. The channel between isla Vincente (where Mindelo town is) and isla Antonia runs NE-SW and clearly funnels wind. We sail under Genny alone and have a very rolly time. SW of Antonia we seem to be in a wind acceleration zone... for 30 miles. When we were preparing to leave a German sailor came up and said - "what, you are leaving?" and I think there are many boats in Mindelo who find it difficult to leave. Not as many as the boats stopped in Gran Canaria that will never leave, their dreams over, their limits met. Stay too long in a port and port rot sets in. We know the first bit will be windy but it must be overcome. To bolster our faith a couple of other boats leave with us. We sail a great circle route with adjustments every 3 or 4 days, and a few seat of the pant nudges in between - the local time noon to noon fixes are plotted on a paper chart (gnomonic projection) and this works well - we adjust clocks at the quarter, half and three quarter points and arrive in Barbados with our watches correct - Alan has uploaded satellite fixes of our position at noon UTC - see https://eur-share.inreach.garmin.com/AlanDoyle
Of course it is hard to show big seas in photographs, the force 6 and with gusts and big rolly seas (swell coming from North, wind from NE and two different swell directions make life hell. One of our crew kindly feeds the fishes for a day but still manages his watch. We adopt a 2 hours on and 6 hours off that starts after the evening meal, Daytime watches start out more adhoc.
First meal is cooked by Peter - he heats up chilli Doros had made on the berth and we have a hot meal - important for morale! He cooks the rice by the crude McCrum method (2 to 1 water/rice, close the lid and simmer with one stir halfway through - the absorption method) rather than the Doros method with is more cordon blu but much more hassle (though much more tasty). The cook gets the last watch which means usually he gets the second watch off - reward for cooking below.
Peter caught in the act - this man can cook. He doesn't think he can, but he can.
By day 4 we are a quarter the way across and I reward the crew with a double beer ration - we had a strict one beer a day rule and when there are10 days to go, Peter springs a nice surprise of chocolate rations - he has brought 40 bars with him and we get a bar every day. Alan seems to never drink water, preferrng beer.
We amend the sail plan to fly two foresails each poled out and no main, this is easy to steer and reduces the rolls provided there is enough wind to go fast. In the lighter winds we still roll when the occasional big wave/swell hits us. but sleep has become easier - the middle portion of the journey is not that remarkable, flying fish on deck, some nights the stars are awe inspiring - 10 times more than we see at home, even in the light free parts of Donegal (which are impressive enough). The sky is infinite, we are but a tiny speck on the ocean and the sea will do what it will do and we will do its bidding. But the boat is strong, a thoroughbred, she will float.
At times I ponder that if we all fell unconscious and we had no sails up at all the boat would drift to -the far side anyway, in spite of us. We are under-canvassed but this suits us at night. The twin sails are easily reefed but even when full sails are out I observe a remarkable thing. We do 4 knots in 10 knots of wind. When the wind gusts to 47 knots, Shadowmere just quietly speeds up to 8.2 knots, still in a straight line, The only difference is that there are bright white flumes of spray flying out sideways - Shadowmere seems to be smiling in the 47 knots. These winds arrive in rain squalls although most of these arrive with no wind. We suffer progressive death of the autopilot - a new fault that is terminal. By day 10 we are handsteering - 2 on 6 off during the night and 1 on and 3 off during the day. Not too onerous with 4 crew. The autopilot is 40 years old and has had a good life... R.I.P
Getting a replacement will not be easy, it is a NECO autopilot - used by many large fishing boats and a brick shonethouse type of design. The Neco company makes motorised garage door openers now - but no autopilots. I will research what to do when i get good Wifi and can email a few people for advice.
Anyway, the journey continues, we eat well at night, only three days of using tins (I discover Doros has a predilection for cornbeef - like my own predilection for Spam. My cornbeef patties are to die for, if you like that sort of thing. As fresh meat runs out Peter studies the fishing guides and uses the cuban reel (not related to an Irish jig) and the lures that Alan and I bought in Gran Canaria. We had three meals from Dorado.
Nearly all meals are out of bowls in the cockpit when wedged in, I serve baked fish with spuds and veg at the mid point and crack open a cool white wine. The plates stay on the table, just.
Sometimes I sits and thinks, other times I just sits
I do fiddle with the windvane but find it works on a reach but not great on a run - it needs balanced properly and this will mean removing it. Not viable at sea.
Most of the journey has steady trade winds - I pick up a chart on the weatherfax of a low 600 mile north of us which reduces the wind strength and we have a few days of 3-4 knots of boatspeed, I suppose the SW winds of the low reduce the stronger NE trade winds. The last day we drop the poles and one of the headsails, raise the main and broad/beam reach across to the North of Barbados. There is a small port of St Charles there - a settlement of apartments and associated berths - no room for visitors, you can rent a berth - if you rent an apartment, there is also a few superyacht berths - no room for wee yachts though. I phone the port captain - at 4:30 on a Friday - the port is supposed to be open until 22:00 but he tells me he is leaving early, but will tell customs and we can stay the night on the fuel pontoon - handy enough. We get there as light fails and I get "cleared in" in about 45 minutes. The health, customs and immigration staff are all hoping to slope off early.
We celebrate our arrival in the superyacht yacht club beside the customs office.
Unfortunately Doros has since killed his beard..
We meet Craig and Cressie from Daal2 and they give us co-ordinates for a wreck dive which has a buoy on it. Over the next couple of days we anchor a mile or two south of St Charles, go ashore in the tender whereupon the surf swamps the boat with disastrous consequences for Doros - he gets wet. The surf is a curse and I wish Barbados did something to support yachts. They don't. We spend one night on ancher there and another down in Carlise bay in Bridgestown - we had hoped for a water taxi here but it was Sunday and was not to be. Alan and I brave the surf and have a beer ashore but frankly we found Barbados disappointing. The people are great, the diving is great (see separate post later) but the surf is not.
Anyway - here is a shot of Shadowmere taken from the deck of a nice wreck dive
Clearing out takes 2 hours the following Monday!
