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Log #39C Preparations and departure from Mindelo Written at: Five Island Harbour, Antigua March 1, 2006 Hi Folks, We finally left English Harbour after a considerable expense being taken out of the water to have three through-hulls replaced, the bottom washed, a primer coat and two coats of bottom paint applied. Antigua is a very expensive place, from the dockage and boat yard fees to restaurants and groceries. The prices are as high as one would expect in Toronto, New York, London, or Los Angeles, but not the quality. We were ready to leave two days ago, but another problem surfaced that we had to attend to. This time it was the compressor of our refrigeration unit. I(t will have to be replaced. We probably should replace the whole refrigeration system as it is 28 years old, but this (at an estimated $2500 US) is not within our budget, especially after the haul out, through-hull replacements and bottom paint. So for about $1000.00 US we can have a new compressor installed and operational when we return to English Harbour next week. Judy will be flying to Florida to visit her father on Sunday, and I will have Veleda all to myself for the week at anchor. Right now we are spending our second day at anchor here in Five Island Harbour, half way up the west coast of Antigua. We had planned to head up to Barbuda this morning, but the rain and heavy winds of 25 to 30 knots persuaded us otherwise. We are cruising and don’t need to head out into heavy weather if we don’t have to. This log gets us from Mindelo in the Cape Verdes to the first day of our crossing. I have gone into some detail about sail plans, winds, and other aspects of sailing, for our non-sailing friends to understand a bit more of the life for two of us on a 28 year old 32 foot sailboat on a 2200 mile ocean passage. Incidentally, the mainsail we used for the crossing, and are still using, is the original sail that came with the boat in 1978, and it has now done two Atlantic crossings (albeit with much restitching and several repairs). It was double reefed all the way across due to the strong 25 to 35 knot winds. Below are two pictures: One is of the whisker pole holding out the genoa to port. Note the holes allowing the pole to be extended. The 25 to 35 knot winds blew across the holes creating a moaning sound as if from a gigantic flute. The leather band is a chafe protection for the pole from the forward shroud. Note the soft tubing which we have taped on the aft shroud to protect the mainsail which is often out far enough to wear against the shroud in our downwind sailing. The other is a map of our passage from Lisbon to Madeira, the Canaries, Cape Verdes and across to Antigua following plus or minus 30 minutes from the 17th parallel of Latitude. I am now a member of the Royal Navy Tot Club of Antigua and Barbuda, and am entitled to fly the pre 1801 White Ensign swallow tail burgee. More about this august club in the relevant log about Antigua. We are fine and mostly enjoying the weather. We seemed to have brought bad weather with us as there has been more rain and heavy winds here than anyone can remember for this time of year. But the weather and waters are warm. All the best, Aubrey  Log #39C Preparations and departure from Mindelo Mindelo has a wide variety of stores, and services, except it has no chandleries. We were able to get wire at local hardware and electrical stores to make a short wave antenna strung up from our starboard quarter, with coaxial cable and help from Owen on Naomi J. Judy still wanted to try to get our wind generator working as it was nonfunctional since shutting down in the wind storms last week on Sal. She thought it was perhaps a short in the wires in the tower, and wanted to remove it to check them. (This is her pet project, as I don’t think it produces enough power to meet our power demands which include refrigeration.) The problem was how to get up to it, ten feet above deck. We checked to see if we could go alongside the commercial docks for an hour or so to work on it. No go. We toyed with going alongside the derelict coaling pier, but there was not enough depth. However, a Brit ketch astern of us permitted us to come alongside (We just eased out our anchor cable and had enough scope to back over to their boat.) with our port quarter secured alongside. Judy sat astride their swung out boom to remove the unit, tape what she thought might be a short and re-assembled it. Thanks Chris and Denise of Chrisden. However, it still didn’t work! An American boat, Imaginess, a 38 foot ketch, whom we met in Turkey a few years ago, was also at anchor, getting ready for the crossing to the Caribbean. Bob and Talara from Richmond, Virginia had arranged with Herb for daily weather reports while crossing to which we could listen in if we were crossing at the same time. We also met J.D., a fellow Canadian from Montreal, single handing on board Chris Myr, a custom designed steel sloop. He had been in Mindelo several months and is trying to sell his boat as he has health problems. If anyone is interested you may check his website at http://www.empiresoft.com/chris_myr or E-mail him at cfn4135@sailmail.com for details. It is a lovely blue hulled vessel with a swing keel, which he has been living on for several years. The fish market was interesting with a wide variety of large tuna, mackerel, eel, and swordfish in various stages of preparation in primitive conditions of questionable hygiene. We still got a couple of tuna steaks freshly hacked off a reasonable looking carcass. The market was located beside the old customs house which is a replica of the Tower of Belem, the original of which we visited in Lisbon (See Log #37C). Unfortunately the building has not been maintained leaving this beautiful structure a sad derelict. I also bought a pair of sweatpants for the cool damp night sailing anticipated, and we stocked up on last minute groceries and water. The recent election was won by the PAICV socialist party and a subsequent election for the presidency was to take place in a few days. Our last night there, we saw a large parade of honking cars and pickup trucks snaking up and down the main shoreline street to culminate in a noisy rally on the main downtown street visible from the anchorage. Music and speeches continued until midnight, not unlike the rallies we saw in Boa Vista and Sal the previous week before the election. The PAICV party was and still is the governing party, and was most visible in its campaign materials, flags, T-shirts, and banners. I wanted to get one of the campaign T-shirts, a yellow sleeveless shirt with solid red and green slashes and a black star with Cabo Verde and PAICV in black letters. Divan, a local young black man who helped look after our dinghy and arranged for his mother to do our laundry, got me one in exchange for a couple of my old T-shirts which Judy was happy to clear out. We paid Orlando 3000 Cape Verde Escudos (about $30.00 Canadian) for looking after our dinghy for the past six days, and gave our remaining loose change of 900 Escudos to Divan. The 3000 CVE was a good insurance policy for the dinghy, as we met a couple of boaters who had motors and oars stolen from theirs. Whenever we came ashore, Orlando or Divan or another of their helpers was always there to ease us ashore and to secure Sprite to a buoy or drag it above the high water level on the sandy beach. Dragging Sprite up a sandy beach is hard work, as the 10 horsepower engine is heavy; but these people were always there to help in and out. One day we went further down from the beach where Orlando usually landed the dinghies as we wanted to be closer to the fuel station to fill our jerry cans and to go shopping at the fish market. Orlando came over and said he would watch it even though it was 200 metres down the beach from his usual landing place. Good, that freed us up to be able to leave the dinghy, as we thought we would have to stay in sight of it all the time lest some one swipe something from it. On Friday, the 26th, we did our out routine going over to the maritime police, customs and immigration, with our last stop at port control to pay our harbour dues of a nominal 500 CVE ($5.00 Canadian). There was no problem if we left a few days later, but we wanted to complete the formalities without having to wait until the Monday to check out. The officials were pleasant and reasonably efficient. We were ready to leave for our ocean passage across the Atlantic, 2200 miles to Antigua. Jan. 29, 2006 at 1111 we weighed anchor and meandered out of the anchorage under engine to the waves and horns of several boaters who wished us well. By 1125 we had cleared the harbour entrance and headed 295 magnetic with brisk force 5 to 7 NE winds helping us along as we hoisted a double reefed main secured by a preventer, to head out the channel between Sao Vicente (Mindelo) and Santo Antao into the open Atlantic. At 1208 we took our first noon hour fix from the GPS at 16 53.28N, 025 0.45W. By 1305 we unfurled the full 130 genoa, wung out to starboard with the whisker pole, engine off, to whisk along at a brisk 6.1 knots in an easterly force 6 (25 knot) wind. We were on our way in the trade winds across the ocean! The voyage did not start in an auspicious way, as shortly after exiting the harbour area, I slipped while getting into the cockpit from the side deck and fell against the binocular box on the steering pedestal, breaking it off its bracket, and cutting my left heel when it fell to the deck. Great start! The cut wasn’t bad and was easily covered by a bandaid. But now we had no holder for our binoculars, and we had to get used to leaning back a few more inches to brace ourselves while in the cockpit. What next? By 1720 the wind had dropped and shifted to ESE (All my estimations and course directions will be in magnetic which is between 12 to 19 degrees West variation. Thus if I say the wind is from the ESE magnetic, the true heading is probably due east. Remember the mnemonic, “Variation West, Compass best”. Confused? OK.) What this shift meant was that we had to change our sails, the main to starboard and the genoa to port. We were sailing with the main out to port secured by the preventer, and the genoa out to starboard, with the wind coming across our starboard quarter (from behind on the starboard side of the boat). In this configuration the genoa is said to be set “by the lee”, and is held out forward of the mast by the whisker pole. This is better than having the main “by the lee” as there is less chance of the main being backwinded and accidentally gybing 180 degrees across the boat and risking breakage of shrouds, stays, or other essential equipment. (The risk of this is lessened by having the main held out by the preventer, which is a system of blocks and tackle from the boom to the toe rail on the deck, with a control line leading back to the cockpit. This has to be released, unfastened, and then re-fastened on the opposite side when the main has gybed across. Confused? OK.) To change the sails over is a major evolution in which, for safety with only the two of us, the genoa has to be furled, the whisker pole detached from the sheet and the mast, and lowered to the deck; then the main has to be released from the preventer, hauled midships, then Veleda altered to port to allow the wind to swing the main in a safe controlled gybe over to the starboard side. We then ease the main out and re-attach the preventer, after which I go forward hook the whisker pole to the genoa sheet on the port side, attach it to the mast fitting and have Judy then unfurl it to complete the exercise. We had to do this many times to accommodate the wind shifts from NE to SE as we made our way across on a fairly constant heading of 289 magnetic (or 270 degrees true as the variation at the Cape Verdes was 19 degrees W. Confused? OK. Don’t worry about it. We made it OK.) We just used the GPS waypoints from the Cape Verdes direct to Antigua (a distance of about 2187 miles), and did not bother about calculating a great circle route. We stayed roughly between the Latitudes of 16 degrees 50 minutes North and 17 degrees 40 minutes North, all the way across (similar to what Columbus did on his crossing). We had waited this long to do our crossing as we wanted to be sure the trades had set in. They had! We had steady 15 to 25 knot winds (NE or ESE) all the way across, for a very fast passage. The only time we had the engine on after the first day was for an hour or so every other day to charge our batteries (the wind generator would have been very handy). The ARC rally leaves the Canaries in late November to be across for Christmas, but often the trades have not stabilized by then, This year the ARC got hammered by storm Delta and then by storm Epsilon. We heard a few horror stories about individual boats damaged, including a couple that retreated to the Cape Verdes, one of which was still there repairing damage when we left. We were on our way. The first 24 hours we did 120 miles, the slowest 24 hours of the entire passage. More about our crossing in the next log.
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