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Philippe
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Paul
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Marc
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Xavier
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Pogo40 SUR Blog 2016 Transat
we arrive in Martinique on March 15, after sailing across the atlantic for 19 days!!!
BLOG Barcelona-Canaries 28 jan - 9 fev 2016
BLOG Bermuda-Azores 20 juin-4 juillet 2016
BLOG Azores-Portugal 15 - 22 juillet 2016
A tale of three sailboats crossing the atlantic
Other LINKS/Liens:
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arriving
at Le Marin at 10PM and going to marina calypso bar party
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we see land 30NM from Martinique
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Gruyere and Vacherin
AOC for the mid atlantic fondue :-)
The mystery fish and the big Mahi that got away
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drone films us at mid atlantic point drone flight on youtube
Problems with the mainsail 20NM from Hierro Canaries
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Arrivé à bon port!!
Day 25 - March 15 Nous allons arriver aujourd'hui avec 90l d'eau minerale, 20l de gasoil, 10kg de légumineuses, 10 oranges, 20l de vin, 3l de gin, 1/2l de rhum, 5l de lait, plus de sucre et au moins un mois de vivres secs et lyophilisés, plus de tabac depuis une semaine pour les fumeurs e sans avoir ouvert la pharmacie. Il reste beaucoup de piles aussi. Nous n'avons perdu qu'une vielle grand voile, l'autre est réparée de même que le Spi. La pompe d'eau douce a rendu l'âme. Tout le reste fonctionne et il reste beaucoup de calibrage a faire sur l'électronique et à changer le cable électrique de la girouette qui n'est pas fiable. La dernière nuit a été de regate avec de pointes très impressionnantes sous Spi à la nuit tombée. On vient de voir le deuxième bateau depuis notre départ et le premier voilier. On arrive. Marc est content et les fumeurs aussi.
We will arrive today with 90L of mineral water, 20L gasoline, 10kg of beans, 10 oranges , 20L of wine, 3L gin , 1 / 2L rum, 5L milk, no more sugar and at least one month of dry and lyophilized food. The smokers have been out or tobacco for a week and we never opened the pharmacy. We still have lots of batteries too.. We only lost an old mainsail, the other one is repaired as is the Spi . The fresh water pump broke down. Everything else works. Still some calibration to be done on electronics, and the unreliable power cable to the weather vane needs to be changed. Last night was very impressive sailing with speed bursts under spinnaker after nightfall. We just saw the second boat since our departure and the first sailing ship. We arrive. Marc is happy and smokers too.
Day 24 - March 14 La dernière ligne droite a été musclée. Un petit grain sous Spi est le bateau s'est laissé aller. Le bruit de l'hydrogenerateur la nuit par bon vent est impressionnant. Pour finir plus sereinement et préserver le matériel nous allons sous Spi seul la gv baissée à cause de vagues qui sont très pénibles. Demain nous arriverons il reste moins de 100 milles. 30 dans la nuit et le reste avant 18:00 sauf si le vent fait complètement défaut. À demain pour la suite.
This last stretch was energetic. A little squall with the Spinakker up, and the boat just took off. The sound of the hydrogenerator at night under a stiff wind is impressive. To complete our trip a little more comfortably, and keep the rigging in good shape, we are sailing with the Spi only, mainsail furled because of the waves which are pretty uncomfortable. We will arrive tomorrow, less than 100 miles to go. We will cover 30 during the night, and the remainder before 6PM, unless the wind completely dies down. More tomorrow!
Day 21 - March 13 Avec la GV haute et peu de vent nous arrivons quand
même à surfer certaines vague. C'est sur qu'il aurait mieux valu emporter un
Spi plus grand. Nous arriverons quand même je pense mardi. On marche pas mal!
plus que 270 miles - and speed is increasing!
With the full mainsail in light wind we are still able to surf some of the waves.
Of course it would have been better if we had a bigger Spinakker. I think we
will arrive in Martinique on Tuesday after all. Making good speed! Only 270
nm to go, and we are increasing our average!
Day 20 - March 12 Bonjour Les poissons hier soir accompagnés de petites pommes de terre noires de Hierro étaient exquis. Nous avons fini le muscadet. Pour la nuit nous avions troqué le Spi pour le solent. La nuit a été calme et bramons assez rapide. Je pense que nous remettrons le foc après avoir changé la gaine de la drisse qui a souffert. Le taud de soleil de navigation est une réussite. Léger facile à mettre et à enlever et à plier. Il a tous les avantages. On voit même un peu le Spi au travers pour pouvoir barrer. Des qu'on atteint les 8 noeuds on a suffisamment de courant pour tout. Et 3 heures de moteur remplissent le réservoir d'eau de 100l. Paul hier soir a pris une vraie douche chaude et son commentaire a été: De gran Hotel, ce qui est peu dire de sa part concernant les douches. Nous pensons arriver mardi matin à moins d'un aléa. A bientot pour la suite.
Hello, The fish we had last night accompanied by small black potatoes from Hierro were exquisite. We finished off the Muscadet . For the night we swapped the spinakker for the solent; the night was calm and our speed fast enough . I think we will put the jib back on after changing the halyard cover. The navigation bimini is a success. Lightweight, easy to put on and remove and fold. It has all the advantages. We can even see the Spi a little through it in order to steer. When the speed hits 8 knots we have enough current for everything. And 3 hours motoring fills the 100 liter water tank. Last night Paul took a real hot shower and his comment was : Grand Hotel, Which is quite a comment coming from him about showers. We expect to arrive on Tuesday morning if there are no unexpected happenings. Stay tuned for updates!.
Le point ce matin: Lat+14.863940, Lon-52.552628. Plus que 485 miles nautique
à parcourir avant d'aterrir à La Martinique. Une place à
quai dans le Marina du Marin est reservée pour le 15 mars! Le graphique
de vitesse depuis le départ de Tenerife le 22 février.
This morning's position: Lat+14.863940, Lon-52.552628. Only 485 nm to go before landing in Martinique. A slip has been reserved in the Marina du Marin for March 15! Speed chart from Tenerife departure on February 22 until today.
Day 18 - March 10 Enfin les grandes vagues de l'Atlantique sont arrivées ! Longues, espacées, hautes comme dans les livres. Et avec elles un peu de vent, le bateau va bien et les pronostics sur les dates d'arrivée vont bon train. Les pointes à 9 nd ne sont plus exceptionnelles pas encore dans la bonne direction mais ça viendra. Le vent doit forcir un peu ce soir à 15 nd et on va passer la nuit sous Code 0. Poisson ce soir au menu. La soupe de courges a été bien appréciée. Paul a fait du pain un peu lourd mais tres bon et il a embaumé le bateau. On devrait prochainement franchir la barre des 700 miles qui nous séparent de la Martinique. A bientot.
We are finally getting the big Atlantic waves! Long, widely spaced, as high as in the books. And with them a little wind, the boat is sailing well and we are making bets on our arrival date. Speed spikes at 9 knots are no longer exceptional. Not yet in the right direction but that will come. The wind should pick up a little now to 15 knts and we will leave the Code 0 up tonight. Fish on the menu this evening. The squash soup was much appreciated. Paul baked a loaf of bread which was a bit heavy but very good and it made the whole boat smell good. We will soon come to the point where we are700 miles from Martinique. See you soon.
Day 17 - March 9 Matin: Nuit tres calme peu de vent des vagues pas tres
agreable il a fallu un bon Gin Tonic pour faire passer ca. Ce matin, suffisamment
de vent pour aller à 5-6nd mais pas le Pérou alors que nous sommes théoriquement
en pleins alizees Hier on a significativement amélioré le circuit de la pompe
à eau de mer et celui du dessalinisateur. Aujourd'hui améliorations électriques
prévues.
Soir: Beaucoup de cuisine aujourd'hui. Potage à la courge, arroz de verduras,
pruneaux au vin rouge poisson inconnu au grill salade de museau et chou ...
Entre temps réparation de la chaussette de Spi qui avait un peu de tours dans
le bout qui l'a monté et descend. Le rythme de nav est lent. Toujours pas de
vent (6nd) mais on fait cap sur la Martinique. Après la sieste un peu d'électricité
et de plomberie pour changer. On es bluffé par la performance du dessalinisateur.
Plus de 30l/h. On ne manque vraiment pas d'eau, seulement de vent. A bientot.
Morning: very quiet night with very little wind. Fairly unpleasant wave action...good
gin and tonic required to tolerate. This morning, enough wind to do 5 -6 knots,
but not really fantastic even though we are theoretically in the middle of the
Trade Winds. Yesterday we significantly improved the seawater pump circuit and
the watermaker. Electrical improvements planned today.
Evening : Lots of cooking today. Squash soup, arroz de verduras, prunes in red
wine, grilled unidentified fish, cabbage salad ... Meanwhile we fixed the spinnaker
sock that had a few twists in the line used to raise and lower it. Our pace
is slow. Still no wind ( 6knts ) but we are heading for Martinique. After a
little power nap, electricity and plumbing for a change. We are amazed by the
performance of the desalinator . Over 30l / h. We really have plenty of water,
but not enough wind. See you soon.
Derniere graphique de vitesse - et distance parcouru 1778 miles nautique
Latest speed chart - and total distance to date 1778 nautical miles.
Day 16 - March 8 Aujourd'hui intense activité. Au réveil Philippe constate qui l'hydro charge peu malgre une bonne vitesse dans la nuit. Les algues sont la cause du problème. Facile, on remonte l'hydro, enleve les algues et le tour est joué sauf que c'est pareil pour les safrans. Xavi à la bonne idée de regarder à la gopro et effectivement il faut faire quelque chose. On enroule le solent et en ralentissant le bateau on arrive à chasser les passagers clandestins. Tout repart sous Code 0 et après 1/2 heure le bras d'amure du bout dehors casse au point de ragage. On récupère le Code 0 et on remet le solent car la réparation sera longue. Deux heures après avec une amure fortement renforcée on repart zigzagant entre les touffes d'algues. Partis sur la bonne lancée le bosco améliore l'amure de la trinquette et c'est l'heure de couper le jambon. Marc s'occupe du melon il suit scrupuleusement son régime et nous laisse le pata negra. Reste à réparer l'arceau de la descente qui sort de son logement. Quelques tranches de melon et de jambon après, le tour est joué et il faut agrandir l'aération du local du frigo tant que la perceuse est dehors. Viendra la sieste. La suite peut être ce soir.
Intense activity today. Philippe wakes up to find that the hydrogenerator is charging very little, despite the boat's good speed in the night. Seaweed is causing the problem. Easy to fix, we go haul up the hydro, remove the seaweed and we're done - except that the same thing is happening with the rudders. Xavi had the good idea to use the GoPro to have a look, and indeed we have to do something. We rolled up the solent, and with the boat moving more slowly, we eliminated the stowaway seaweed. We started out again with the Code 0 (assymetrical spinnaker) but 1/2 hour later the bowsprit tack line broke at the point of chafing. We brought in the Code 0 and reset the solent since the fix was going to take some time. Two hours later with a heavily reinforced tack we were zigzagging between the clumps of seaweed. While he was at it, the quarter master reinforced the staysail tack and then it was time to slice some ham. Marc dealt with the melon, but as he is closely following his diet he left the pata negra to us. Still needed to repair the companionway handrail that is getting a little loose. A few slices of melon and ham later, we were done. But since the drill was out, we decided to enlarge the vent in the refrigerator enclosure. Time for a nap - more later this evening -maybe.
Day 15 - March 7 Lundi, le bateau a navigué toute la nuit avec du vent et la réparation de la grand voile a tenu. Le vent était nord est et suffisamment stable pour nous permettre de manger tranquillement sous Spi une fondue moitié moitié bien arrosée. Puis comme à l'accoutumé Xavi a pris le premier quart. Peu de temps après il s'est fait agresser àl'épaule droite par un poisson volant ayant perdu tout contrôle. Un autre de ses congénères ne s'est pas mieux débrouillé car au petit matin on a trouvé des écailles et un œil sur le pont. Mystère. Si nous avons mangé une fondue ce n'est pas seulement parce que Marc en avait envie et avait tout pour la faire, c'était aussi pour nous consoler de la perte d'une grosse daurade coryphene d'au moins 12 kilos que Marc a ramenée près du bateau mais que nous n'avons malgré toutes les tentatives pas réussi à monter à bord. Il y a du progrès à faire. Vers les 3:00 le vent force un peu et il est raisonnable de changer le Spi pour le solent. Nous avons à ce moment là plus de trois heures d'avance sur le routage. Le changement de voile ne s'est pas fait sans péripétie. Le Spi est un peu parti à l'eau entraînant une manœuvre qui a fait perdre aux pêcheurs leurs lignes et leurs leurres. Nous en avons profiter pour empanner et faire un cap au 230. Sous solent, la navigation est plus facile au 3/4 arrière et quand Philippe a repris le quart le vent a forci et le bateau a navigué entre 7 et 11nd ! Le quart s'est déroulé sans problème et au point du matin tout allait parfaitement. Aujourd'hui il faudra remplir le réservoir d'eau en faisant tourner le dessalinisateur pendant trois ou 4 heures. Il faudra aussi trouver un systeme pour by-passer le chauffe eau car l'eau est trop chaude !!! La journée commence.
Monday, the boat sailed all night with good wind and the mainsail patch held. The wind was from the northeast and stable enough for us to eat a moitié moitié fondue under Spinaker. Then as usual Xavi took the first watch. Shortly afterwards he was attacked on the right shoulder by a flying fish totally out of control. A second flying fish was even less coordinated; because in the morning we found scattered scales and eye on the deck. Mysterious. If we ate a fondue it was not only because Marc wanted to and had brought along everything needed to make it, but also to console ourselves for the loss of a large Mahi Mahi of least 12 kilos that Marc brought close to the boat but which we were unable to bring aboard despite all our attempts. Still a few things to learn. Around 3 AM the wind strengthened a little and we decided to change the Spi for the solent. At that time we were more than three hours ahead on the routing. Changing the sail was not so simple, though. The Spinnaker dragged a little in the water causing a manouevre that cost the fishermen their lines and lures. We took the opportunity to jibe and make for a heading of 230. Under solent, sailing is much easier on a broad reach and when Philippe took his watch the wind picked up and the boat was doing between 7 and 11knts! The watch was uneventful and by daybreak everything was going perfectly. Today we will fill the water tank by turning on the water maker for three or four hours. We also need to find a system to by-pass the water heater because the water is too hot !!! The day begins.
Day 13 - soir La Grand Voile à l'air de tenir. Nous marchons
très bien sous GV haute et Spi. Ce soir riz et Mahi Mahi. Le changement
de voile a été un peu fatiguant. Bonne nuit en perspective.
The mainsail seems to be holding. We are making good speed under unreefed main
and spinnaker. This evening's menu rice et MahiMahi. Changing the sail was a
little tiring. Looking forward to a good night!
Day 13 - March 5 Nous allons lentement sans vent - pour économiser
le gasoil. Ca va être long de sortir de cette zone de calme. A part ça,
tout va bien. La GV est reparée mais pas de vent pour la tester.
We are moving very slowly with no wind - saving fuel. It might be awhile before
we get out of the calm zone. Other than that, all is well. The mainsail is repaired,
but not enough wind to test it.
Day 12 - March 4 Encore 2 Mahi Mahi! Et si peu de vent que Marc a pu
voler son drone au dessus du bateau.
Two more Mahi Mahi hooked! Calm wind conditions - Marc was able to fly the
drone.
Day 11 - March 3 Première prise de poisson! Un magnifique Mahi
Mahi de 2 kilos s'est vu transformé en ceviche. Selon les prévisions
de vent, le progrès sera lent ces prochains jours. SUR a parcouru env
1100 miles nautiques depuis la dernière éscale aux Canaries. Il
reste environ 1400 en ligne directe jusqu'à la Martinique.
A two kilo Mahi Mahi was the first fish to be caught - and served up as ceviche.
According to the wind forecast, progress will be rather slow for the next few
days. SUR has logged about 1100 nautical miles since leaving the Canaries, and
has about 1400 more to go (in a direct line) to get to Martinique.
Day 10 - March 2 "Sur" se trouve dans un secteur avec peu
de vent. Toujours pas attrapé de poisson. 1000 miles parcouru.
"Sur" is experiencing very light winds, and still no fish! 1000 nautical
miles so far.
Day 9 -March 1. Tout va bien. Marc a parlé avec Annie ce matin pour son anniversaire. Nous avons très beau temps quelques grains et avons mis la trinquette en guise de grand voil ça va bien. Pas de poissons à part les premiers poissons volant. Nous commençons vraiment à sentir les tropiques. La pluie est tiède et bienvenue. Nous avons mis en marche le dessalinisateur qui fonctionne bien. 5l en 12'. Nous avons encore assez d'eau dans le réservoir. Nous arrivons au bout des bananes et des kiwis. Restent beaucoup de légumes mais un poisson serait le bienvenu. Ce matin pain perdu sauf pour Marc qui est au régime. A midii le riz qui restait avec une ratatouille spéciale faite par Paul. Xavi se repose et sera bon pour la nuit. Philippe s'occupe du d'édam et de la plomberie. Paul barre et Marc se repose et fait des reportages avec la GoPro.
All is well. Marc spoke with Annie this morning for her birthday. We are having great weather with a few squalls so have put on the staysail as a main, this works well. No fish apart the first flying fish. its really starting to feel like the tropics. The rain is warm and welcome. We started the desalinisation unit - its working well. 5liters in 12 '. We still have plenty of water in the tank. Almost out of bananas and kiwis . There are still lots of vegetables but a fish would be welcome. This morning we had French toast except for Mark, who is on a diet. At noon we made the leftover rice with a special ratatouille made by Paul . Xavi is resting and will be on deck for the night. Philippe is taking care of the plumbing, Paul is at the helm and Marc is filming with the GoPro.
Day 7- February 28. Nous avons changé de route et pouvons maintenant faire route presque directe vers la destination. Nous allons vers le sud où il fera plus chaud. Dans trois jour le changement devra être notable. Ce soir, pâtes à l'ail ! Demain, lentillas su cifre et chorizo en attendant les poissons qui nous narguent. Le dauphins d'hier nous manquent. Demain bricolages divers selon l'humeur puis lecture. Les quarts sont tres tranquilles. À demain pour la suite.
We have changed course and can now head almost directly to our destination. We are heading towards the south and warmer weather. In three days the change will be noticeable. Tonight we are having pasta with garlic! Tomorrow lentils with cider and chorizo, since the fish are still taunting us. We miss the dolphins we saw yesterday. Tomorrow various DIY projects or reading, depending on the mood. The watch rotations are very quiet. Next update tomorrow.
Day 6- February 27. Journée de repos pour Marc qui a dormi toute la journée. Le bateau marche bien autour des 10nds sans forcer du tout par 20nd de vent. La moyenne est bonne. Ce soir, au menu guacamole et blanquette avec du riz. Nous espérons du soleil pour demain. Prochaine vacation demain !
Rest day for Marc who slept all day. The boat is sailing well at around 10kts without pushing at all, in 20kts wind. We are making good time. Tonight's menu, guacamole and blanquette with rice. We hope for sun tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Day 5 - February 26 - En mer!! Out to sea!
Message from Captain Philippe: Hier, nous avons du changer de grand voile, la vieille ayant definitivement rendu l'ame. Elle a ete immergee avec les honneurs et sommes repartis avec la nouvelle. Belle nuit de navigation avec 15 a 24 noeuds de vent. Nous avons navigue tres prudemment sous 2 ris et trinquette a 1 ris etce matin nous avons remis la toile. Le bateau marche tres bien. L'hydrogenerateur charge bien la batterie. Hier soir Paul a fait d'excellentes lasagnes a la viande et aubergine et ce matin capuccino avec salade de fruits. Les poissons nous ignorent royalement. Le moral est au beaufixe et les quarts ont permis a chacun d'avoir don quota de sommeil. A bientot pour la suite. Nous sommes vendredi matin.
Yesterday we changed the mainsail, the old one was definitely dead. We buried it at sea with honors and went with the new one. Beautiful night sailing with 15 to 24 knots of wind. We sailed very cautiously under two reefs and staysail 1 reef and increased canvas this morning. The boat is doing very well. The hydro generator charges the battery well. Last night Paul made excellent meat lasagna with eggplant and cappuccino this morning with fruit salad. The fish are totally ignoring us. Morale is excellent on board and night watches allowed everyone to acheive their sleep quota. Stay tuned for future updates. It is Friday morning.
Watch their Spot track or the Google map to follow progress. Any messages received via sat phone will be posted here.
Surveillez les données SPOT ou visionnez la carte Google pour suivre leur progrès. Messages reçu via téléphone satellite seront postés ici.
Day 4 - February 25:
UPDATE: a few hours after departure from La Restinga marina, the (repaired) main sail failed again, so SUR returned to the lee of Hierro island to replace the worn sail with a new main. Now they are making good progress West! Rock n Roll to Rumland (he says).
Quelques heures après le départ de La Restinga marina, la grande voile réparé aux Canaries a une nouvelle avarie. SUR fait demi tour pour se mettre sous le vent de Hierro pour remplacer la voile avec une nouvelle. Après cette manoeuvre, le bateau repart en direction des Caraïbes!
We should leave this morning. Everybody is still asleep as it is 6am and dark. Beautiful moon lit sky with 20 kts wind out of north gusting to 30. We will take 2 or 3 reefs. Yesterday Philippe Paul and I went swimming in amazing black pools made from old lava flows. There are several on the island. As we crossed the island by car at an altitude of 1000m one could see just how far out the wind is blocked on the lee side of the island. This can also be seen on the grib charts. We are now stocked w 180 liters of fuel and 250 liters of water we have 3 batteries (one engine battery) , 100w solar panels, 400w hydrogenerator , new 42hp diesel engine and generator, two refrigerators and about 120kg of food (rice , pasta, fresh bananas from the canaries, apples, melons, cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, juice, milk , butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar and herbs. We have 4 fishing poles and tackle and hope to catch many mahi mahi or tuna. We have 8 berths with 4 people on board, with two heads, hot water shower. This class40 pogo has an 18m tall mast with 7 sails including spinnaker. “Sur” is a five star ship that can do 18kts (twice the speed of ordinary sailboats).
Nous allons partir ce matin. Tout le monde dort encore car il est 6h du matin et il fait encore nuit. Le ciel est éclairé par une belle lune - 20 kts de vent du nord avec rafales à 30. Nous allons prendre 2 ou 3 ris. Hier Philippe Paul et moi sommes allés nager dans les piscines étonnantes noires formées par d’ anciennes coulées de lave. Il en existe plusieurs sur l'île. Comme nous avons traversé l'île en voiture à une altitude de 1000m, on pouvait voir à quel point le vent est bloqué sur le côté sous le vent de l'île. Cela peut aussi être vu sur les cartes météo. Nous avons des provisions ! 180 litres de carburant et 250 litres d'eau, nous avons 3 batteries (une batterie du moteur), panneaux solaires de100w, 400w hydrogénérateur, un nouveau moteur 42hp diesel avec générateur, deux réfrigérateurs et environ 120 kg de nourriture (riz, pâtes, bananes fraîches en provenance des Canaries, pommes, melons, concombres, aubergines, tomates, jus de fruits, lait, beurre, huile d'olive, sel, poivre, sucre et herbes. Nous avons 4 cannes à pêche et l'espoir d'attraper beaucoup de mahi mahi ou du thon. Nous avons 8 couchettes pour 4 personnes à bord, deux WC, une douche à l'eau chaude. Cette Pogo Class40 a un grand mât de 18m avec 7 voiles dont un spi. . « Sur » est un navire cinq étoiles qui peut faire 18kts (deux fois la vitesse des voiliers ordinaires).
Day 3 - February 24: Visiting the island of Hierro.
see updated Canaries page canaries Feb 9-25 here
Day 2 - February 23: Just off Hierro island, no more wind. We have GSM coverage here. We are debating whether to stop in at the marina on Hierro island, as we have run out of black pepper. Also, on Hierro there are hot thermal baths for geezers. No choice, we have to go in.
Au large de Hierro, plus de vent. Nous avons le réseau GSM ici. On se pose la question de faire escale à Hierro, comme nous n'avons plus de poivre noir! Et en fait...il y a des bains thermaux chauds pour les vieux ici. Bon - pas le choix, on y va.
Relax!!
Day 1 - February 22: :We sail out of Santa Cruz Tenerife at mid afternoon with light winds from south. We do some instrument calibration and sail adjustments as the wind picks up from the north. Beautiful full moon with a few clouds. Wind increases to 20kts and we surf the 2m waves doing 14kts peak. Night shifts go well, visibility is excellent. We all enjoy taking the helm, off autopilot, and precisely and effortlessly guiding this beautiful sailboat. Paul fixes tea and coffee in the morning with fresh tartine aux avocats. Absolutely great.
Nous partons de Santa Cruz de Tenerife dans l'après-midi avec des légers vents du sud. Nous faisons quelques étalonnages d'instruments et ajustements de voile quand le vent se lève du nord. Magnifique pleine lune avec quelques nuages. Le vent forcit à 20kts et nous surfons sur les vagues de 2m, avançons à 14kts max . Les quarts de nuit se passent bien, la visibilité est excellente. On prends tous la barre, à tour de rôle, sans le pilote automatique, et guidons avec précision et sans effort ce beau voilier. Paul prépare le thé et le café le matin avec des produits frais - tartine aux avocats. Absolument génial.
below is the 'lezav reporting' text blog
15mar tuesday After midnight I hear sails and lines rattling then someone turns on engine At 0020 I get up signing log for night shift Everyone asleep. Sails are down At 0120 i chk fuel remaining in tank ...we might have a few hrs max and there is some wind. And 95 miles to go and one jerrycan of fuel for 10hrs motoring or 40 miles max. I wake up phil to tell him we either need to use the last jerrycan and put it in the tank or raise sails. He decides to raise the mainsail. We start moving faster on the wind than on the engine. He says wake up chavi to rig the other sail. 0600 been sailing for 5hrs and we are 67 miles from lemarin. We will make landfall tonight. 0800 8kts wind from E we do 5kts sog (speed over ground) and 3 vmg (velocity made good) w mainsail and spinaker We see group of about 50 birds so land is near! 10am wind picks up 12kts ESE heading 250 6kts 53miles togo 1335 wind 9kts E we jibe at 90 degree angle so progress downwind is slow. Vmg is 35% less than sog with mainsail plus spinaker. See pix of gps track. Vmg with spinaker is 15% less than sog. See gps tracks and videos when we were sailing like this. I may win my bet that we will arrive on the 16th (paul bet 14th and phil 15th). 36 miles to go. Still cannot see land. 1500 first view of martinique about 30 miles away. 1900 take down spi and mail and motor about 16miles or 3 hours. 2300 we arrive after navigating the last 4 miles into the channel only 20 meters wide in some places. we are told to tie to the fuel dock until the morning. we walk over to the marina bar for rum , beer and cheese-and-cold-cuts to eat. NICE TO BE ON LAND AFTER 19 DAYS.
14mar monday 0230 we are 212 miles from matnique at 260degree Doing 4 kts at 300 degrees. Crew said they would sail all night but now we r on autopilot. 0300 we are motoring at 4kts @ 256 degrees. We have one jerrycan of diesel fuel remaining BTW before leaving canaries I decided to buy one more 20liter jerrycan, thinking one never knows if this could be useful....and it turns out we had only 20liters on arrival! 0600 193 miles to go. Wind 7kts Going in reverse while motoring to clean off seaweed At 605am Clear skies calm seas 0800 we are under sail again. 190nm togo. Doing 7kts heading 206 instead of 250 Because mainsail is up again 1030am doing 7kts at 220 (150 miles to barbados ) or 178miles from matnique with heading of 250 degrees. So we will jibe again tonite unless wind changes At 1224 we jibe go for 1 minute w out mainsail with spinaker and wind 7kts and with spinaker only going 4kts @260 then w full main we go 4,7 @290 w wind 7.9 1330 local (1730utc) wind 15kts from ENE doing 8kts at 250 to matnique YAY 158 miles to go or 20hrs at this rate 1800 we are 125 miles from lemarin with wind ENE at 10kts. Storm just behind us and it starts to rain . By 1900 wind switches E at 12kts. 930pm after good winds we artive within 110 miles then we have to motor
note on WRONG 14 DEGREES after I discovered the 14 degrees heading error 2 days ago Paul was also convinced of the instrument error. We later discovered the error was due to Zeus being programmed for magnetic instead of real compass ( I think we re reset all instruments a few days ago) and the mag compass was not calibrated, hence 14 degrees off.
13mar 2016 sunday 8am local We are headed directly to matnique doing 6 kts. Track65 on my iphone4. 325miles to go. 11am repaired mainsail is up again. Doing 7kts w 10kts wind from ENE. Heading to matnique. Spot battery is getting low. 1pm doing 7.5kts but headed 290 instead of 270 because of mainsail 300 miles to go. Maybe we arrive tuesday afternoon if all goes well and we keep up spinaker at night. Winds seem to slow down at night. 1415 290miles to go Doing 7 to 9kts vmg says zeus on heading of 310 (my iphon says 280) My iphone navionics says 280miles at heading 266. 1900 we discover 14 degree error in Zeus it was using magnetic instead of real we do not know cause of mag error but at least we now have correct waypoint headings still wondering if computed vmg (velocity made good) is correct. Intuitively it seems too good to be true as it now shows us going to guadeloupe at 8kts and to matnique at 6kts vmg. Our angle to the wind is about 30 degrees (in fact gps track shows we do 45degrees to the wind) or 90degrees jibe to jibe . Distance to matnique is about 245miles
Note on dynema (spectra) lines. While this 'plastic' is stronger then steel but much lighter, it does break (great tensile strength but lousy shear strength) . For example the line holding the spinaker at the front bottom of the sail broke a few days ago. Then the line holding the Wattsea hydrogenerator in down position also broke. Then the lines holding the boom sheet pulley also broke. Lots of broken dynema lines!!! Reminds me of new Pogo40 EASY that had a broken dynema line holding the boom sheet pulley only after 2 weeks of sailing from France to Portugal in 2014.
13mar sunday I Have night shift 0230 to 0500 Wattsea hydrogen has broken dynema line so we had to fill 20 ltr diesel jerrycan and turn on engine to charge battery 2 times. Spi taken down for the night so we do 5kts at 305 w gib according to zeus. Phil fixes wattsea in morning We use 3Amps (24V) on autopilot and instruments. It is somewhat tricky to ensure the Lithium house battery does not go below minimum value. While we have hydrogen, engine and solar charging capability they cannot all be connected together at same time because of the complex BMS (batt mgt syst) system.
12mar saturday I have night shift from 0130 to 0445 . wake up paul at 4h45. 9am we are due east of destination but waypoint says go 285 instead of 270. Go figure. We tear maunsail again (only small rip) and have to fix spinaker. By 11am we have spi up again and we can head almost due west w out the mainsail I make crepes for alll with last five eggs some flour and milk. Using blackberry and marmalade jam. very good 5pm local (9pm utc) we are doing 7to10kts just with spinaker ENE winds up to 15kts. 420miles to go or less than 3 days. Should arrive tuesday am. Still do not understand 14degree heading difference beteen zeus and iphone ipads running navionics or inavx.
11 mar friday I take the night shift at 1am from paul. The spinaker was taken down for the night so we sail w code zero gib. This means doing 8kts but towards florida at 312 degrees. So after 2 hours we did 14 miles to florida and 2 miles to martinique. I wake up philippe. He says thats the best we can do. Pogo has to zigzag downwind. In the morning the spinaker is put back up. Heading is a bit better.250 degrees to st lucia. We are informed the le marin marina does not accept pogo w 3m draft. Looking for another marina. Carol texts us TroisIlets. Then we learn someone managed to make a reservation for us at lemarin marina. We will see. 11am 600 miles to go or 4 days ( 1530 utc) we are 2000 miles from hierro where we left 15 days ago. Doing 8 to 10kts to matnique. 1900 we navigate betweem rain clouds. 550 miles to go. Nice warm evening. Will eat the two fish paul and I caught with small potatoes from hierro. BIRDS we were surprised to see birds in thr middle of the atlantic. Basically three kinds one had long thin dark wings about 1m wingspan with light colored body. It would skim wave tops looking for fish. Another was smaller maybe pigeon sized also skimming wave tops. Then we saw a white parrot like bird with a long white tail seen 900 miles from carib It would fly above our mast then fly away and come back about 10 times we saw for 2 days only.
10mar thursday Come about during the night Beautiful warm day at sunrise 0645 we cross freighter Beautriumph 119m long 2 miles from us (going N) 0700 we come about on engine . Take down asymetric spi on starboard side put it back up on port side. Take down port bastac and raise starbrd bastc. Takes one half hour. Paul bakes delicious fresh bread. 11am local (14h utc) 750nm to go going 8kts at 285degrees with 11kts NE wind 11pm utc had dinner reblochon we have 14KTS gust and autopilot goes bonkers. We decide to manually steer thru the nite. 700 miles to go
9mar wednesday Midnight motoring 5kts @250degrees 1am problem w fridges radar etc all on w motor all of a sudden svc battery charging stops Seems to be power controller of lithium battery. After shutting down all sytems and rebooting w minimum stuff running charger works again. 9am wind 8kts E so cannot go direct W to matnique heading SW waiting for stronger NE wind in a day or so 6pm paul and I catch one fish each about 1kg each. Will have 3 fish plus veggies for four. Doing 8kts w 10kts wind from NE to 295degrees to matnique. 840 miles to go.
8mar tuesday 1000miles more to go Doing 8kts at 4am Motored for 2 hrs during night Took the helm from 6 to 8am Good wind 15kts boat 8kts Nice sunrise warm Have seaweed on rudder so put on motor to reduce sails to then remove seaweed by goung backwards Evening wind falls paul catches fish about 1kg We have g and t get smashed Take down sails I take biggest s%*t in history 4 days worth need 6 botlles to flush. Turn on engine w 2nd to last 20ltr tank Winds predicted in 2 days
7mar monday Repaired mainsail works well Doing 5 to 10kts w 10 to 17kts wind from east Lost two fishing lines during maneuvrs 3am Under sail most of day did 170 miles in one day 6mar sunday 0h30 clear skies smooth seas Wind speed down from 15kts to around 8kts Xavi takes down sails during night and motors 5am we do 4 kts on engine heading W Hope to catch strong N winds in a few days. If so we should arrive about march15 . Used about 50% of diesel fuel so far or 80 liters . Tank 100 ltrs plus 65 in cans Fridge and watermaker work well. Only used 10% of bottled water We still have fresh lemons lime melon potiron apples but almost out of gouava juice Lots of canned food spagouz rice etc Went swmming afternoon Motoring most of day Caught a huge maybe 15kg mahi but he got away just at the boat. Boohoo Then made sailors fondue motie motie everyone liked it Put up repaired mainsail and spi doing 8kts w 15kts N wind
5mar saturday Got new gribs after midnight still need to motor another day I am on night shift 1am to 4am still have sore right shoulder and neck took more ibuprofen Morning no wind no waves. Motor til noon. Paul loses shorts overboard so we do man-overboard test. Paul says water is warm 24degrees. Air 27C Put up spinakker. 4pm wind picks up to 10kts N as predicted by grib. We head W . If all goes well should be in matnique in 9 days. Philippe not feeling good w sore stomach Xavi paul phil put up repaired mainsail Paul cooks deelish mahi and rice We are at half way mark in transat
4mar fri Noon little wind so we are on engine. Caught 2nd mahimahi bit smaller than yesterday We are 21N 37W or about mid atlantic Very gentle seas We catch 3rd mahi (larger) w small fish-pole We fly drone just after lunch of 2 mahis Evening storms NW of us. STARTS TO RAIN with lightning and thunderbolts all around us. We may be able to catch a SW wind stream for 2 days to take us to trade winds then carib. Called mom she was having tea w amanda sounded good
3mar thur Good sailling during the night 2 to 10kts We celebrated passing the tropics last night with rum and wine Paul broke minimum speed record at 9am by going minus two knots. Once the rain cloud passed we did 5 kts again at 260 degrees just before sundown we catch our first fish mahimahi about 2 kg while under motor and hydrogen off. We fix shunt wiring for hydrogen
2mar wed Put up spinaker in light easterly winds doing between 6 and 10kts Nice and sunny with calm seas Heading 250 to martinique Track35 on zav iphon4 navionics Sore upper right shoulder took ibuprofen Philippe making chorizo-lentilles-au-cidre for supper while doing 10kts this is totally 5 star sailboat
1mar tues Had night shift from 0130 to 0500 Good NE winds , boat heading 220 to 240 which would take us to martinique A bit of a rain squal at 10am, wind up to 20kts and boat 14kts Was able to call annie to wish her happy birthday Able to send sms to carol (miss you!) Grib still shows NO WIND area SW of here in two days . Bummer. Not sure of impact time wise and weather wise.
29feb monday first sunny day feels like carib I take my first sollar heated water shower. Nice We head straight for martinique with easterly winds around 15kts Grib says we hit NO WIND area in 4 to 5 days. This is a common situation at the bottom triangle between where the bermuda and azores highs meet Reason why most sailors choose the cape verde to carib route which goes below this no wind zone We will have to wait it out as we only have diesel fuel for 80hours not enough to motor out. Forecast may still change so we keep going southwest at 6 knots in the eve
28feb We jibe midfay 22kts wind 12kts boat Rip mainsail at 1/3 Sail 220 with code zero gib and 1/3 main Can do 11kts w 25kts wind During night wind fall to 13kts with SOG (speed over ground) 7 Cloudy
27feb 9am utc partly cloudy skies this morning with sun rays skimming the ocean surface. winds around 20kts to 26kts max. we hit max speed of 16kts our average speed is 8kts so we sail about 200 miles per day or 3 degrees longitude. still heading due west. expect to sail south or southwest in a few days. 9pm still heading west @8kts discussrd options of jibing south sooner than later as latest gribs indicate we head directly into NO WIND zone between azores and bermuda highs thats the problem when using mathematical models that only go out 7 days. Is the Weather4d app of any use in such circumstances? Hope we head south soon. night shifts went well as there is always at least one person who is well awake at any time of the night. there is a mix of waves generated from the north winds and those generated by storms a thousand miles away in the north atlantic. so the boat moves quite a bit. nobody is seasick
26feb 9pm utc after first day and night of sailing in cloudy skies we are moving along a westerly course to avoid heavier winds in 2 days. doing 8kts avg, wind speed 15to22kts from north, wind forecast says 25-30kts so we put up jib and we have 2nd reef on the mainsail autopilot, satphone and spot all work well
25feb depart 2pm from southeast side of hierro canaries on this sunny and pleasant day we motor to lee side of island to adjust sails and instruments.as we put up main on west side of island we have large waves and wind gusts. Mainsail rips (it was a bit old). So we decide to motor back to lee of island to change the mainsail. this will take some 4 hours. We sailout at sunset or around 7pm local time. Wind out of north at around 20kts. we hit max speed of 15kts.
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-the number of days it took to go from the Canaries to the windward islands in the Caribbean
-their GPS tracks
-the wind conditions
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on the route: there are basically two routes to cross the atlantic from canaries to caribbean: -the relative safe and fast route south to cape verde islands and then due west riding the trade winds -the route going west then southwest riding the winds of the azores high . This is the route of the brave and courageous This is the route we took In the mid atlantic we hit a no-wind zone, followed by thunderstorms and lightning and crazy seas. Like something out of a hollywood scare movie. We ask: what happens when lightning strikes a carbon fiber mast? Maybe we all turn crispy?! Finally it all worked out well ;-)
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on the pogo40 sailboat: this is one of the best sailboats I've ever sailed on. Very fast and very responsive. But also somewhat complex and delicate.
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In the mid-atlantc there three important things we had to do: -go for a swim -fly the drone -eat a real fondue
and we did them all,
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the Higgins Lagoon catamaran
I met Nick and Jo Higgins in Tenerife and again in Hierro on their Lagoon 44. They had some satphone issues the day we left Hierro on Feb25. Now (March 22) they are somewhere in the middle of the atlantic with 6 aboard : 3 kids with their parents and 1 crew. Their destination is St Lucia. I wish them well. Their GPS track can be found here http://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Higgins update of 1 April : Doing 7.7 kts at 5am local and 93nm togo. Might make it tonight! Latest GPS info : Fri 1/Apr 09:20 GMT, 14 52.540 N, 59 35.167 W, 7.7 kts, 241° true.