Ep 107 Atlantic Crossing Pt2: Here Comes the Wind

In this middle section of the passage we make the turn west into the trade-winds. We’ve headed almost 200nm south and are now just north of the Cape Verde Islands. And as the temps warm and the winds change from northerlies to easterlies, the westerly currents also begin to kick in, giving us a 1 to 2 knot boost.

Our decision to go south starts paying dividends as boats north of us encounter barely sailable winds, leading many to motor.
Squalls become more prevalent as we approach the center of the Atlantic, and will build in frequency the closer we get to the Caribbean. These travel faster than Talisman can sail, so we track them on radar as they approach from behind. With 8 miles or so advance notice, we find we can steer our way out of their paths, assuming they’re not too close to one another. Winds in and near the squalls crest 35 and even 40 knots, especially at night, so it’s worth the effort to be vigilant.

Max and Luis continue to rock the house when it comes to their work ethic, bringing excellent sailing skills to bear. The boat is kept clean and the sails are deployed and doused multiple times each day. With four people, the workload feels like a vacation for the normally doublehanded Kevin and Wendy half of the crew.

But with the steadily increasing winds, it’s eventually time to put away the big gennaker cruising chute for good, in favor of our poled out genoa. Our mainsail and genoa are constructed of nearly indestructible laminated Dynema, so these help bolster our confidence, especially when running at night in moonless conditions where squalls might form directly on top of us.

Contact info for Luis: Luis would make an awesome skipper for any boat looking to do the 2020 ARC, especially if they had an eye on placing well in the racing division. You’d have to pay him, but seriously, if you’re a boat owner looking to find a true ringer skipper, Luis would be the one to have. He and his father have won just about every Snipe race around Lisbon growing up, and he’s hyper competitive (all great sailors start off as dinghy racers). I should add that it must have been killing him during our crossing to not have been pushing the boat harder, especially at the finish line. But his respect for Wendy and I was more important, so he accepted our laid-back, get-there-in-one-piece-with-no-damage-to-the-boat plan. If I were to do the crossing again, I’d make Luis skipper and let him flog the boat to his heart’s content. I’m now confident that he knows the limits of the design, and did before we left.
Contact luismfo at gmail dot com

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