Ep 23. Atlantic Crossing. Prepping and Provisioning. (Sailing Susan Ann II).

EPISODE 23

We are both so upset by all our footage from the crossing. Firstly, I (Dave) lost our vlogging camera and at £500 each they are not cheap. Then, I (Dave) fitted the muff to get rid of wind noise and it gets rid of all noise! Ouch! You can imagine that I (Dave) have been in the dog house a fair bit. My apologies, I’ll stick to diving and Hayley will stick to YouTub’ing.

Sound and video issues aside, we did the best we could with this episode considering this is only 2 weeks after Hayley had major surgery (see ep22). We decided to continue with our Atlantic crossing despite what had happened. By the time of departure with the Arc, Hayley’s surgery would have been 3 weeks old so medically there was no reason we couldn’t continue and we’d come this far so why turn back now. A month at sea together is just what we needed.

We did a lot of the boat maintenance prior to our arrival in Gran Canaria, so both engines were serviced, generator was serviced, water maker serviced. All Susan Ann II required was a full rigging check which is where Jerry the rigger came in. He gave us a glowing report which put my mind at rest for the crossing. I did buy some chandlery and extra safety kit that the Arc safety officer wanted us to have. We needed rations for the life raft, an extra radar reflector, some strobe lights but on the whole we were already very well prepared. One of the best parts of crossing with the Arc is that all the boats included meet the same basic set of criterion for safety so we knew that if we did need help, there were boats with all the same kit as us.

I did get the Iridium Go working and signed up for an unlimited data plan so we could keep in touch with family and friends but most importantly to download as much weather as we wanted.

We managed to do some sea trials to show the crew just how everything worked and to familiarise everyone with how SAII sails.

This episode is mostly about our provisioning. For a month at sea you need a LOT of food! Budgets vary from boat to boat but we all enjoy our food and when at sea for a long time, there isn’t much more important than food. Food consumes your whole day! Our budget was approx £500 per person for the 3 weeks at sea with enough food to survive for 4 weeks but eat well for 3 weeks. Plus of course we planned to catch fish but you can’t count on it. Then you have to assume the water maker will stop working on day one and carry enough water for 5 people for potentially a month at sea. It all adds up to a whole lot of stuff so luckily we’ve got a catamaran with a tonne of storage space.

We hope you enjoy this episode and stay tuned for next week when we set sail and cross our first ocean.

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****MUSIC****

Epidemic sound https://player.epidemicsound.com

Vacation by Scandinavianz @scandinavianz
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Happy Life by Fredji @fredjimusic
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****CAMERAS****

iPhone 7
Canon G7X II with Mini muff
GoPro hero 4