We have done it
15 May 2012 | Scarborough Tobago
Francina
We have done it -first ocean crossing.
Fortaleza to Tobago
Total miles 1602
Min 7&9 May 105 miles
Max 4 May 165 miles
Average 5.45 miles per hour
We left the very comfortable Marina Beach Hotel mooring on Thursday, 3 May 2012 to catch the weather window, as per our fellow yachtsmen. The wind were pumping at 18 knots and gusts close to 30 for the first 2 days. As if the Atlantic Ocean wanted us to know that we might have arrived at the continent, but we still have a good 1500 miles still to sail in it.
The wind meter started working again about 4 miles offshore from Fortaleza. I belief this confirms the radio signal interference that we suspected. Johan therefore went up the mast 3 times for exercise.
Thursday night at 23h00 when Johan came on watch, he spotted a vessel at our stern. He kept on watching it come closer until the AIS confrmed his suspition that it is on a collision course with us. It ws raining and the wind very strong. Johan managed to hand steer Ntombi away from the vessel whilst the waves were breaking all over him. Francina was almost histerical, training to contact Mirjam C (the approaching cargo vessel) to change course. She eventually managed to get hold of the nightwatch but he refused to change course at first because he ws not able to see us. She somehow convinced him to change course, after promising to advise him as soon as he can change back on his original course. When she contacted him, he confirmed that he is now able to see Ntombi. Suspect we were directly under his bow and therefore the inability to identify her. The rest of the night was a very light watch. We were not able to sleep.
At approx 8h00 on Friday, wind blowing close to 30, we reefed Ntombi down to 3rd reef. It was a very unpleasant 2 days of heavy winds and high waves. The miles was however very good.
Sabbath at 6h15 we crossed the equator. Johan took a picture of the GPS co-ordinates as proof of the crossing. The wind was a calm 13 knots and died down during the day as we entered the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergeance Zone) causing the sails to flap in the wind. At 11h00 another sailboat came passed us on their way back to Europe. The first sailbaot on the long voyage of 4500 miles since Cape Town.
Sunday morning greeted us with overcast conditions and lots of rain. No hard rain and strong winds, but only drizzles on and off. We started seeing lots of seaweed in the ocean. We are 200 miles offshore and suspect the seaweed originates from either Rio Para or the RIO Amazonas.
The wind is mild and the waves low (half meter) which makes it a very pleasant sail. We lost the current when we stayed clear of the Amazon entrancve, but picked it up again when we came closer to the coast at 3 knots.
The log(speedo) stopped working after the ordeal with Mirjam C. The barnicles blocking it from turnihng must have worked itself loose, because it started working again after a few days. We took a picture when the log turned to 66666. It reminded me of the mark of the beast described in the Bible, which causes so much speculation. Luckily the Bible always explains itself and we therefore know what this mark means.
On 6 May, Johan finished the last packet of frozen meat from South Africa. The meat lasted him since 14 March when we left Cape Town. The battery for the freezer is still a problem and will only be replaced in Trinidad. We did not stock up on meat in Brazil due to our limited knowledge of the language. We saw "hors" written on one of the packets of meat and got very sceptical of the meat looking like beef.
We found out about family matters in South Africa. Johan's sister and Francina's niece got engaged. Congratulations to you. It however seems as if we are missing out on a few parties at home.
Something that Johan misses dearly from South Africa is biltong and dry wors. This is number one on his "to do" list when we arrive in New Zealand, "Making my own biltong and dry wors".
During the last couple of days we sailed on a beam reach (NE wind), and the waves were in the same direction forcing the boat to "broach" over the waves. This made it a very unpleasant sailing experience. I am wondering which trip is worse, Cape Town to St Helena, or Fortaleza to Tobago. We were unable to open any hatches due to water spilling over the deck. We could also not sit outside due to the same reason. It was therefore a very hot sail at approx 30 degrees and the humidity went over 85%. We spent most of our days on our backs, reading thinking, talking and sleeping.
It always amazes me how creative you can get when you are at your lowest point. I was ready to give up sailing due to the unpleasant experience when we had a heart to heart conversation. We opened up the headsail and wella... the sail became a bit more pleasant. Instead of slowing down over the waves, it seems as if it worked better with more speed, except when the wind gained speed.
On the last day we rediscovered our small fan working from the lighter plug. We used it and it made life bearable inside the cabin. No problem to be "locked up" without air flowing through hatches. On the last night, the sail became again extremely bad. Anybody who plans to do an ocean crossing, please consider buying a heavy boat( more than 8 tons). That was one of our criteria, but we forteited it when we bought Ntombi (4.5 tons). Hindsight, we should have sticked to our original list of criteria.
At least the Atlantic is now behind us and we are hopefully moving into calmer, greener waters. The sail from here is supposed to be more from the back again, which poses other challenges like tacking, jibing, pooping, etc. I did not realize that Brazil is such a big country. Fortaleza is on the north coast of Brazil and we sailed for another 7 days before we "crossed" the border to French Guiana.
We plan to take at least 2 weeks to explore Tobago and Trinidad islands (known as T&T). A few days at leasure in Tobago before we will visit the more commercial island of Trinidad. We plan to do some maintenance on Ntombi in Trinidad before we start the next part of our voyage. Trinidad is also the last port to stock up on food, etc at reasonable prices, especially for us with the weaker rand.
21 miles from Tobago, and the log (speedo) stopped working again. This is definitely on the list of items to look at in the next few days.