Susan Ayu - Dartmouth to Antigua

43' Wauquiez Pilot Saloon

Vessel Name: Susan Ayu
Vessel Make/Model: Wauquiez
Hailing Port: Dartmouth, Devon
Crew: Peter, Bernie, Andy, Christine
Home Page: www.sailblogs.com/member/susanayu
04 May 2010 | Close to Antigua
04 May 2010
04 May 2010 | A bit closer to Antigua
04 May 2010 | Half way across the Atlantic
04 May 2010
04 May 2010 | Cape Verde area
04 May 2010 | Cape Blanc area - 12th January 2010
16 January 2010
16 January 2010 | Los Palmas
08 January 2010 | Sailor's Bar
06 January 2010 | Sailors Bar, Los Palmas
Recent Blog Posts
04 May 2010 | Close to Antigua

The final day - Saturday 30th January

Saturday 30th January 2010

04 May 2010

Thursday 28th January

Thursday 28th January 2010

04 May 2010

Dreaming of beer and chips - Wednesday 27th January

Wednesday 27th January 2010

04 May 2010

Sea power - Tuesday 26th January

Tuesday 26th January 2010

04 May 2010

In at the deep end - Monday 25th January

Monday 25th January 2010

The final day - Saturday 30th January

04 May 2010 | Close to Antigua
Christine
Saturday 30th January 2010

The weather hadn't improved and it looked as if we wouldn't get the promised lighter winds today either. The consolation was that we were speeding along at about 7 knots and in roughly the right direction. It didn't look much like the sunny Caribbean though.

Things did quieten down enough for a bread making session early on in the morning. Despite the instructions being in Spanish the resultant 8 bread rolls looked OK and rose well in the humid cabin conditions. Flushed with success I didn't question the request for a full English breakfast for lunch. Things took a turn for the worst at this stage. The toughened glass bowl in the oven (along with the cooking rolls) in which the mushrooms were warming, didn't like the high temperature and shattered. It took ages to clear the liquid, mushrooms and bits of glass out of the bottom of the oven just as the swell decided to build and fling us around below again. Still chefs have to cope with the odd disaster and so I pressed on. Bacon done, fried bread ready, two precious tins of baked beans ready to cook and it was time for the scrambled egg. I was slightly worried about three week old eggs, despite having turned them as advised on several occasions, but hey ho they were going to be cooked and we had plenty left to make a generous portion. I whisked them with milk and turned round to turn the heat up to cook them when the boat lurched violently on a big swell and I looked round to find the bowl with the eggs had tipped over spilling contents all across the work surface and worse into the under counter food hold.

At this stage the skipper decided the galley had become a dangerous place and there would be no more cooking. However the bread rolls were done and declared a success, especially when filled with crispy bacon and brown sauce! Andy was on watch as it started to rain and he was exiled with the hatch closed, I got sent for a rest as Peter and Bernie got clearing up for the second time in a day (thanks boys!).

Fortunately Andy had managed to turn the rain off by the time I took over the watch at 16.00 but it was grey and the sea enormous. The swell was coming from the north as well as from the rear of the boat causing the lurching motion. It was impressive to see Susan Ayu rise on the top of these waves and surf down the front sometimes at over 10 knots.

Despite us passing the 3000 mile mark on my watch with about 50 to go to land Charlize still didn't make a move. She had one flying fish fillet for breakfast and a very light mid morning snack of an extremely small baby flying fish that was found on the foredeck, which she swallowed whole. She seemed unperturbed by the extreme boat motion spending a lot of the day preening, we hoped this was a good sign of her getting ready to meet some new chums once we arrived.

Peter took over the watch at 20.00 just after an amazing moonrise - it was a full moon and orange and huge on the horizon. As it was still too dangerous to cook some of us had cold gite pie and cold baked beans which tasted surprisingly good. Those who couldn't face this had cheese and pickle rolls.

Andy and I managed to get some sleep despite being thrown against the lee cloths in our bunks, firstly one side and then the other when we gybed (changing the following wind from the starboard to port side of the boat and hence our direction). Oh for a bed that stays still!! We got up at 01.00 to be with the others for the last part of the journey.

When we arrived on deck we were quite close to land with lights clearly visible if not a bit confusing. Bernie and Peter had the radar cracked and it was a good lesson for us to see how they used this to navigate. The lights described in the pilot (a book which lists and describes ports and
anchorages) which should have been illuminated to help us get into English Harbour were difficult to spot amongst a lot of other red lights(we discovered later that they aren't working) but we managed to work out where we were going and Bernie on the helm did well to get us into the shelter of the harbour through a narrow entrance with a reef on one side and rocky headland on the other.

It was approaching 03.00 on Sunday morning at this stage (we had advanced our clocks another hour to get us synchronised with Antiguan time). As we went through the entrance Charlize got very excited, extending her neck and looking from side to side and took off. She did a circuit of the boat and disappeared. We were all very relieved she had gone of her own accord.

We had one more little difficulty before we could stop. Peter had decided to anchor overnight and we got into position to do this but the anchor windlass (motor to raise and lower the anchor chain) didn't work. We had no option but to moor in the only spot we could see, which was the fuel dock. We knew we would have to move early but it was the best option. We tied up and stopped for the first time for 22 days. The cold beers and crisps went down extremely well. I felt elated and on a high - if there had been a nightclub on the quayside I would have dragged the crew off but it was probably good there wasn't.

We all agreed it had been a fantastic trip and toddled off to a bed that wasn't moving all very happy bunnies.

If it's Friday it must be fish day again - 29th January

04 May 2010
Christine
Friday 29th January 2010

If it's Friday it must be fish day again

We were still making good progress in the morning and still in the right direction. The weather is much the same - cloudy with sunny spells and the swell still impressive. Thoughts are more and more with the end of our journey.

We hold out no hope of the heron leaving us until we see land and so we thawed out the last of the tuna. As food is short we tried her on some cut up anchovies which we added to the bowl with the tuna pieces. She wasn't fooled and ate the tuna really quickly and then just flicked the anchovies around the cockpit and to think we had foregone these on our pizzas to feed her! Fortunately Andy had prevented the escape of a flying fish during his watch last night and so we think we have enough food to keep her going until Antigua. Today we managed to cut the object from her right 'ankle' -we wonder if she was tied up with this at some time. On closer inspection we are still not too sure if it is twine or something aquatic she had picked up whilst feeding on a reef.

Food for the humans was a bit repetitive too. I found we had two pita breads left so food at lunchtime was pita pockets with cold chilli-con-carne, cold pizza and some left over salad with olives. It tasted good anyway. The heron is a nuisance at food time and tries to get into the saloon. She doesn't like any of the food we eat but I suppose she doesn't know.

We had a jolly afternoon in the cockpit (with Bernie telling us stories about his time in the navy) until the skipper appeared from below and told us we were going to have to do a test on the safety issues he had briefed us on at the beginning of our trip. We were each given a piece of yellow paper and a pen and our hearts sank just like at school when the teacher sprung a surprise test on you and you realised the outcome might not be good. Skipper said it was to provide him with feedback on how well he had done the briefing. Sadly the first question was to name seven things in the Damage Control Kit. We had been advised to look at this at the time of the briefing but somehow I didn't get round to it. Being a girl was no excuse, apparently, for not knowing the right name for some of the tools.

Fortunately Andy didn't fare much better than me on this question . We both ended up with 10 out of 17 and Bernie did better than us. Hopefully we won't need the kit before we get to Antigua but at least I now know where to find a rubber hammer.

Dinner was mainly out of tins - we had a cottage pie - or rather Gite pie as we had garlic mash on top and herbs de Provence in the meat. For desert we had a peach and almond charlotte. The second bottle of gas ran out as the pie was cooking so we were a bit late with dinner.

It had been a good day.

Thursday 28th January

04 May 2010
Christine
Thursday 28th January 2010

Andy, who was on the 05.00-08.00 watch said it was one of the most spectacular sunrises he had seen (at 07.11) with a few clouds adding interest. I can't verify the statement as I was still asleep but I look forward to seeing the photos.

It was however a lovely morning with sunshine, slightly less swell and clouds that looked far more like fair weather clouds than the menacing grey ones of the last couple of days. It seemed as if more normal service had been resumed. I rashly made the prediction that we wouldn't be rained on, we would see dolphins, catch a fish and see more frigate birds. We settled down to enjoy the rays and the fact that we were making very good speed (average of 7 knots) in the right direction. Predicted arrival is now Sunday 31st at about lunchtime.

We managed a more normal buffet style lunch - the red cabbage was showing signs of needing to be used fairly imminently so we had more coleslaw this time with walnuts (which Bernie kindly cracked open for me) and strips of dried apricots along with the lightly curried mayonnaise. We still have a few tomatoes so I was able to make a salad with these and some onions and olives. The rest of it was 'tarpaulin food'. According to Pete this is when on a ship all the remnants of the food are laid out to see if it will last the trip. After we had eaten we did throw away the remains of the risotto and chorizo casserole to avoid anyone arriving in Antigua having suffered from stomach upset. The heron gets very agitated when we eat and tried to pinch food from Peter who was sitting on the companionway steps (steps between the cockpit and the saloon). She is obviously very hungry but not at all interested in anything we had for lunch. (Give me fish!!) In desperation we tried a few small strips of bacon fat and surprise surprise she wolfed these down. This could be quite useful to keep her going when the fish supplies run out.

We had picked up more ships on AIS - I almost resent having to share our bit of sea with anyone else, the isolation has been a very interesting and beautiful experience. It's also a sign that we are almost at the end of our adventure and although I want to get to Antigua I don't want the magic to end.

One of the vessels was only doing 3 knots and initially we thought it could be another rowing boat. However it turned out to be a bigger vessel called the San Paulo. What was strange was that we 'saw' this boat about 4 days ago going in a different direction and again at 3 knots. We finally had visual and it turned out to be two boats rafted side by side (strange that only one name showed on the AIS details as we would have expected both to be named). We pondered on what they were and assumed they were fishing boats, possible factory ships. Although we came within a few miles of these Charlize was not tempted to fly off despite some considerable encouragement from some on board.

At about this time the weather took a turn for the worst. A few grey shower clouds had been building up in the north east and eventually they caught up with us. In advance of their arrival the wind dropped from around 22 knots to about 14 knots. Peter took the opportunity to put in a reef in our genoa, quickly followed by another in the main sail, which was just in time as the wind touched 33 knots as the squall hit us (not too much rain fortunately as we were just on the edge of the clouds). Susan Ayu responded magnificently and with the reduced sail coped well with this squall and all the others that followed throughout the afternoon. The sun was obliterated behind the dark clouds and the swell increased - what kind of Caribbean weather is this?

The sunset, although we can now be perfectly accurate in knowing when it is, went on behind the clouds and completely out of our sight!

Charlize was fed from her ever dwindling supply of tuna strips and went to roost again in the hole under the swimming platform. We hope she will fly off when she sees land. The humans had Chilli- con-carne with rice - just about manageable in the rocky conditions.

I got very wet on my watch from 23.00-02.00 but we sailed well on the reduced sails and again in a good direction. Before the end of my watch I sat in the dark and wet and reminded myself not to make any predictions for tomorrow!

Dreaming of beer and chips - Wednesday 27th January

04 May 2010
Christine
Wednesday 27th January 2010

Sadly there was no cooked breakfast as the big swells continue to make it unsafe to spend too much time in the galley. It was a day where time dragged and when we started to think more about the end of the voyage than what was to come or had past. The prospect of chips with salt on, ice cream, cold beer and a rum punch kept us entertained if not feeling very hungry bearing in mind our meagre food intake on Tuesday.

Another sign of being closer to land is the incidence of other ships on the AIS but still no other yachts.

I suppose it's no surprise we still have the heron on board. Her frozen tuna packages run out on Friday but there is no hope of fishing at the moment. We are worried she is getting too used to us. She is certainly very curious about anything going on around her and was the first to notice the frigate bird - guess it's a threat to her- by extending her neck and looking skyward. The frigate bird is a black bird with a very large wingspan. It can soar high in the sky and is predatory, chasing other birds to get them to drop their food. They are a splendid sight and remind me very much of my first sailing holiday in the Caribbean where I woke up on the first morning to see such a bird through the hatch.

By lunchtime the sea had calmed down a little so we were able to have sandwiches with a variety of fillings (cheese, cucumber, ham, onion and pickle) - we now have 8 slices of bread left for the promised bacon sandwiches!

The skipper spent the afternoon reprogramming his old computer to work out the sunset times. The maths on paper looked very complicated but this was one challenge that wasn't going to get the better of him. We were all impressed that he cracked it well in advance of sunset.

The rest of the crew were either on watch, snoozing, listening to music and I even managed to have a shower which was quite a feat!

Nature notes are very sparse - just the odd flying fish. There are probably other things to see but the big swell makes them more difficult to spot.

It was pizza night in -we had been saving these as a treat but they were a couple of days past their use-by date so they had to be cooked as I wasn't going to throw them away and I don't want to poison the crew. They were very tasty but we will be eating them again for lunch as there was quite a bit left over. We decided not to use the anchovies (sorry Andy) as they may be something that Charlize will eat.

Off to bed perchance to sleep (if the rocking allows)

Sea power - Tuesday 26th January

04 May 2010
Christine
Tuesday 26th January 2010

It was a grey start to the day with swells which were big enough for the description 'rough' to be applied. The problem was that we not only had big swells from the north (which we would just ride over) but following big swells. When two coincide the boat slews around as well as going up and down and you have to hold on tightly.

I thought of the contrast between two days - a calm and benign sea one day followed by one that needed to be treated with extreme care. Peter quoted in the style of Conrad ' I have too much respect for the sea to have any belief in its sense of decency'.

We were expecting this weather to last at least 24 hours. Those on watch got very hot under their waterproofs and those below had to hold on tight so as not to be thrown from bunk or seat or tossed across the cabin. I decided to read my book - which I am enjoying. That was a real mistake - those in the know just went back to their bunks - I made myself feel a bit seasick so stopped and was grateful the rain had ceased allowing me to get some fresh air. (No blog yesterday for this reason)

It was far too rough and rocky rolly to cook anything and even making a hot drink involved at least two people for it to be safe and a certain dexterity to get cup to the cockpit and even cup to mouth. Foodwise this was the worst days food I have had probably since I was a student and even then I think I did a lot better. Between us we managed some prepacked dried toasted bread (convenience food bought for our emergency supplies), marmite and jam, biscuits and chocolate, Thai style instant pot noodles and for supper cup-a-soup, someone just had pineapple chunks with evaporated milk.

To compensate and if the sea state permits, a full English breakfast is promised tomorrow.

However things looked up when the sun came out and the sea was magnificent. We were promised it would die down after midnight but it didn't but Susan Ayu just sails on in complete control.

The bird was very wet in the morning and spent the day, along with the rest of the crew, swaying hard to keep on her feet. She has got used to having her feed from the bucket and she even managed to fly a bit despite the strong winds. There are enough packs of tuna rations for another 2 and a bit days. Sadly it's too dangerous to fish at the moment. Following her pre-sunset feed she had the sense to go and roost in the hole under the swimming platform and stayed there all night.

It was a better night for those on watch as there was no rain and a lot of moonlight until about 04.00.

In at the deep end - Monday 25th January

04 May 2010
Christine
Monday 25th January 2010

In the morning there was still no wind and so we motored until 12.00 when we decided it was time we had a swim. The sea was almost dead flat with just a small swell coming through. Peter turned off the engine and put down the swimming ladder and let out a long rope with a buoy attached.

Bernie was first in and scored perfect 10's for his dive from the swimming platform. He didn't get so many points for his racing swimming as he seemed to be having trouble getting back to the boat. Pete decided to supplement the buoy on a rope with the throwing rope as it was longer. You will be relieved to hear we still have Bernie with us as he was easily able to grab hold of the extra rope and pull himself back. He mentioned on the way up the ladder that he had discovered quite a few barnacles. Andy quipped that he didn't think he'd been in long enough to grow any! Andy and Pete went in next and as I was on watch I followed up. It was a delight. The sea looked so blue and peering down into the depths it was very possible to imagine it was about 4000m deep. (I had checked around for fins before I went in). We weren't surprised it was so warm as we have been keeping an eye on the water temperature.

I can thoroughly recommend swimming in mid Atlantic although it's difficult to get here but you won't be worried about the sea being crowded.

We dried off quickly in the hot air and had lunch of leftovers in pitta pockets (pitta bread heated up and cut across the middle and then stuffed with curried coleslaw, blackeye bean curry and chorizo casserole). It worked well but we have now run out of pitta bread so it will be a one off.

After lunch we put up the spinnaker and started to make up for the slow start to the day. As we were on the level for a change we had afternoon tea of pancakes with lemon, sugar, honey and Nutella. Some of us had 5 pancakes but I won't let on who.

We still have a heron on board and we had hoped today would be a perfect day for fishing. The only fish we saw was a small tuna shaped fish swimming alongside Susan Ayu on the shady side. We think that there is now probably enough growth on the bottom of the boat (especially bearing in mind the comment about the barnacles) to be sustaining it's own life form and fish are coming in to pick off the smaller denizens.

We also took the opportunity of a food stock take - we are not going to starve.

Dinner today was a bacon and cheese risotto with apple (no one spotted the last ingredient but it was dark).

The weather forecast was for strong winds and a large swell generated by bad weather in the north so we had to make sure everything was securely stashed away before we started the night watches. A good job as the wind and swell got up and by morning we were in the kind of seas I had expected we would encounter mid- Atlantic. Everyone on night watch had some rain. Sadly the skipper and Bernie drew the short straws and got really wet as well as exiled as the hatch covers had to be closed leaving them on the outside and us in the dry.

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