St. Helena - Salvador

Day 1

We left St. Helena after only 2 days because the weather to brazil seems to be optimal with winds between 15 and 20 kts.... Better use it!!
Our ETA will be 17 days at 5 kts average ....that is if we don't encounter major problems or a drop in wind. We have 200l of diesel on board which should give us at least 64h or 330NM of motoring. We used the engines for more than 70h during the last trip, not to be repeated....after all Atlantis is a sail and not motor-boat. If there is no wind we will just wait and look at the sea, the sky, clean the boat or read a book.

The only negative aspect is that we were unable to fill the water tanks in the keels due to a poor mooring facility for the dinghy, resulting in limited washing and maximum use of seawater. We have 90L of drinking water, some cokes, a box of wine and some beer. Mary did the provisioning and we have a good variation of food, including a lot of apples which I requested.

It is now 18:00 UTC and we are making good progress with an SOG (speed over ground) average of 6.2 kts. Wind speed is only estimated by me through experience of the sea-state: probably around 20 kts.

The night was difficult as we had to steer all the time, fortunately Mary mastered the steering and we took two hour watches each. The sea was quite turbulent until midnight and after that the wind disappeared completely. At 2:46 UTC I saw a cruise ship heading straight towards us and decided to change the course as we were on a collision course. We past it at our starboard side at a distance of +/- 2NM; position 13 44.559'S 008 10.497'W. It is such a big ocean and still we have to be vigilant for other ships.

Despite all the good intentions at the start of the trip, we had to motor again in order to keep the batteries out of the danger zone. When I arrive in Brazil I will make some modifications to the power distribution and production. The solar panels are producing sufficient energy in theory, but if one follows a Westerly course as we are doing for days...weeks, the mainsail is blocking the sun all afternoon, resulting in no or very limited electricity production from solar...and the wind generator is a joke.
We finished day 1 with 150 NM... a good start.

Day 2
Distance from St.Helena: 270 NM

The batteries are back on their initial voltage and the sun was back to the party, so the solar panels can do their job...at least in the morning. We hope for the best.

I made a radar reflector (picture available) to make us more visible to the big guys on the water. I will radio the captain of the next ship on our route and ask if he has a reading on his radar screen. If it works I will take a patent on it and become incredible wealthy. The money will than be distributed to the "favela people" in Brazil.

The weather is Brazilian like with temperatures around 28c and plenty of sunshine. The trampoline is "the place to be" on Atlantis as it gives you a nice ocean cooling. Mary prepared a very nice lunch...it will be the last fresh one as the fridge has to be switched off...you can't have it all!! It reminds me of the time in the Congo when we were often without electricity for more than 4 consecutive days. You learn to adapt to the circumstances and when you have water or electricity it becomes like a gift from heaven. You "land-people" don't know how lucky you are with water and electricity at a fingertip.

We can see the flying fish during the day now; they reach incredible speeds when they fly just above the water surface and then violently dive into the waves. It is fun watching them...a free air show from Atlantis, although they are not into aerobatics as they are not equipped with a rudder and other aerodynamic features. They only land on deck at night, so I am sure that most of them don't have the necessary IFR licence for night flights and get lost....a cruel dead as a result.

Due to water restriction I used seawater to wash....and it really works well with plenty of reserves available in the Atlantic. I left a bucket full of seawater for 2 hours in the sun and had a nice warm shower....what a luxury, and free to take from nature. Mary is still reluctant to use it, but we need our fresh water in case we run out of wind ....I banned the use of fresh water for washing or dishes as from tomorrow. Crew unhappy, but it was the captain's decision!!

It is 01:30 UTC and I am on watch since midnight. The sea is calm with 10kts of wind and some gentle waves. A wonderful clear moon is giving the sea a glittering diamond look. We are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and I feel completely at peace with myself and at home in Atlantis. There is no fear of the sea or desire for land, I only wish I could share this moment with friends and loved ones....but you can't have it all I suppose. I am great-full to have the opportunity to be one with nature...even only for a brief moment in time.

Day 3
Distance from St.Helena: 385 NM

A disappointing 115 NM today....they say a sailor is never happy, too much or too less wind. The only positive element is that the ride is more comfortable in light winds. We had a scattered sky with temperatures above 28c.
I realise that we are almost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere between Angola and Brazil. Atlantis is behaving well for the moment as they are no beaches or NSRI people around, and she seems perfectly happy making her way on the big ocean as if she has done this all her life.

Day 4
Distance from St.Helena: 505 NM

Another day at the office, nothing special to report. We reached our target of 120 NM and had a nice sunny day.
The night steering is difficult, but we will have to live with it as I can't find any other way of feeding James more electricity....except when we motor, but this is not an option for the moment. We are still too far from Brazil and maybe we will need the fuel later in an emergency situation.

Day 5
Distance from St.Helena: 520 NM

I am on watch and the time is 23:00 UTC, the sea is calm with light winds and Atlantis moves along with a gentle 4kts. What a privilege to live this extraordinary experience. On the middle of the ocean I am listening to one of my favourite songs of Phill Collins...surrealistic.

The unpredictable human factor for which I was afraid happened; at 03:00 UTC Mary could not do her watch and steering task as she had pain in her neck. She also decided to burn all her sailing certificates and never sail again.
I kept quite....she was in pain.

There was no other solution for me than to continue steering the boat, but it is not possible to do this all nights for the rest of the trip. I needed a plan to cope with the new situation; just before daylight I decided to put Atlantis in the "hove to" position and get some rest. This manoeuvre allows to park the boat with a minimum of drift. The skipper can rest and put the boat back on course later.

Day 6
Distance from St. Helena: 580 NM

Very light wind all day with little or no progress. According to the weather forecast downloaded in St.Helena we would cross a no wind zone now as we are close to the centre of the high pressure system...seems to be accurate. This could last for another 2 days, still referring to the same source. Changing the course more Northerly is not an option as we will have to use one of the engines and burn valuable fuel....another risk.

It is 00:10 UTC and I just took over the watch. Atlantis was off course, battery level below the critical 11,8v and I had a non reported ship ahead....a good start of the day! Wish I was on the beach in Struisbaai or in a nice restaurant in Cape Town. 01:30 UTC; absolutely no wind and I decided to switch off all instruments in order to safe the batteries. We deviated 3 NM from our course and I am trying very hard to get her back on it by using a head-torch to read the compass. 03:30 UTC, there is no wind at all.... Atlantis is "parked" in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean...the idea came up that this could become a very long trip. The combination of unavailability of crew to steer, and power problems is making the voyage very difficult and sometimes frustrating, but I am convinced that little Atlantis will get through this phase. We will all learn something out of this experience.

It is the second time that I take crew from a specific sailing school in Durban and encounter problems with both competence and expectations. Often a person crewing without prior Ocean experience has no knowledge of what to expect and how to cope with certain situations...I don't blame them for that, but it could jeopardise the safety of all persons on board. Lesson learned.....
A disappointing 60 NM today, the worst performance since we left Cape Town. There is no weather forecast available...we are in the hands of Neptune and the weather gods. According to my new calculations the trip could take another 18 days. Time for re-checking the provision and divide accordingly.

Day 7
Distance from St.Helena: 690 NM

There was wind, but Mary was still in pain and couldn't steer, and I was too tired to continue as I tried for 8 h to hold Atlantis on course manually with all electronics switched off. The only solution was to "park" here again for 4 hours in order to get some sleep.
I found a position to block the sails with the wind from the stearn...still pushing us at 0,5 kts in the correct direction. I found out after 4 hours that the deviation from our initial course was minimal. Atlantis really helped us to get trough this difficult phase by keeping us on a stable course....she did a wonderful job. I believe she is as concerned as we are about getting safely to Brazil!

Day 8
Distance from St.Helena: 830 NM

Mary is feeling better and decided she could steer again....a big relieve for the skipper. I will do most of the work, but she will take over to allow me some rest. She also feels better about sailing.
At 11:30 UTC I saw a huge container ship at around 5 to 10 NM distance on my starboard side and it looked like a small city on the water seen from Atlantis. This was an opportunity for me to check if the new self made radar-reflector worked and maybe have some weather information.

I switched the VHF radio on and selected channel 16. After my second attempt a person with an Indian or Pakistani accent answered my call. In brief the conversation went as follows; Atlantis: "do you have a reading on your radar please?" Cargo ship: "the radar is switched off...where are you?" Atlantis: "We are at your starboard side" Cargo ship: "I don't see you..." I checked outside to make sure the mast navigation lights were switched on and working...and they worked perfectly. Cargo ship: "Are you far away from me?" Atlantis: " we are just next to you" cargo ship:"ok...but don't have a visual...don't see you" Atlantis: "Could you please give me a weather update?" Cargo ship: " sorry, we don't have a recent weather report...but if we should get one, we will communicate later" Atlantis:"thanks, but we will be out of radio range in 15-20 minutes" OUT. The whole encounter wasn't giving me much hope in case we would fall asleep....we are like a bug on a windscreen for them. I told Mary the story and again stressed how alert we should be during watches.
The same night we also lost satellite connection for more than 2 hours. I strongly suspect the CIA to be involved in a plot to deviate Atlantis from her course. The American wind generator is also acting strange...when it has to charge it doesn't and when we don't need it, it starts working. Probably the internal computer (American made) is remotely steered by the same organisation mentioned before. Atlantis is on high security alert for the moment. We will keep you updated about this concern.....but why is she considered as a threat to the USA?
02:00 UTC. Wind up to 25 kts....I decided to get the foresail in and put a second reef. The reefing line came loose after one hour....not the Americans but fault of the skipper. Battling all night to slow Atlantis down as she was dangerously diving deep into the waves. I had to make her understand that she wasn't a submarine and that she should behave as a decent sailboat.

Day 9
Distance from St.Helena: 925 NM

Good winds all night. The change of watch and a moment of distraction...a violent jibe forced the boom from starboard to port in a fraction of a second....and this was the only time we forgot to put the jibe-preventor on and were punished for it by a ripped of attachment of the main sheet to the boom.

No other option than to fix this at night in difficult circumstances. Mary acted as a nurse by handing me over the tools and I was the surgeon doing the delicate operation of retracting the left rivets. A two component glue was carefully put on the holder and new rivets introduced...a miracle that I had the right size on board. After two and a half hour the problem was fixed and we could sail again. Exhausted but satisfied I started my 4 hour watch and steering.

Day 10
Distance from St.Helena: 1.025 NM

Fair winds and we make good progress. The batteries are now in agony with a reading of only 11,1v and I decided to switch all electronics off.

Day 11
Distance from St.Helena: 1.145 NM

Another encounter of the third kind with a cargo ship on a parallel course. Time to check if the radar reflector works. On the VHF (CH 16) I tried at least 4 times to call the ship just next to us....but no answer. Captain and crew were probably sleeping or too drunk to respond the call. What if we were in an emergency....who cares??

Day 12
Distance from St.Helena: 1.266 NM

We deviated 8NM from our course and the batteries are almost dead with 11,1 v. Will we ever arrive safely? Another hard day at the office.
We started the port engine and used it for 3 hours to bring some life in the batteries.

Day 13
Distance from St.Helena: 1.385 NM

New watch schedule, Mary will do the days as the autopilot is switched on, and I will do the nights and try to manually steer....it will be hard..very hard!

Day 14
Distance from St.Helena: 1.490 NM

Due to the long nights of steering I spent my time by trying out different sail settings and discovered that I could find a position in which she jibes gently and keep a course that is acceptable. Atlantis helped me by sailing on her own for a big part of the night. What a wonderful boat she is...

Day 15
Distance from St.Helena: 1.582 NM

Another day at the office... Good wind and normal progress

Day 16
Distance from St.Helena: 1.683 NM

To keep the batteries on an acceptable level we have to run the engines at least 2 hours a day.

16:00 UTC; The port engine refuses to start. I discovered some water in the water separator, cleaned it and put it back. The engine starts but when I put it under power it refuses to increase RPM. I take the manual and go through the trouble shooting and follow the procedure....next step is to purge the fuel filter. The engine refuses to start..OUT. It will be a "Brazilian job".

Day 17
Distance from St.Helena: 1.755 NM

03:00 UTC; Mary got me out of dreamland with a shout.....come quickly Marc as there is a whale just next to the boat. She had already a vision of a huge tail nocking the boat down...but he rather moved in front of the boat, had a last deep breath and dived back into the deep ocean. I think we were lucky not to have run over him when he was asleep.

Day 18
Distance from St.Helena: 1.815 NM

22:00 UTC; a cargo ship is approaching us from the port side....another opportunity to check. Atlantis: "can I talk to the captain please?" Motor vessel: "this is the captain speaking" Atlantis: "Could you please check if you have a reading on your radar?" Motor vessel: "affirmative...I have a reading on my radar, you are on my starboard quarter now." Atlantis: "thank you so much for that...do you have a weather report for me..on route to Salvador?" Motor vessel: " we are on our way to Fortaleza and the weather on your route is fine with light winds (E-SE)...no thunderstorms." Atlantis: "thank you for the information captain." Motor vessel: "safe sailing to you captain and will stand by on CH 16." Finally a confirmation that my radar reflector works and that there was at least one out of three ships contacted that was listening on CH16 with radar ON.
It made my day!

Day 19
Distance from St.Helena: 1.863 NM

No wind at all, the sea looks like a huge swimming pool and temperatures around 34c....nice but we would like to go to Salvador if possible mister Neptune. Please give us some wind!!
I discover a light at the horizon at night...It can't be the moon as it is behind me. Conclusion...it must be the city of Salvador at more than 100 NM distance. A first feeling of finally getting there.

Day 20
Distance from St.Helena: 1.958 NM

Mr.Neptune is giving us great winds and Atlantis is flying over the waves, what a relief after days of just bobbling over the ocean. It is like a gift from heaven on this last day as we were desperately hoping there would be a change in the weather. No food left and just 25l of drinking water...next time I will make sure we take more provisions.

Our luck is complete when a number of dolphins decided to escort Atlantis into Brazilian waters by jumping in front of the bows. They stayed with us for more than 3 hours and then went to sleep I suppose as it was already late.

Land AHOY.... Salvador!! Out of dark sky's appears the first glimpse of the city. Sun and clouds alternate with some violent squalls during the rain showers.

11:30 UTC; entering the bay of Salvador... turning back into the wind and get the sails down. Start our starboard engine and motor into the Bahia Marina after asking for assistance over the VHF radio. A catamaran with only one engine is difficult to manoeuvre at low speed.

12:00 UTC. The eagle has landed....Atlantis reached Salvador - Brazil in 19 days and 22 hours. We mastered the South Atlantic Ocean!!

Marc