Cape Town - St.Helena

Day 1;

Atlantis left the prestigious waterfront in Cape Town at 06:00 UTC. Water en fuel tanks filled to the top and provision for 1 month....just in case we would miss the little island (only 9 NM) in the Atlantic Ocean. We also have an extra 90l of diesel jerry cans stowed in the cockpit.

The crew consists of Mary, a nurse with a skipper ticket who was immediately available, and myself as the skipper. Due to customs regulations Atlantis had to leave South African waters "ilico presto" and unfortunately I had to decline other potential crew members that needed some more time....sorry for that guys. Maybe you will find another opportunity in one of the next adventures.

I left Cape Town and South Africa in general with mixed feelings, as it is such a beautiful place to live. It was hard to leave dear friends and loved ones behind, but it is time to move to another location and start discovering new horizons. Little Atlantis is pulling me by the arm to go.

The day started with rain and a lack of wind. According to the weather files we should have got 15 kts for the first 12h, but there was only 5 kts on departure. Motoring was the only solution to sail as fast as possible out of the unpredictable Cape weather and get us into the South East trade winds. (The highway to St.Helena) Slowly the city with the majestic table mountain in the background disappeared from our view and Robben Island appeared at our starboard side. This will be the last land we will see for probably 14 days. The sea was calm and light rain made us a bit melancholic.

It is lunch time and all is well on board, I prepared some spaghetti with seawater ....very salty, next time I will only use 50% of seawater. Learning by experience they call it...

12:00 UTC; some pulp got stuck in the rudders, we tried to get it off, but it seems to be blocked between the top of the rudder and the hull. Fortunately, James the autopilot wasn't too worried about it as he continued his duty, and Atlantis is used to catch crayfish nets around Houtbay....a bit of pulp is not a big deal for her.

02:00 UTC ; Mary called me on deck as the wind was gusting up to 20 kts....time for a reef and a coffee. The waves are almost coming from the stern and Atlantis is reaching speeds up to 12 kts. She just loves surfing of the big waves and can't wait for the next one!! According to the weather charts this could last for another 24h, skipper and Atlantis are happy with it, because this will give us a nice average speed. The swell is only 2,7m at 9 sec. interval, quite different from the violent and unpredictable Indian Ocean.
Not much sleep for the first night, but at least we are moving fast....and in the right direction. We travelled 150nm this first day...not so bad for little Atlantis. An encouraging start of the voyage.

Day 2;
Distance from Cape Town: 288 NM

A wonderful morning with a majestic sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. The whole sky is coloured orange and some long cirrus clouds are completing the picture. Atlantis is moving as fast as she possibly can....we suspect she has a date in St.Helena. With winds of only 17 kts she speeds up to 12 kts. Maybe they do have NSRI people on the island, and she is probably in a hurry to meet them. I think she knows more than I do....but we all know by now that she is a bit naughty.

We have sun all day long but it is still cold on the water as we are crossing the cold Benguela current. The foul weather gear purchased in Simon's Town became very useful for the nights on watch as it really cools down despite the fact that the seawater temperature went up from 13c to 18c since we left Cape Town. I can't wait to swim in the tropical waters of Brazil, what a contrast with the Cape water temperature.

There is some concern about energy production as the solar panels are mostly blocked by the sails for the moment due to our heading. We cant expect any change in our direction soon, and the wind generator only produces electricity as from 15 kts of wind, which we don't have for the moment. If those conditions continues, we have to switch off the fridge and eat all the fresh food until we have an indigestion.
Life can be hard at sea...

It is strange to have lost all contact with the outside world, beside the few container ships passing us at a far distance. Maybe time for some reflection about the meaning of life and appreciating the beauty of the sea. No phones, cars, tv or noise....only peace.
The Atlantic sky also showed me for the first time the Milky Way without the light pollution on land. What a wonderful experience.....I watched the sky for hours on my watch and was reminded how immense the universe is and how we are all part of this wonderful creation. A world apart from the rat-race that I escaped almost 1 year ago. I consider it as the best decision taken in my life until know.

The weather is steady for the moment with winds gusting between a gentle 12 and 20 kts from the stern. I decided to leave the first reef in, it gives some peace of mind, and the speed with a reduced sail-setting on a catamaran is not really compromised drastically and still very respectful.

It is 16:00 UTC and we have 3,5 m waves to the joy of Atlantis....surfing at 14kts. She behaves like a wild horse and it is a bit violent some times. No matter how bad she likes the speed, I told her that if those conditions persists we will have to put a second reef in the main sail....no reply as she was to busy playing with the waves. As a precaution I reduced the foresail by 1/4.

Day 3;
Distance from Cape Town: 433 NM

Another sleepless night with heavy wind and swell's. the energy use was a bit optimistic at the start of the trip and now we are paying the price...no autopilot as from 2am. It is only now that I realise what a luxury James (autopilot) services are. It is also the price we pay for all the electronic gadgets on board. Mary has some difficulties to keep Atlantis on course due to the direct steering system which she compared to a racing car....so it will be my task to steer at night when there is no electricity production. We arranged the watch schedule according to the new plan.

Day 4;
Distance from Cape Town: 588 NM

Winds between 12 and 19 kts and waves of more than 3m are pushing us forward. We reached the latitude of Namibia and are passing the Tropic of Cancer. Atlantis is making great progress. The only concern is the battery level at night, we motored 2h to keep them on an acceptable level as they dropped below 65%. It seems that they were under the critical level for some time. No fridge or other electricity consuming gadgets, it is back to basics now. The chart plotter has been switched off for some time now and back lights of all other instruments are turned into a minimum consumption mode.

This day has been the best performance since we left Cape Town, with a day distance of 155 NM and an average speed of 6.45 kts....well done Atlantis. She had a little help from the motors, but only for 2 hours on 24 hours time.

Day 5;
Distance from Cape Town: 728 NM

Just before the Valdivia Bank where the sea level rises from 5000m to only 23m we experienced some strange currents at position 26 27.900'S 009 16.588'E. wind speed was 11 kts and suddenly the SOG (speed over ground) went down from 5kts to 0,1kts and after 1' back to 5,5 kts. I tried to find information on the chart, but nothing unusual was mentioned. I wonder if those currents could have been created by the underwater mountain ridge. (Called Walvis ridge)

Our fresh food is consumed and we are on a "tin" and "box" diet. Not the haute cuisine, but it will keep us alive. Mary is making the strangest food combinations that I ever tasted in my life, but most of them were quit good. Water consumption is also starting to give some worries because the battery level won't allow us to use the water maker...maybe we should not wash and stink...who cares in the middle of the ocean?

We had the first flying fish on board, the unlucky chap landed in the cockpit. Some sailors say you can eat them, but I had an official funeral ceremony and gave him back to the sea. Many others followed his example and landed on Atlantis who in the morning looked like an aircraft carrier ship with strange looking crashed planes.

Day 6;
Distance from Cape Town: 813 NM

Today we are having a relaxed sail with very light winds gusting to a maximum of 14 kts. It was at some point too relaxed as the wind dropped to 5 kts. James decided it was not worthwhile to continue his work and went off to have a Gin Tonic. The skipper..in causa me, had to take over and I started a motor to compensate for the lack of wind. James, by now aware of the situation, decided to start his work again.
Today we had rice with tuna and beans out of tins. A nice fruit salad completed the meal. Bread is replaced by Provita toast and Mary eats most of the time oats. We are getting used to our strange meals, but it is not too bad.
It is getting warmer at night with a seawater temperature of above 23c.

Day 7;
Distance from Cape Town: 878 NM
Disaster strikes Atlantis. At 12:00 UTC

James the autopilot gave a scream and stopped working. The rudders also seemed to be blocked in full port position. Letting us only turn in circles, and that is not what you want in the middle of the ocean. A mayday....but no NSRI...what should we do? Mary suggested to use the EPIRB and start a search and rescue action, but I decided to first evaluate all other options.
I checked the hydraulic conducts and found one that had a big hole in it, positioned near the pump. Fortunately the line was long enough and I could cut off the damaged part so it could fit back to the connector on the pump. Second problem was the hydraulic fluid which we used in the beginning to fill up the system as we suspected a lack of it. Due to the fact that we had to fill the whole circuit we used our Italian olive oil and when that wasn't enough we added.....water. I remembered a discussion with my friend Jim that in an emergency one could even use water....and that is exactly what we did.
After filling the system, the steering was in working condition, but only able to steer to port side...not really a solution. We had to align the rudders again by switching the hydraulics off and use the emergency tiller to align them. Job done and Atlantis could continue her trip.

I learned that when alone at sea and no direct help available, a person becomes more inventive to survive. The water in the steering works...only inconvenience is that she feels like a 40T truck without power steering....but we can steer and James is happy again.

With a 4h delay to sort out the technical problems, this was our worst performance with only 65 NM covered in 24h. On top of the existing problems we also lost satellite connection twice for more than an hour. I suspect the Americans don't like Atlantis and wanted to eliminate her....but their conspiracy plan didn't work.

Day 8;
Distance from Cape Town: 988 NM

Nothing special to report...another day at the office with winds up to 25 kts. A second reef in the main was the solution. The weather is cloudy with some rain showers....a bit depressing. During the showers the wind shifts and will pick up in speed without warning.....dangerous for a catamaran, as the sudden overpowering could capsize the boat.
We are getting used to the life at sea. Every day is different and full of surprises, both good and bad ones. Who said that life at sea is boring and that you only see water? Wrong my friends...

Day 9;
Distance from Cape Town: 1.118 NM

We reached the 0 degree meridian of Greenwich and our last waypoint before the final run to St.Helena. It is time to adjust our watches and slowly adapt to the time difference with Cape Town as we will have another 3 hours difference with Salvador in Brazil.

Squalls are bothering us all day with winds exceeding 30 kts. It was hard to keep the boat on course when she surfed at high speed of the waves, James got tired and was giving pilot error alarms every 5', only adding more stress to the crew. Despite 2 reefs in the main and no foresail Atlantis was still speeding and digging dangerously deep into the waves. The top of the bows were under water at a certain point in time. I remembered an experience with my little Hoby 16 in Ghana when the leeward bow was digging into the water and I was suddenly projected in front of the boat. It is called "pitchpoling" and is a violent flipping over as the boat comes to an abrupt stop....imagine this happening to Atlantis. I was really concerned by the speed we were reaching and forward heeling...but she kept it under control...thank God for that. There is no brake pedal or handbrake on a boat and we also didn't have a sea anchor to slow her down as I heard of some negative experiences about the use of it and decided not to use it. The radar reflector was ripped off by one of the lazy jack lines that came loose from the spreader during gale force winds. One of the blocks controlling the foresail came loose and I had to do an emergency repair to keep sailing. What an eventful day....

As from today we will be in STELT mode as we are unable to use the AIS (system that detects other ships) due to power problems and not even detectable by radar due to a missing reflector. What else could go wrong?? Most of the people said to me that this trip would be a "walk in the parc"....but not for Atlantis and her crew.
As top on the cake, at the end of the day our wind instrument with speed and direction went suddenly to the off position showing an empty screen. I checked all the electrical connections but couldn't find the problem...maybe it is the sensor on top of the mast....not a good timing to climb this 18m pole. I asked Mary to cut a small piece of plastic and attached it to one of the stays...at least I could see from were the wind was coming. A little useful tool I remembered using on my Hoby 16 when I was sailing in Ghana. (Ada)

Day 10;
Distance from Cape Town: 1.258. NM

We are still without wind in a sea that starts looking as a flat lake and worried about our food and water supplies as the voyage could take a lot longer than predicted. Nothing much to report.

Day 11;
Distance from Cape Town: 1.338 NM

No wind all day and night again....we are drifting and getting off course. It is still to early to motor to St. Helena and I am afraid we will have to sit this one out. I suspect being in the middle of the high pressure system, but due to the lack of a recent weather forecast I don't know the exact position of the system. We changed our course more North by motoring, but without major success as the wind only increased by 1,5kts....not enough to get us going. Maybe I should have ordered the satellite phone to download weather files after all. It is a big investment and airtime is expensive, but certainly considered for further ocean crossings.

Day 12;
Distance from Cape Town: 1.418 NM

We decided to start motoring towards St Helena, which is still at a distance of 270 NM. We should be able to make it with the calculated amount of fuel available. I really hope Neptune will help us by sending some wind in the next 24 hours....we desperately need it!!

Day 13;
Distance from Cape Town: NM 1.553
Position: 17 38.702'S 003 21.649'W

Still no wind and we are motoring all the way. I am starting to get worried about fuel and want to keep a safety reserve. If the wind doesn't pick up in the next 12h we will have to switch off the motors and use the current to get us closer to the island.

Water becomes a concern as we are not able to use the water maker properly due to poor battery status. Although we were able to produce 35l, the desalinator had to be switched off as it was draining the batteries.
On a positive note....the wind instrument decided to work again. It is difficult to understand what went wrong, but it is doing his job and that is the most important fact. We finally have a reading of what we already know...no wind. Not really helpful!!

There is no sign of life besides the lonely albatross who used Atlantis as a hub for further destinations. He or she left a business card to mark the presence...thank you so much. No ships since more than 4 days as we are out of the major shipping routes. The open Atlantic Ocean is so different and looks almost abandoned compared to the South African waters were we could see whales, dolphins and seals most of the time. The only sea creatures that we saw were a lost squid leaving his ink on the steps and the traditional kamikaze flying fish which Mary is considering preparing for lunch if we don't reach St. Helena soon.

Life on board is simple as we have a 4 hour watch tour and social life is by consequence limited to a common lunch. As we have to do watches on a 24/7 rate, we try to sleep as much as possible when off. The body is getting used to it after more than 10 days at sea.

Conditions were favourable to test out the new asymmetric spinnaker which is a huge kite that takes the whole front (6.1m) of the boat. It was tested only once on the Vaaldam (biggest dam in South Africa) in light weather conditions and it worked quite well during that test.

With only 4kts of wind we were able to reach 2,5kts of speed, but it kept collapsing all the time and I need more time to learn how to operate and cleat it properly. If we have similar weather conditions tomorrow, I will continue my study and optimise its use. It could bring us to safety in light winds as we only have a few hours of fuel left.

Day 14;
Distance from Cape Town: 1.643 NM
Distance from St. Helena: 60 NM

Position: 16 38.927'S 004 41.455'W
The day started with 5kts of wind, time to continue experimenting with the spinnaker. After 30' of testing the halyard just snapped at the top of the mast and the sail went overboard...all hands on deck to recover it out of the sea. One of the lines got stuck and it took us some time to get it out...that will be the end of our spinnaker test. The sail is drying in the cockpit now.
Excitement as we see the island for the first time... it looks like a black little spot in an immense ocean. What a relieve to have confirmation that the navigation was correct, as a 9 NM wide little island could be easily missed at a distance of 1.700 NM. Mary told me that she recovered her confidence in the skipper's ability as she was bracing herself for another 2 weeks at see when we would reach the Brazilian coast.
The wind is picking up to a nice 10kts to home us in during the night, my only concern is a night approach as we are sailing too fast. As we don't have St. Helena on the chart plotter enabling an IFR approach, this is a bit risky to me. I decided to furl the foresail to slow Atlantis down and try to manage a daylight entrance of Jamestown. The bay is on the North side of the island and we will turn East to round the island.

As St.Helena is British overseas territory we prepare the British courtesy flag and the yellow "Q" flag to indicate that we are not cleared in yet. It will be strange to set foot on "terra ferma" after 14 days at sea. I am looking forward to a nice steak with fresh salad and beer....no offence Mary as you did your best with the tin and box food.
It is the first day that I could see big fish swimming next to the boat, I suspect they were Dorado's. in the middle of the ocean the depth instrument was often indicating 0,5m or 18m in another case...probably some bigger sea creatures swimming under Atlantis and giving a reading on the instrument. As we approach the island more birds are seen and you can even smell the presence of land.

Day 15;
Distance from Cape Town: 1.418 NM

Arrival at Jamestown:
4:00 UTC ; the lights on the South East of the island help to navigate towards it at nighttime. The wind that was lost for the last 3 days suddenly came to life close to St. Helena with a speed of 15kts. We are sailing around the island on the East side to have a final approach North. We are keeping a 3NM distance as I don't know if there are rocks near the coast...better keep a safe distance and in any case we will have to wait for sunlight before entering Jamestown.
5:00 UTC ; we are next to the island in a disturbed sea with waves coming from different sides, probably the influence of a land mass. In 1 hour we will have to turn West towards Jamestown. I try to slow Atlantis down as there is still no sunlight.
A bit of philosophy; during this trip I realised that one should take opportunities when presented. Don't wait to live your dream as it will only stay a dream. Life is as the wind...use it when it is available and don't wait until you are running out of it. I also believe it is important to live in the present and take each day as a gift of nature.