Second Leg - St Helena to Brazil

Day 14 - 28                                                                 

One of the many pelagic birds swooping down to investigate our yacht and snatch up any fishes disturbed by our wake. We saw at least one bird every single day of our trip.

We left St Helena feeling recouperated and ready for the next 2 weeks ahead, crossing the Atlantic Ocean. This was to be the longest stretch across open ocean where we would'nt see any land; an exciting prospect!

As soon as we headed out past the Northern tip of the island the wind picked up to about 20knots (1knot = 1 nautical mile = 1.852km) and remained btw 12-20knots for the following week. This meant that we could finally sail continuously without using the engines at all; sailing across open water in absolute silence except the water rushing past the hull. Being under sail makes every watch more exciting as you're constantly monitoring the weather patterns, wind, sails, and adjusting the vessel to make the most use of the wind in its current direction and strength, whilst staying on course.

The chart plotter that told us where in the world we were and all other info that guided us along.

Throughout those 2 weeks we had periodic squalls almost every day. They would only last about 5-15 mins and we'd track them coming towards us across the horizon. They brought even stronger winds (up to 35knots) and fairly heavy rain, so we'd have to adjust the sails accordingly by reefing or taking them down entirely and running the engines if the wind became too gusty.  The sails and rigging could have handled the stronger winds, yet we had to minimize any potential damage i.o.t. deliver the yacht in excellent condition.

A double rainbow after one of many squalls.

Every day faded into the next as we established a routine of keeping watch, cooking, cleaning, and in our spare time (which is most of the time) reading, writing in our diaries and sleeping when we felt tired. Our bodies adjusted to the watch schedule rather than the sun, and our watches changed every day. Therefore, your sleeping pattern gets interrupted and we learnt to sleep whenever we felt tired. There was always a person on watch 24/7 with our shifts rotating daily, so there were always a pair of eyes looking out for any other vessels, flotsam or jetsum. The yacht was also on autopilot 95% of the time (whether sailing or motoring) and we'd manually set the course taking into account a number of factors: current, wind (speed & direction), desired heading (land) etc.  

The food was delicious, varied and when we caught a tuna/fish it was even better!

Around 3-4pm we would all come together from our corners of the yacht, as the person who had the day off from watches, would start cooking. Our meals were amazing! I spent a lot of my time pondering about what to make for dinner as it made up a big portion of the day. Lunch would consist of provits, bread, cheese and cans of milies, beans, lettuce, tomatoes etc, all cold. With a well-stocked boat the options were broad and we tried to change it up. Some days I'd make pancakes - burrito style - with loads of condaments: spiced up mince, guacamole, cheese, salsa, beans etc etc. It was quite a spread and took some time but we all loved the change from meals cooked on the only two stove tops. Hence, every meal was prepared with cooking sequence and timing in mind. Also, every person had their own style of cooking and we got a different meal every night which kept our bellies full and our appetites growing.

So, as each day passed we got closer to the S American coastline. Our skipper initially planned to head directly to St Lucia, one of the E Caribbean islands. Yet, 2 days from the coastline he decided he needs more of a holiday, and seeing as there's no date where we're expected to arrive in Fort Lauderdale, we adjusted course and headed towards Fortaleza, Brazil. Fortaleza is a popular stop-over for delivery skippers as it  marks the end of the Atlantic crossing and provides a good 2 days to recouperate, relax, and get fresh fruit etc for the next leg.  

Patrick filming our first view of Fortaleza, Brazil.

I woke up early for my watch on 21 September, to relieve our Skipper at the helm at 5am. The wind was strong with the sail riefed to be tiny - we were still doing about 5knots. It was exciting to see land again just after the sunrise and I was amazed at how big the city skyline was. We were all on deck by now to keep an eye out for the small fishing skiffs and buoys, while constantly monitoring the depth, as we approached our second stop of the trip. As we drew nearer we could make out the various aspects of the city: slums, beaches, hundreds of sky scrapers and various vessels enetring and leaving the harbour.

We headed towards the Marina Park Hotel where we docked stern-to just before 7am.

Continued in the next post: Fortaleza, Brazil.