Tradewinds Sailing Blog

This afternoon sometime, I should cross out of Brazilian waters and into the waters of French Guiana. Not that it really makes any difference to me, as I am staying off the continental shelf, 80-100 miles offshore, to catch the best northbound current and avoid fishing boats and nets and stuff. But still, it is another sign of progress.

Yesterday I overtook the mystery sailboat about 11am, when I was about 1 mile to windward of them. We chatted on the radio a bit- it was the Mary Eliza, a Hallberg-Rassy 42 from Holland, sailing from Fortaleza Brazil to Domburg Suriname, where there is a bit of a dutch boater colony. As he carried no treasure worth plundering, I neither boarded him nor sunk his ship, and instead wished him safe travels.

The east winds have been pretty consistent, sometimes a little north of east, sometimes a little south of east, but a steady 12-18 knots, which gave me another 200-mile day. If this pace keeps up, I may well get into Panama on the 16th. But there is still almost 2000 miles between here and there, so we’ll have to wait and see.

4/5  8am   4.54N  49.26W    3525nm gone,  1951nm to go.

Sunrise this morning beheld an amazing sight- another sailboat!  I haven’t even seen a tanker or container ship or anything in over 3 days, so what a surprise is this! It appears to be on the same track I am, maybe 10 miles ahead. I have the weather gauge, and think I am sailing maybe a knot faster, so perhaps this afternoon I can engage them.

Yesterday and last night were thankfully routine and consistent, with boat speed near 8 knots, so another nice chunk of ocean behind me. As expected, I started to pick up some favorable current just below latitude 2, and that has been helping, for sure.

I am still maybe 13 days away from Panama, but I find myself doing the countdown already, and feel like I am getting into the homestretch. I am sure Neptune has more surprises in store for me, but my mind is more and more on being there.

It seems this weather will hold for another 2 days at least, so hopefully more of the same- wind 10 to 15 knots at 120 degrees apparent, which this boat loves, and more uneventful miles under the keel.

4/4  8am   2.56N  46.45W   3326nm gone  2150nm to go

King Neptune granted me permission to cross the equator yesterday evening, and even gave me a gift to help me on my way.

All day yesterday, I had been getting wind from the NE, which was wrong. It was supposed to be just East, from 90 degrees, but I was getting wind from 50 degrees. Even with my NW course, it meant that the wind was forward of the beam- my apparent wind was 70-80 degrees. I had the sails sheeted in, the boat was heeled over, and while the boat wasn’t pounding or anything, it was still wrong. But it was what it was, so I made the best of it.

At 6:27pm yesterday, I crossed the equator, took the obligatory photo of the GPS proving it, shared some rum with Neptune, then went below to enter it in the log. When I came back on deck just a few minutes later, everything had changed! The wind had veered back to East, making my apparent wind at 110 degrees, properly aft of the beam. So I eased the sails, the boat flattened out and sped up, and all was right with the world again. Welcome back to the north!

One temporary setback is the loss of my good current. It turns due east along the equator, which doesn’t help me, but doesn’t hurt either. I should start catching the favorable northbound Guyana current when I get to latitude 2, maybe tonight or tomorrow morning.

4/3  8am  0.59N  44.19W   3138nm gone,  2337nm to go

Today should be the day. Probably this evening around 7pm or 8pm, I will ask permission from King Neptune to cross the line. Time travel in an instant, as I go from Autumn to Spring in the blink of an eye.

Another fast day yesterday, just over 200 miles, so that felt good. It was laundry day yesterday, and being a prudent mariner, I hung everything on the windward lifelines, as I was broad reaching, so that extra sail area may have provided a boost.

The nice thing about sailing mostly west, is that every afternoon I am “sailing off into the sunset”- literally. And now at night I am getting some help from the moon, too. It is finally waxing gibbous, and should provide good light for the rest of the trip to Panama.

More good news, in that it seems the northern and southern hemispheres are enjoying a harmonic convergence in this neighborhood (totally awesome, dude). What that means to me is no doldrums, and maybe no crazy day of squalls coming from two different directions at the same time. I think the southern hemisphere’s southeast trade winds will just shift a bit to the northern hemisphere’s easterly trade winds. The winds may go a bit lighter for a day (today maybe), but hopefully nothing dramatic, and I can just keep on sailing.

4/2  8am   0.45 S   42.00 W    2963nm gone,  2511n to go

Happy April Fools Day!

Despite the temptation to make up a story for today (GPS calibrated for northern hemisphere, so I’ve been going the wrong way, now near Antarctica, etc.), I decided to just do a regular report. So you’ll have imagine something clever and witty, and pretend I wrote it.

Yesterday was interesting, and ultimately very progressive, as it was a 200-mile day. It started out normal enough, but by mid-morning (9am on the clock here), one of those massive 10-mile wide squalls was approaching. It didn’t bring much wind, but it poured rain for an hour, which was welcome, as the boat was getting pretty salty crusty and was due for a good cleaning.

After the squall, there was a huge wind hole, with nothing in it. OK fine, time to turn on the engine for an hour or two, charge up the batteries and cool down the fridge, which I did.

When the wind filled back in, it was more easterly, which is good for me, as it makes for a stable broad reach, instead of the rocky-rolly dead downwind. All was going fast and well, until I noticed 2 rips in the mainsail, where it rubs on the spreader tips. One was about 3″, the other 8″. Hmmm, don’t want that to get worse, so down came the main, and out came the sticky-back repair tape, which seems to be working fine.

According to the odometer, I am halfway to Panama, from a nautical miles standpoint. I expect the second half to be a bit faster, though, so in reality I am already beyond halfway there.

Today is starting out a bit overcast, which is O.K., as being just 150 miles from the equator, it’s plenty warm all the time.

4/1  8am  2.30S  39.02W   2761nm gone,  2719nm to go.

I am there. Finally. Fair winds and following seas, and a current that goes with me, not against me. And it feels nice…

I was reflecting on the trip down to Buenos Aires last year, as I am using the same set of charts to mark my progress. In some stretches, it was quick both ways, due to the different weather of the seasons. But in other places, it was very quick one way, and very slow the other. I wish I had my actual log sheets, to compare conditions. What I now observe as fair winds and following seas and pleasant, last year was probably “more cursed wind on the nose, current against me, pounding in the *$#%! seas!” . How many times am I going to learn that lesson, do you suppose?

As I now travel more west than north, my landmarks up ahead are crossing the equator, and passing through the ITCZ (Inter-tropical convergence zone), also called the doldrums, which should lie around 3 degrees north. After that, entering the Caribbean sea, and then Panama.

3/31 8am   4.14 S   36.17 W    2562nm gone,  2914nm to go

I have enough of going east, and I don’t want to do it anymore. At least not for a long while. I am at 34 degrees west longitude, and heading due north until tonight, then I finally turn left and point my nose to Trinidad, just 2000nm away.

Looking at the numbers, I realize that I will likely go to longitude 140 west, before angling back to San Francisco, which is at 122 west. Which means I will sail over 100 degrees of longitude- more than 1/4 of the planet!

Thankfully, I started tasting the trade winds yesterday, a steady 15 to 20 knots from the southeast, and have been rollicking along north at boat-speeds of 8 to 10 knots, making the miles tick away. It made the last 24-hour run 184nm, the best since the first day out of Uruguay. I should start getting favorable current in a day or two, after turning left, and that will help, too, although by going more downwind my boat speed will be a bit lower.

While relaxing in the cockpit last night, I heard a strange “splot” noise, very close. I looked over, and within reach from me was a big fat flying fish- a good 12 inches long, one of the largest I’ve seen. I ran inside to get the camera, but by the time I came back out he had already wriggled away. So no fried fish for breakfast. Ah well, the one that got away…

3/30 8am   6.40S  34.46W   2380nm gone,  3101nm to go

Sometimes I think I can almost smell them. The trade winds, that is. But of course that’s not true. I just know that they are close, maybe a day or two away, and then hopefully the wind will stay aft of the beam, and the seas and current will go with me.

Until then, I continue on a close-to-beam reach, with the wind varying between 50 and 80 degrees apparent. Fortunately, the winds are mild, typically 8-12 knots, and the seas are an easy 2 to 4 feet.

Last night was relaxing, thankfully, with no squalls at all. I guess Neptune decided to mess with someone else for a change, and I break into the single-digit latitudes…

3/29  8am  9.30S  35.27W   2196nm gone,  3292nm to go

Last night was relaxing, thankfully, with no squalls at all. I guess Neptune decided to mess with someone else for a change, and I break into the single-digit latitudes…

It’s been 2 weeks now, that I’ve been sailing north and east. I am just about done with the east part, too, thankfully. I’ve made good progress, too, covering 23 degrees of latitude so far. That’s equivalent to going from San Francisco to Guatemala.

I am very much into the tropics, as the thermometer never goes below 80 anymore, not even at night. And the tropical squalls really seem to get fired up some nights, like last night. I think it was baby squall training night or something. There seemed to be an endless parade of small but strong squalls passing through, bumping the 10 knot wind to 25 in an instant, dumping a bucket of water on me, then leaving a wind hole with nothing for 15 minutes. Lather, rinse, repeat. Or maybe it was just ol’ King Neptune, using me for some amusement…

3/28  8am  11.22S  37.10W   2041nm gone, 3443nm to go

I passed Salvador this morning, 13 days after departing near Buenos Aires. And last year, when sailing southbound, it also took 13 days to go from Salvador to Buenos Aires. So I see that as a good thing, because the southbound route has the benefit of some favorable current and typically more favorable winds.

Speaking of current, I am fighting it off and on. The main trade wind thing from South Africa also drives current, and when it hits the big corner of Brazil it splits, with some continuing NW along the top of South America, and some curling down along the coast of Brazil. It is that curling down one that I fight. For a while yesterday, I was seeing 2 knots of adverse current, but I was able to get inshore enough to get out of it, so it only hampered me for a few hours.

I am very much looking forward to getting with the good current after passing Natal, at the corner. I remember weeks of fighting it all the way from Trinidad last year, so this time it should be a boost.

Last night brought my first good tropical downpour. A real gusher, this squall was. But it was good, as there was a lot of salt that needed to be rinsed off. Nice clean boat today…

3/27  8am   13.00S  38.32W  1901nm gone, 3570nm to go