Origional Article with pics at http://www.presidioyachtclub.org/Qtr1PH09.pdf
Ahoy PYC from the Mid-Atlantic! In the last 'Porthole' issue Sandpiper was anchored off 'The Rock' of Gibraltar waiting for weather to quit storming so we could start our Atlantic Crossing. Since then we have sailed over 3400 nautical miles and have just a mere 180 nautical miles till we drop the hook off the white sandy beaches of Barbados in the Caribbean. We had a difficult time getting out of Gibraltar because the weather was very intense always blowing storms from the direction we needed to go. The week before we arrived to Gibraltar they had the worst storm they have had in 40 years causing much damage to the town, closing all the marinas due to storm damage, and causing 2 ships to go up on the rocks. We had one clear day while we were waiting at anchor so we hopped across the Straits of Gibraltar to Ceuta/Spain, that is on the north coast of Africa, were we tied up in a marina for the week while more storms blew over. Once the worst of the storms cleared we motored 30 miles to the west and spent 3 'interesting' nights in Tangier/Morocco moored alongside a drug smuggling boat that had broken down.
Tangier is an interesting stop that many boats take a pass on and we were glad we stopped as there was so much to see, very friendly people and great inexpensive shopping in the Casaba. We heard from our drug smuggling buddy next to us that he had found a market that sold live animals and you can get any animal you ever wanted from monkeys to tigers. He was quite excited the morning we were leaving because he was going to pick up a monkey he had just bought to ride around on his shoulder.
Once the forecast was looking good we cleared the Straits of Gibraltar and hooked a left sailing south 575 miles down the Moroccan coastline to the Canary Islands. Most this passage was a mix of mostly sailing and a little motoring due to the changing winds while dodging ships and fishing boats. Finally arriving in the Canary Islands to drop the hook under a bright full moon. Our goal in the Canaries was to wait until the Atlantic Crossing Rally departed Las Palmas so we could go into the cheap marina there and provision. The ARC Rally is an annual event with over 200 boats from all over the world that all leave together to cross the Atlantic arriving in St Lucia in the Caribbean. We arrived in Las Palmas/Grand Canary Island the day before they left and was able to witness their departure, lots of very fancy boats and well-dressed crews. We were then able to secure a slip in the municipal marina that is quite inexpensive while we worked on a few projects and loaded up the Piper with as much beer and food as we could find room for. Once the winds were looking good we headed out to start our Atlantic Crossing of over 2500 miles to the Caribbean. Things went great for the first few days, then the winds started getting stronger every day until we were sailing in 20-foot seas and 40-knot sustained winds, the worst conditions we have been in since we left the PYC in 2005. The Piper was handling it like a champ, but the crew was getting wet and tired from all the violent motion, our guidebook said that this was supposed to be the 'Milk Run'. The first thing to break was the electric autopilot, so we engaged the Sayes Rig wind vane that we use just for this predicament and decided to press on. As the weather deteriorated we were worried about seawater getting into the generator and engine via the exhaust that exits on Sandpipers sides because we were rolling so bad and being smacked very hard on this side by large waves. We ran both engines twice a day hoping this would prevent any water from building up in the hoses. But as feared, seawater got pushed into the generator engines crankcase thru the exhaust causing it to blow out its seals pouring oil all over the engine room. The next morning the same thing happened to the main engine when it filled up with water due to the high seas and would not turn over because it was so full of water. Since we were on a southerly course looking for the trade winds we decided to divert to the Cape Verde Islands to make repairs. During all the bouncing around I was able to get all the water out of the main engine and with several oil changes was able to get it running the day before we arrived to Cape Verde. We had thought that we would have to sail into anchorage at night and this was not a pleasant option. Turns out Cape Verde was a great stop which we enjoyed very much as the people were super friendly and there were all kinds of small restaurants and bars all over the quaint town. We got everything repaired ourselves our first day at anchor and then made our plans for our second attempt to cross the Atlantic. Downtown Cape Verde we found two cutoff valves at a hardware store that we installed to Sandpiper's engine and generators exhaust to prevent water from ever entering the engines again. The day before Christmas the trade winds had filled in so we headed out, as I am typing this we are on day sixteen of our crossing. The weather has been great with the strongest winds being 20 knots, most days 10-15 knots right off the stern, perfect sailing! We did have 48hrs where we went thru a very mild low pressure system that caused the winds to make a complete 360 during that 2 days and we did have to motor for 3 hours, but other than that it has been a straight downwind run. A little bit of drama a few days ago when the bolt that holds the lower shrouds to the mast sheered in half causing the mast to flex around like crazy till we could rig some straps around the spreaders to hold the mast tight. We are looking forward to being in the Caribbean and plan on arriving to Barbados on Sunday Morning Jan 11th, from there our plans are stops at the Windward Islands of St. Lucia, Bequia, Carriacou, and Grenada. Once we get our fill of those islands we will head north to Jamaica, west to Grand Cayman and then around the west coast of Cuba to the Florida Keys. We are hoping to get a berth in one of the three military marinas on Florida's east coast for hurricane season 2009 or farther up the East Coast. Catch more of us on the PYC's website, or visit us at sandpiper38.blogspot.com where you can track Sandpiper’s progress, check out our many photos/videos and read our postings from stops along the way.
Tangier is an interesting stop that many boats take a pass on and we were glad we stopped as there was so much to see, very friendly people and great inexpensive shopping in the Casaba. We heard from our drug smuggling buddy next to us that he had found a market that sold live animals and you can get any animal you ever wanted from monkeys to tigers. He was quite excited the morning we were leaving because he was going to pick up a monkey he had just bought to ride around on his shoulder.
Once the forecast was looking good we cleared the Straits of Gibraltar and hooked a left sailing south 575 miles down the Moroccan coastline to the Canary Islands. Most this passage was a mix of mostly sailing and a little motoring due to the changing winds while dodging ships and fishing boats. Finally arriving in the Canary Islands to drop the hook under a bright full moon. Our goal in the Canaries was to wait until the Atlantic Crossing Rally departed Las Palmas so we could go into the cheap marina there and provision. The ARC Rally is an annual event with over 200 boats from all over the world that all leave together to cross the Atlantic arriving in St Lucia in the Caribbean. We arrived in Las Palmas/Grand Canary Island the day before they left and was able to witness their departure, lots of very fancy boats and well-dressed crews. We were then able to secure a slip in the municipal marina that is quite inexpensive while we worked on a few projects and loaded up the Piper with as much beer and food as we could find room for. Once the winds were looking good we headed out to start our Atlantic Crossing of over 2500 miles to the Caribbean. Things went great for the first few days, then the winds started getting stronger every day until we were sailing in 20-foot seas and 40-knot sustained winds, the worst conditions we have been in since we left the PYC in 2005. The Piper was handling it like a champ, but the crew was getting wet and tired from all the violent motion, our guidebook said that this was supposed to be the 'Milk Run'. The first thing to break was the electric autopilot, so we engaged the Sayes Rig wind vane that we use just for this predicament and decided to press on. As the weather deteriorated we were worried about seawater getting into the generator and engine via the exhaust that exits on Sandpipers sides because we were rolling so bad and being smacked very hard on this side by large waves. We ran both engines twice a day hoping this would prevent any water from building up in the hoses. But as feared, seawater got pushed into the generator engines crankcase thru the exhaust causing it to blow out its seals pouring oil all over the engine room. The next morning the same thing happened to the main engine when it filled up with water due to the high seas and would not turn over because it was so full of water. Since we were on a southerly course looking for the trade winds we decided to divert to the Cape Verde Islands to make repairs. During all the bouncing around I was able to get all the water out of the main engine and with several oil changes was able to get it running the day before we arrived to Cape Verde. We had thought that we would have to sail into anchorage at night and this was not a pleasant option. Turns out Cape Verde was a great stop which we enjoyed very much as the people were super friendly and there were all kinds of small restaurants and bars all over the quaint town. We got everything repaired ourselves our first day at anchor and then made our plans for our second attempt to cross the Atlantic. Downtown Cape Verde we found two cutoff valves at a hardware store that we installed to Sandpiper's engine and generators exhaust to prevent water from ever entering the engines again. The day before Christmas the trade winds had filled in so we headed out, as I am typing this we are on day sixteen of our crossing. The weather has been great with the strongest winds being 20 knots, most days 10-15 knots right off the stern, perfect sailing! We did have 48hrs where we went thru a very mild low pressure system that caused the winds to make a complete 360 during that 2 days and we did have to motor for 3 hours, but other than that it has been a straight downwind run. A little bit of drama a few days ago when the bolt that holds the lower shrouds to the mast sheered in half causing the mast to flex around like crazy till we could rig some straps around the spreaders to hold the mast tight. We are looking forward to being in the Caribbean and plan on arriving to Barbados on Sunday Morning Jan 11th, from there our plans are stops at the Windward Islands of St. Lucia, Bequia, Carriacou, and Grenada. Once we get our fill of those islands we will head north to Jamaica, west to Grand Cayman and then around the west coast of Cuba to the Florida Keys. We are hoping to get a berth in one of the three military marinas on Florida's east coast for hurricane season 2009 or farther up the East Coast. Catch more of us on the PYC's website, or visit us at sandpiper38.blogspot.com where you can track Sandpiper’s progress, check out our many photos/videos and read our postings from stops along the way.
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