As you have read in my last post I was planning to cross the Atlantic on a delivery of a Seawind 1160. I arrived early December and helped to start the boat prepare for the crossing. Sadly we had some technical difficulties aboard that delayed our departure by two weeks. The battery system was completely dead and as there was no accurate documentation on it I had to basically figure it out from scratch. Which I did being the tech guy on board.
After charging the batteries and getting the BMS online again we had some other issues that needed fixing. A guy came to fix the freezer and the boat was hauled out of the water because the propellers were not secured properly.
A lot of time was spent sitting and waiting on Spanish technicians. But we (the crew) got to know each other and bond a bit with the time we had. The captain decided to make me 1st mate. So that’s nice. We left Rubicón Marina on Lanzarote on December 15th and we sailed South West.
During the night ( I was sleeping ) I heard a loud bang. And I knew that that wasn’t something normal. So I got up and then the captain came storming in. He needed my help. Apparently the Dyneema line securing the bow sprit had snapped and the Genoa was flying up in the air and pulling the sprit. I went on deck and we decided to drop the sail and tie it down. We headed for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to sort it out. There two of the crew were scared and decided to leave the boat. So we had to wait for the replacement crew to arrive.
After we replaced the Dyneema line we left Gran Canaria and spent 21 days at sea to cross to Saint Lucia and to write about everything that happened would result in a giant blog post. So I’m not doing that. But we had seen a lot of dolphins, and some ocean rowing boats.
During the trip there were several things that could have been avoided or much improved. Sailing wise the captain didn’t want to sail on a run. So we were broad reaching a lot, making more miles than needed and being uncomfortable. The boat was packed with stuff from the owner and slow due to all the weight so we were being bounced around by the waves a lot. There was an Iridium on board, but I also had my own. So i got PredictWind updates on a daily basis. And the captain kept on sailing us out of the wind. So we had to motor every couple of days to find the wind again.
When we found the trade winds again I setup the boat on a run (butterfly/goosewing, whatever you want to call it) which made life much more comfortable and we were actually sailing in a straight line towards where we needed to go. In gusts the boat would accelerate and surf the waves. This also lasted for a week before the captain went back to broad reaching again.
Then something new happend, the boat was actively slowed down every night. So with perfect conditions we would furl-in and reef sail. I confronted the captain and asked if this was to make the trip last more days. He gets paid per day so it was a rhetorical question. Crew doesn’t get paid anything, so they just want to cross as fast and comfortable as possible. The vibe aboard changed a lot because the crew wasn’t stupid. And with less and less food and drinks aboard everyone got grumpy.
Also (this was a problem from the start) some people didn’t follow the rules as set by the captain. They signed the document with the rules but then ignored them. I confronted the captain too on this and no action was taken.
So within a week the boat was filthy and living conditions were poor. I kept my cabin clean and tidy but the rest of the boat was a mess. Obviously it didn’t help with all the junk from the owner being on board. There was no space to stow away any of our stuff or provisions.
Without going into too much details on what happend. I decided on Jan 8th I had enough and that I would leave the boat upon arrival in Saint Lucia. I have did my part in getting things in order and it just wasn’t happening and after the captain spontaneously go on a rage in the galley for no reason I knew it was the right call.
Upon arrival in Saint Lucia there was a problem with one crew’s passport. Apparently he needed a visa and didn’t have one. So the boat was forced to leave the same day. I already had booked a flight out of there (same day) and there was nothing wrong with my passport. So after some talking to the customs and immigrations people I was allowed into the country and go to the airport while the boat had to leave.
I said my goodbyes to the guys and I got in a taxi to the airport. I was happy that I was off the boat and off to a better place.
We have sailed 3121 nautical miles on a planned crossing of 2664 nautical miles. We took 21 days averaging 148nm per day. Which in retrospect isn’t that bad.
Currently I’m just enjoying my time off.
BAIA is being checked on a weekly basis and apart from some instrument covers flying away due to a storm, (already replaced and taped up) everything is fine.