The Hardest Part of Crossing an Ocean

Those who have crossed oceans will all have different forms of advice. Some will recommend eating extra to gain weight that you will inevitably lose while crossing, others will declare infinite storm preparedness. I have much simpler words of wisdom.

My advice is this: Setting sail across an ocean is easy, the hard part will be returning to the world of civilization. On the ocean, direction doesn't matter. At times we were 200 miles north of our course, yet our heading was unchanged because the ocean is so vast. If a storm was passing by, we would change course and sail the wrong way for a good distance to avoid the weather system. Once we were clear of it, we would then resume our previous course. There is nothing to run into, no reefs, no lee shores, no anything.

Today is day 22 from Bermuda to the Azores and we have seen a grand total of 4 ships! Night watch is more focused on watching the weather as we have never seen navigation lights on the horizon.

All that is going to change as we are nearing the end of our voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 40 nautical miles, we will pass Corvo, the first island in the archipelago. Tonight's watch is not only focused on the weather, but also on traffic and land.

We are reaching the other side, and soon, 10 miles off course can put you on a rock! Just as a lee shore can limit your ability to sail around a weather system.

Most of all, landfall means the return to civilization. No longer will it be only Maddie and me in the world of the visible horizon. We will be able to venture off away from Wisdom and walk for miles over land. We will meet new people and new cultures, and we will have made it to the other side.

This may sound wonderful, but we have been living in a bubble of "just us" for over 3 weeks. I have come to know Maddie in even deeper ways and she is my entire world out here. There has been no stress of timelines or schedules. We have no meetings to get to, no due dates for our work. It has been a wonderful escape from the hectic world we live in, where we can sit back and appreciate every single unique sunset and watch the stars come out in the sky.

I sit here on night watch and look at the moons light glittering a beam of light ahead of us, the shadow of our tanbark jib blocking out a section of this moonbeam, and the water rushing past. We have no cares or worries, but we are rapidly driving ourselves forward towards the end of this bliss.

Landfall means that this blissful world we have lived in for the past month will stop. That is the hard part of crossing an ocean to me, having the journey end!

Speediest Comfortable Sailing Angle

When cruising, times will come when other matters need to be attended to. Cruising is not only about sailing, you need to cook, do the dishes, bathe, sleep, etcetera. Remember, this is not only a sailboat, it's your home!

We have found that following seas are gentle, but rolly. Beating is just plain unbearable! And a beam reach can give you a good roll to leeward every so often. So far, none of these sound like the ideal situation to be standing by a sink or stove!

Our favorite sailing angle is with the true wind a few degrees aft of the beam. Here the apparent wind will be just ahead of the beam, giving you great wind through your sails while keeping the seas gentle as well. The seas approach on the stern quarter first and slowly lift the yacht as they pass, setting you down on their back as they go on. Since the bow is on the back as you ride down the wave, you won't roll to leeward as it drops you.

At this point of sail, we also move along at our quickest. This makes the keel very effective at keeping us straight. The forces of the keel and sails are balanced in such a way that the wave simply lifts and lowers us, no rolling around.

When we are cruising and find ourselves on this point of sail, we get all the housework chores taken care of. If this point of sail only adds a few miles to our next destination, we will take the distance penalty and enjoy an easy ride. Lastly, if this is not our direction but we desperately need comfort inside, we will assume this course.

This has been the case after a week of beating. The dishes were pilling up and something in the sink was starting to smell bad. Neither of us could stand inside while we were beating, so we changed course for an hour and got the boat put back in order. After we finished, we bid goodbye the gentle motion of this point of sail and returned to our course.

When out in the ocean sailing to a distant destination, you will find that doing something like this won't even change the heading to your destination by a single degree. This means there is no penalty to the respite of this comfortable point of sail while you get chores taken care of.

Which Tack Will Produce a Change in the Wind?

There is a simple method to find the center of a low pressure system. Face the wind and hold your right arm straight out to your side, then point. You are now pointing at the center of the low pressure system that is causing the wind you are experiencing. Inversely, perpendicularly and to your left is the center of the high pressure system in your immediate area. This simple trick works in the Northern Hemisphere thanks to the Coriolis Effect. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, this trick would work with, just using the opposite arms for the low and high.

To answer the original question, which tack will produce a change in the wind? The answer is either tack!

You can not sail directly into the wind, so you need to choose starboard tack or port tack. Port tack will have your bow facing the low pressure system that is causing the present wind, and therefore would eventually lead to more wind.

Starboard tack will have the bow facing the high pressure system that is opposing the low, eventually leading to calmer winds.

There is a way, however, to stay in exactly the same conditions, and that is to sail on an absolute dead run. Here you will simply spiral around the highs and lows without ever moving closer or farther from any of them.

When you are crossing an ocean, just remember the effects that your tack will have in a few days. Starboard tack will produce more wind, port tack will produce calmer conditions.

The giant flaw in this theory is that weather systems move, so if you sail in a straight line towards a low, it might not be there by the time you reach the spot where the center was. So, keep this in mind and be sure to keep an eye on the weather!

How Do We Power Our Yacht While Crossing an Ocean?

Having an electric motor means that we can't fire up the old diesel to charge up the batteries. When we crossed the Atlantic Ocean in July of 2018, we carried with us three methods of charging. The first is our solar panels. We have 200W on the deck and 100W on the stern as fold out wings. We also have a Honda Generator (EU2000i) and lastly we have the electric motor that functions as a hydro generator.

The solar panels started out as a great method of charging when we were anchored, but failed us on the ocean. The deck panels get stepped on accidentally, or things fall on them, or the salt finally kills them. Either way, both 100W flexible panels are dead and not producing any power.

The 100W on the stern is composed of two 50W rigid panels. One works fine, the other panel corroded away at its terminals, literally corroding away to the panel itself with no way of reworking it!

So, our 300W solar system is limping along at 50W.

Thankfully we have the generator! Right?

Actually, the electric motor functioning as a hydro generator has produced all the power we need and fully met our demands. We have yet to turn on the generator and are nearing land after 22 days at sea.

Right now, as I write this, the motor is producing 4.8amps @48vDC. When this is converted to 12vDC with a step down converter, it becomes 19.2amps @12vDC; silently!

Yes, the electric motor that has a very limited range of motoring offers unlimited and quiet electrical production for us as we sail across the vastness of the Atlantic.

We left Bermuda with 15 gallons of gasoline, and it appears that we will arrive with the same amount in the Azores.

Doubling Up Your Fenders

Massive rope fenders are great for tying up in a storm to an unforgiving concrete sea wall. They won't pop, they won't tear, and they won't give. The problem is they also won't hold their shape when pounding into the wall for days! 

We were tied up to a wall in Terciera, Azores and the weather picked up. The swell inside the marina became rather unrelenting and we were being hammered into the wall every few seconds. The fenders soon became flattened and our wood rub rail was only inches away from scraping away on the stone. It was time to double up! 

I simply tied a second fender over the current fender and let the two of them share the abuse! You can see how the rope got very chafed during the next two days, leading to a matted mess of fibers that have been lifted from the three-lay rope.

The fenders got very scuffed, but our topsides survived flawlessly! The flatness of the fender rolls out easily when you put it away in storage, only to reform the next time the fender is deployed. 

Keeping plenty of strong fenders on board is crucial if you plan on cruising to new countries where the mooring situation might be a bit risky to your yacht and anchoring is nearly impossible.