azores 2014 how safe is it?

[bobconnie]

I wasn't gonna post on this, cus Ive never single handed across a whole ocean! Always had a wind vane, and at least Connie for my crew ! But then Ive crossed oceans,never had a Grib? learned to sail by the clouds more or less! Listen to the weather on the radio, like everybody ! But Ive been able to dodge big bad winds (so far) But then Im never in a hurry ! I will wait till the weathers in my favor, even when I deliver for folks ! Also Ive never set a secdule (spl) for any trip ! If ya make your crossings at the right time of the year, they are a lot more comfortable!!! And I had to say something when folks talk bad about BBQs !! At least thats my 2 cents

[atoll]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

I wasn't gonna post on this, cus Ive never single handed across a whole ocean! Always had a wind vane, and at least Connie for my crew ! But then Ive crossed oceans,never had a Grib? learned to sail by the clouds more or less! Listen to the weather on the radio, like everybody ! But Ive been able to dodge big bad winds (so far) But then Im never in a hurry ! I will wait till the weathers in my favor, even when I deliver for folks ! Also Ive never set a secdule (spl) for any trip ! If ya make your crossings at the right time of the year, they are a lot more comfortable!!! And I had to say something when folks talk bad about BBQs !! At least thats my 2 cents

barbeques,like pilot houses's,and auto pilots,all need to be put in the same catagory of "If you never had one you dont know what you are missing"!

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Jedi, and the group:

We have always sailed doublehanded, and I disagree that exhaustion is always close behind one. One is always careful to avoid fatigue, but on any passage of over 3 days, our bodies have acclimatized to our watch schedules. Some might find them arduous, and certainly taking on crew can make for easier watch schedules, but our loose 6 hrs. on, 6 off, has worked well for us, and we are told it works well for others. Than one evening long sleep of 5-1/2 hrs., plus a nap later on during our offwatch provides plenty of rest for most conditions. Yes, we have become tired when there has been day after day of gales, and as soon as the motion improved, we'd catch up again on our off watch. I think it is misleading to people new to cruising to encourage them to believe that crew are necessary for ocean passages. For some people crew might be desirable, but other people might not want the responsibility or fuss of crew. YMMV.

Ann

I agree with you Ann. Another consideration with having a lot of crew is the extra load on resources such as water etc. Then you also have the dynamics of having crew aboard you do not know but have got to know and find they a pain in the butt lol.

[Bluewaters2812]

Again, I don't want to get into a debate about diesel, motoring, etc....I just wanted to state that many/most cruisers these days seem to be carrying WAY TOO MUCH on their rails...
Get rid of the "jerry jug farms" (and add more solar) and you'll be a LOT happier and save money too!!



I hope this helps..


John
s/v Annie Laurie[/QUOTE]

Good points John. I agree on the solar. We increased ours from 350 watts to 525 watts. The 350 was never enough but now the 525 watts handles the autopilot, radar, AIS, VHF, one fridge with small freezer, a large fridge/freezer and an additional ARB portable freezer/fridge. Of course in addition to the 525 watts solar we have an Aerogen 6 wind genny (quiet and reliable).

On our recent non-stop from Florida to the Turks I did a very silly thing: I placed a rod holder on the wind genny side and when I got a strike I accidentally got the gut line wound around the genny and it came to a stop with the gut completely fouled in it.

It wasn't easy getting onto a seated position on the solar panels (very precarious climb in 4-5 foot seas and 12 knots of wind). An hour and a bit later I had managed to reverse wind the genny and clear the gut. I do declare though, I had a nice and unusual view of the boat sailing under autopilot!

But guess what: I will never put a rod out on our port side again!

[Bluewaters2812]

...
apart for the forum there are commercial sites that have database's listing sailing opportunities for crew, who generally pay a small subscription for the service,so as to be able to access information posted by yachts looking for crew,this is generally free to the yacht owner.

such as the one listed below,but please add to the list.

Yacht crew agency, yacht crew vacancy, sailing crew from Crewseekers
Crewseekers is the original and premier sailing yacht crew agency. Established since 1990, we provide a first class personal service to the sailing world. We receive testimonials from worldwide reflecting the professionalism and effectiveness of our yacht crewing agency and recent comments can be seen on our testimonials page.


Crewbay home page - sailing crew, yacht jobs, boat jobs, sailing jobs, jobs at sea, find crew, find

[atoll]

thanks for posting bluewaters 2812,are you still planning on heading for cape town after the azores?

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by atoll

thanks for posting bluewaters 2812,are you still planning on heading for cape town after the azores?

We have decided against it for now. The Admiral isn't ready for it. After the Azores we will probably head for Morocco then Nice in France this Summer. We are flying our daughter and granddaughter out to Nice to spend some time with us. Maybe then later do Greece/Turkey but that still lies far ahead.

No schedule other than be in Nice by June, s leaving Turks mid April should give us enough time I hope. Would be great if our new rudder stayed with us all the way.

Len

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Bluewaters2812

We have decided against it for now. The Admiral isn't ready for it. After the Azores we will probably head for Morocco then Nice in France this Summer. We are flying our daughter and granddaughter out to Nice to spend some time with us. Maybe then later do Greece/Turkey but that still lies far ahead.

No schedule other than be in Nice by June, s leaving Turks mid April should give us enough time I hope. Would be great if our new rudder stayed with us all the way.

Len

nice one!
and just if you were unaware i will add that it is possible to stop in tangiers inside the main port if faced with strong easterlies through the straights of gibraltar.

easy entry, continue all the way into the port untill you get to the fishing harbour,the yacht club is top right hand side and has a few berths,or tie alongside any of the many fishing vessels.

formalities can be done at the yacht club that has showers and bar/restaurant,security is good inside the port,just a little dirty.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by atoll

nice one!
and just if you were unaware i will add that it is possible to stop in tangiers inside the main port if faced with strong easterlies through the straights of gibraltar.

easy entry, continue all the way into the port untill you get to the fishing harbour,the yacht club is top right hand side and has a few berths,or tie alongside any of the many fishing vessels.

formalities can be done at the yacht club that has showers and bar/restaurant,security is good inside the port,just a little dirty.

Thanks for the heads up there mate. I guess being a big port depths are not a problem (7.2 ft draft). Here around Turks I have had point 1 of an inch below the keel at times (sweaty brow stuff)!

Where are you at the moment?

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Bluewaters2812

Thanks for the heads up there mate. I guess being a big port depths are not a problem (7.2 ft draft). Here around Turks I have had point 1 of an inch below the keel at times (sweaty brow stuff)!

Where are you at the moment?

no problem re depths we have been in there with salamandra right in front of the yacht club with a draft of 3.2 meters.

if fighting to get into the straights where the winds funnel through,waves diminish considerably once into tangier bay.

a photo of the port ,and one of my crew last time we had to stop their just before we left,after sheltering from 40 knot easterlies for 5 days.
spain is visible in the haze on the other side of the straights.

[yoshiwakao]

Thank you Atoll.

We will cruise to Azores from Newport on this June. Wow northan rute!
I could get many info.
Does anybody have an advice please let me know!
Also if somebody plan to go Azores this May or June, please contact me. Exchange info at sea.

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by atoll

barbeques,like pilot houses's,and auto pilots,all need to be put in the same catagory of "If you never had one you dont know what you are missing"!

Having a BBQ is only one step below having a stereo in the cockpit, makes you fat, and is storm bait. Wait, are you the one who was playing AC/DC at 0300 hours at Conception Island?

[atoll]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Having a BBQ is only one step below having a stereo in the cockpit, makes you fat, and is storm bait. Wait, are you the one who was playing AC/DC at 0300 hours at Conception Island?

our webber doubles up as a "fish smoker",and is a great way to preserve fish.

it also is a great excuse to go beachcombing for drift wood which is ideal for smoking if it is dry,as it has lots of iodine and salt soaked into it and gives smoked fish a destinctive flavour,similar to smoked salmon.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by yoshiwakao

Thank you Atoll.

We will cruise to Azores from Newport on this June. Wow northan rute!
I could get many info.
Does anybody have an advice please let me know!
Also if somebody plan to go Azores this May or June, please contact me. Exchange info at sea.

great to have you onboard!

myself and other veteran atlantic cruisers would be more than happy to advise,though Ka4wja would probably be the best person to ask for routing info on the east coast,bermuda,azores legs.

keep us posted

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by atoll

our webber doubles up as a "fish smoker",and is a great way to preserve fish.

it also is a great excuse to go beachcombing for drift wood which is ideal for smoking if it is dry,as it has lots of iodine and salt soaked into it and gives smoked fish a destinctive flavour,similar to smoked salmon.

oh! I like that.