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rpeebles · 26-10-2011, 14:45

As well as the best time to go? Thanks, Roger

barnakiel · 26-10-2011, 14:56

I think maybe towards the Bermuda, Azores then onwards. One can touch the islands or not. North of the islands if time an issue.

I think maybe late May / early June would be OK.

b.

captain58sailin · 26-10-2011, 15:15

If you come on the southern route past Trinidad & swing east just on the northern edge of Venezuela, you can catch the current that runs about 05* north of the equator and get a little extra speed. One problem is you beat into it till you get past Trinidad sometimes. Under sail you might want to use a little different routing, we were coming out of Louisiana and under power for the most direct route.

mrohr · 27-10-2011, 07:09

I would consider the northern route esp. if you are sailing; get your easting along maine and make you departure from Halifax or thereabout;great circle from there is significantly shorter than any southern route and one should have more of the westerlies and avoidance of the dead air of the Bermuda high.You will save a bundle on fuel , landfall in Ireland. Summer only.
Leaving from southern US ,you have the option of jumping on the Gulf stream ASAP and riding that across. But again, this is a summer propisition for us ordinary mortals as the GS is no place to be in winter gales.

**boatman61** · 27-10-2011, 07:19

From down there I'd skip Bermuda... jump the stream then head straight for the Azores....
Dep from April to early June...

SaltyMonkey · 27-10-2011, 08:11

Pondering for a while between the two aforementioned routes.

Northern to Ireland, which may be my choice
Southern to Azores, although not sure how much wind there is...

barnakiel · 27-10-2011, 08:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

(...) Southern to Azores, although not sure how much wind there is...

Oftentimes less. Not an issue in any proper SAILING boat. Issue in a clunker.

b.

rpeebles · 27-10-2011, 09:55

Thanks for all the great replies! Has anyone done it? Or do you know of any references to experiences, logs. etc.?

**boatman61** · 27-10-2011, 10:10

Done St Martin to the Azores twice.... best 21 days... worst 27... a 32ftr and a 34...

**estarzinger** · 27-10-2011, 10:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by rpeebles

Thanks for all the great replies! Has anyone done it? Or do you know of any references to experiences, logs. etc.?

We did it in 1992 (newport to azores) and 2000 (USVU to ireland). Following is from our website on the 2000 trip.

May 24, 2000
51 degrees 42 minutes north; 8 degrees 30 minutes west
USVI to Kinsale Yacht Club, Kinsale, Ireland

Hello everyone!

We made landfall on Fastnet Rock about 9:30 AM local time on Sunday, May 21st. A cold misty drizzle fell, the white clouds touched the wave tops a few miles from the boat, the silver and gray water flashed green where it turned to the wind. Out of the waves rose a jagged, black molar crowned on one side with a high white lighthouse, stark, remote and foreboding. Exactly the landfall we had both pictured - a heart stopping, awe-inspiring moment we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Four hours later, we were running under the full main and poled out jib in 18 knots apparent under a pastel blue sky with a few fluffy clouds playing tag over the mast. To port, the green and gold fields of Ireland rolled away from dark cliffs that plummeted straight to the sea. Ruined castles, towers and keeps graced every headland. Still two miles offshore and we were overwhelmed by the smell of the flowers, a heavy scent which I could almost feel as it invaded the boat overpowering the musky odor of three weeks close confinement. Not at all the landfall I had pictured, but surely one of the most lovely coasts we've ever sailed along. Not the harsh, rugged, untamed beauty of Newfoundland, but the comfortable, civilized, cultivated beauty of the French countryside made more compelling by the steep cliffs and crashing waves.

Our passage took 24 days with a 48-hour stop in Flores, the westernmost of the Azores islands. We had intended to sail north toward Bermuda before turning east, but within a day of leaving the Caribbean it became clear that the summer season had not yet settled in. Neither the Bermuda nor the Azores highs were in place, and lows were tracking across the Atlantic at 33-35 degrees north instead of 38-40 as would be normal in this season. We ended up sailing the rhumb line to the Azores through the normally calm center of the Atlantic, and spent most of our time close-reaching in 20-30 knots. We spent several days trying to slow the boat down to avoid a large low pressure system converging on us as we approached the Azores. Under staysail alone, Hawk was doing 7-8 knots in ~30 knots 60 degrees off the wind. When the staysail shackle blew up and the halyard went up the mast 60 miles off Flores, we decided we'd rather retrieve it at anchor than in the 10 foot seas then running.

So we pulled into Flores, a jewel of an island, over 100 miles west of Faial and the rest of the Azores group. A new breakwall at Lajes on the southeastern corner offered excellent protection from the strong NW winds and allowed us two nights of deep and dreamless sleep. Besides retrieving the halyard (to find the shackle broken in half from crevice corrosion), we tended to a half dozen other small fixes from repairing the webbing chafe-protection on one batten to caulking one of our fixed ports which was (believe it or not) leaking. By the time we left on the leading edge of a large high pressure system, we were rested and ready for the next leg.

The high filled more quickly than expected, so we had two days of light air. But on the third day the wind filled in again, and we found ourselves close-reaching once more. The two days before we made landfall we were making 8-9 knots under the double-reefed main and staysail with the wind just forward of the beam. We spent the entire passage expecting SW winds, and saw all of three hours of wind from that direction. So much for pilot charts and prevailing winds!

Kinsale is picture postcard perfect. We're on the visitor's dock at the Yacht Club, and enjoying all manner of luxuries from fresh local cheeses to gourmet meats to organic fruits and vegetables. We'll send you another update on the town and our experiences here shortly!

Hope this finds everyone well and warm, and looking forward to their own sailing adventures.

Beth and Evans
s/v Hawk

tonytheboat · 07-11-2011, 03:54

have done east to west and west to east, this time of year put as much fuel as you can safely carry and head straight for the azores , any problems head for horta and duncan sweet in the mid atlantic yacht services he good and so is his rigger . and if you go in the sports bar listen to the conversation s around the sea gypsey are all around. and order a canacker beer very large good sailing and pleasent winds to you all, tony the boat

**boatman61** · 07-11-2011, 04:24

worst crossing was 40 days Beaufort NC to Horta 40 days solo.... storms and gear failure... that was a May/June crossing...

Gimme the Carib-Azores route any day

goboatingnow · 07-11-2011, 04:47

Depending on where you want to make landfall in Northern Europe, they key is to be across well before the end of August and later then start of April.

Dave