leaving Gibralter in Feb for crossing

[charlieatsea]

Hello
If anyone has any useful tips for me as i plan oncrossing the Atlantic in Feb/march by myself on my Wibo 930 a 9.50m steel hull van der stadt design.
Is it too late ?
Via the east coast Canaries and down to Cap Vert ?
Many thanks if you can help
CHARLIE

[Ram]

Be careful of the cold fronts coming down from the north- Good luck !-

[boatman61]

Head for Cape St Vincent then run across to Madiera... stop over or carry straight on towards Bermuda, from about halfway there you should start picking up SW'lies that will allow you to curve N towards NY... late Feb early March should be okay..

[MarkJ]

No it's fine till April but you need to get to the Caribbean before early May.
Cape Verde Islands are not all that high on the interest factor because the population is not original it's been transplanted there from Africa in the last 50 years or so. It's not like some African culture that's been there for thousands of years.

The interesting stuff really is the Canary Islands, but do Cape Verde if you have time

[boatman61]

Cap Verdes...
Its Portuguese and been that way a few hundred years... poor islands that are slowly moving into the tourist sphere.. but worth the visit... nice people..

[charlieatsea]

very kind for your reply. But surely i should head further south before heading across. i do not intend to go to NY but my destination is Salvador de Bahia in Brazil..
Do you know this route/destination ?

[barnakiel]

Feb is OK, BUT (this is an intentionally big but) you must chose your wx window very carefully.

From Gibraltar, if you have good wx awarness onboard, run directly for Canary Islands where you can get some rest/repair (if needed) prior to heading further South. Again, pick up your wx window carefully. The alternative is to sail via Madeira or Maroc. Chose your tactic based on how strong the crew/boat are and on how well you can monitor wx while on the passage.

From Canary Islands to Brazil one can sail at any time of the year BUT not all times are equally nice. Consult Pilot Charts to avoid spending weeks in the dolldrums or geting pasted by a budding tropical depression in the vicinity of CV.

CV are not really Portuguese like anymore. Today, they are African with Portuguese aftertaste I dare say. Islands further out West are more Portuguese than the Eastwards ones. There is a marina in Mindelho but do read Noonsite details prior to stopping over - there are security issues there.

Monitor wx on the Gibraltar-Canary Islands stretch at least one month in advance of your passage - this will give you some idea of what size the windows are and how the air flows in our region.

Cheers,
barnakiel
sent from Canary Islands

[goboatingnow]

I can only add to the sound advice given in the above threads, I would say that it is possible to cross without having to go as far south as the Canaries or even anywhere near the Verdes, However there are big BUTS. Firstly theye is the position of the Azores High and secondly you can get clobbered by fronts coming down from the North . This can make part of it a beat to windward, which you really dont want.

Id suggest following the sage advice and head to the canaries, there you can monitor the trades and pick how far north or south you need to go to ensure a reasonable crossing,

Leaving Gib in February, you need to study your weather windows, There can be very nasty weather of the Portuguese coast right south the the Latitude of Madeira. Closer to the Canaries one gets more settled conditions.

Dave

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Head for Cape St Vincent then run across to Madiera... stop over or carry straight on towards Bermuda, from about halfway there you should start picking up SW'lies that will allow you to curve N towards NY... late Feb early March should be okay..

Opppssss...
Sorry about that... got confused with another thread...

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by charlieatsea

very kind for your reply. But surely i should head further south before heading across. i do not intend to go to NY but my destination is Salvador de Bahia in Brazil..
Do you know this route/destination ?

You didn't put that in your original post, so you can expect us to be mind readers

Yes, Gib, Canaries, Cape Verd Islands, Receiffe Brazil, not Forteleza.
The interesting thing to note there are the currents split and one goes north the other south so if you are heading to Salvador de Bahia you want the south setting current.
Barnakeil is right that technically there is no bad season, except you will be blasted from Gib, and Cape Verd could be bad in the hurricane season, but you can definitly leave the Canary Islands before those crossing to the Caribbean.

The ICTZ when I went to Brazil 12 years ago was about 200 miles wide. It's kinds fun to go through... The squalls have wind otherwise nothing so instead of avoiding squalls you run towards them!

Salvador de Bahia is truly wonderful. I won't have to suggest having a good time, its impossible not to.

Mark

[charlieatsea]

many thanks very helpful and apreciated

[charlieatsea]

"mind readers" ive heard that sort of thing from numerous ex's.. I am in the south of France at the moment but Canaries will be a definate waypoint, for rest checks and surf. Many thanks for all your replys
Charlie