Non stop solo voyage Argentina to Spain..

[boatman61]

Well here's an adventure and a half..
A Spanish guy who had not seen his elderly father for a few years intended flying home to Spain earlier this year but the Covid-19 drama stopped all flights to Europe.
Not to be thwarted in what could be his last reunion with his dad he bought a 32ft boat and sailed from Argentina to Spain nonstop.. an estimated 8500km.
The cherry on the cake of the 83 day voyage was he made port on his fathers birthday..
Amazing story.. fathers chuffed to bits and the son looks to be pretty healthy and happy in the tv news report of the boats arrival.
Respect..

[El Pinguino]

Meanwhile... going the other way...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/w...na-sailor.html

[boatman61]

Damn.. I got it the wrong way around.. this is the same guy.
Seems my Portuguese is not good enough to grasp fast speakers as yet..

[roverhi]

Wasn't that an awfully slow passage. Even if the rhumbline course had the wind on the nose, heading north to get more favorable winds wouldn't add that much to the passage. The boat looks like a capable sailor that should be able to average a 100 miles a day even with no engine and crossing the doldrums.

Can't imagine stocking enough rice and tuna fish for an 85 day passage if he didn't get any resupply in Cape Verde

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Respect..

Nice one, Boatie!

I think we all need to hear stories like these.

Thank you,
LittleWing77

[JPA Cate]

El Ping,

Thanks for the link. I'm with Boatie, definitely a chapeau moment.

Ann

[barnakiel]

Not a fast one but not a very slow either.


The good thing was he wend South when the ITCZ was moving North.


The bad thing is crossing that way is more difficult than crossing Nortwards. By the token that if you opt to be further E you get plenty of calms, and if you cross further W you get somewhat unfriendly angle below the zone.


And sailing alone possibly he was able to move her as fast as we do when double handed.


Hell of a voyage by any standard. Envy, too.


barnakiel

[Stu Jackson]

Always nice to hear good news, thx, Boatie.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Wasn't that an awfully slow passage. Even if the rhumbline course had the wind on the nose, heading north to get more favorable winds wouldn't add that much to the passage. The boat looks like a capable sailor that should be able to average a 100 miles a day even with no engine and crossing the doldrums.

Can't imagine stocking enough rice and tuna fish for an 85 day passage if he didn't get any resupply in Cape Verde

Not really.. its an Ohlson 29 so 90 to 95 a day would be a good average.. my Caribe to UK non stop took 47 days 10 of which were calms or very light winds.
This was on a Bene 321.
According to the report he stopped 10 days in Brazil as well. Seems a well seasoned sailor by all accounts.

[snort]

I can't access the article. I wonder if he's new to sailing.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by snort

I can't access the article. I wonder if he's new to sailing.

I do not think so. Neither the boat nor he looks like he is new to sailing.


barnakiel

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by snort

I can't access the article. I wonder if he's new to sailing.

From the time he was 3, his father took him aboard the fishing vessels he captained.

When he turned 18, he took a job on a fishing boat in southern Argentina. Off the coast of Patagonia, one of the most experienced fishermen aboard gave him a piece of advice that would become a way of life.

“Go see the world,” the fisherman said.

And so he did.
Mr. Ballestero has spent much of his life sailing, with stops in Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Bali, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Brazil, Alaska and Spain.
He has tagged sea turtles and whales for conservation organizations and spent summers working as a skipper aboard boats owned by wealthy Europeans.
He bought his sailboat, an Ohlson 29 named the Skua, in 2017, hoping to take it on a loop around the world. It proved up to the task of traversing an ocean on a planet plunged into crisis mode.

Copied and pasted from the article..