ST HELENA TO FERNANDO DE NORONHA, BRAZIL

ST HELENA TO FERNANDO DE NORONHA, BRAZIL

FEBRUARY 19 – MARCH 5, 2017

We departed the St Helena mooring field at 1130 hrs (UTC-2) on February 19^th, 2017.  This leg of the voyage provided the best downwind sailing we have ever experienced: day after day of constant SE’ly Trade winds blowing 10-20 kts; very few squalls and moderate seas.  It just doesn’t get any better.  “Solstice” is a cutter rigged yacht.  This means that we have a forestay shroud that will accommodate a poled out staysail.  In Phuket, Thailand I had two stainless steel eyes riveted on the port and stbd. side of the mast so that a whisker pole could be clipped on and led outboard at a 90 degree angle.  Additionally, we have a carbon fiber pole on a track that allows the genoa to be poled out on the port or stbd. side.  This translates into being able to sail downwind with a poled out genoa and a poled out staysail.  In a 15 kt wind, the yacht can make 6.5-7.0 kts effortlessly and be very comfortable.  There will be some rolling as each sail pulls and eases but the motion is comfortable.

The great South Atlantic Ocean is a vast oceanic wilderness with few places to stop in case of an emergency.  Several yachts had had problems with their rudders and had to abandon ship and be rescued by merchant vessels.  To add a safety feature to the long passage from Cape Town to St Helena (1700 nm), St Helena to Fernando de Noronha (1736 nm), Fernando de Noronha to Tobago (1900 nm), we agreed to sail with another yacht: a 36’ Malo named “Norsa”.  What this meant was that because “Solstice” is 40’ and “Norsa” is 36’, the bigger boat would have to reduce sail area so that the other could keep up.  Because this was a downwind sailing voyage, we weren’t able to use the twin jibs all the time unless “Norsa” was flying a spinnaker type of sail known as the “Parasailor” which gave them extra sail area and speed.  They were reluctant to do this during the night because of squalls and increased wind speed.  It was a compromise for both vessels.  We sailed together about 1-1/2 nm apart and communicated via VHF radio at scheduled times.  The thought behind this was that, if an emergency occurred, one vessel would be able to standby and assist or tow the other if needed.

The following mileage figures indicate sail reduction by “Solstice” to accommodate “Norsa’s” speed.  If sailing alone, we would have averaged an additional 24 nm per day:

Feb 20^th   119 nm     Avg. Speed = 5.0 kts   Noon-to-Noon  DTG =1617

Feb 21^st    128 nm    Avg. Speed = 5.3 kts    Noon to- Noon            1489

Feb 22^nd   133 nm    Avg. Speed = 5.5 kts    Noon-to- Noon            1356

Feb 23^rd    124 nm    Avg. Speed = 5.2 kts   Noon-to-Noon              1232

Feb 24^th     129 nm   Avg. Speed = 5.4 kts   Noon –to-Noon            1107

Feb 25^th     116 nm   Avg. Speed  = 4.8 kts   Noon-to-Noon               991

Feb 26^th     104 nm   Avg. Speed =  4.3 kts   Noon-to-Noon               887 

Feb 27^th     119 nm   Avg. Speed  = 5.0 kts   Noon-to-Noon               768

Feb 28^th     123 nm   Avg. Speed =  5.1 kts        Noon-to-Noon          645

March 1^st   123 nm  Avg. Speed =  5.1 kts         Noon-to-Noon          522           

March 2^nd   127 nm  Avg. Speed = 5.3 kts   Noon-to-Noon                395

March 3^rd    149 nm  Avg. Speed = 6.2 kts   Noon-to-Noon                246  

March 4^th    133 nm  Avg. Speed = 5.5 kts   Noon-to-Noon                113 

March 5^th    113 nm  Avg. Speed = 5.0 kts in 22.5 hrs                               0

Total Distance Made Good = 1740 nm in 335 hrs @ 5.2 kts avg.

During this passage, the SE Trade Winds were fully established and never varied much with an average of 15 kts and a ½ -1.0 kts favorable current.  Some adverse current was experienced at times.

Dropped anchor in Fernando de Noronha at 1030 hrs (UTC-2) on March 5^th, 2017 on a sandy bottom in 45’ water depth.  The anchorage is rolly but tolerable.