TO:alfonsoochoa311.goforaride@blogger.com
The unstable Atlantic
Today it's been 9 days since we left Tenerife and we've seen all sort of conditions.
Dead calms and flat seas just after our departure, nice moderate running and head winds which we made good progress with, strong gale force winds up to 42 knots and very choppy seas, lots of squalls sometimes friendly ones that give us nice breeze where the wind is too light and somtimes unpredictable ones with mean sudden changes of wind strenght and direction that have made their mark on the boat.
I guess this is just the Atlantic.
A few years ago when reading about surfing, I read this phrase about the unstable Atlantic and ever since I started sailing I wondered and somehow feared crossing this piece of ocean. But I always thought it would be the other way around that would be hard. The crossing from Europe to the Caribbean it's meant to be dominated by the consistant and helping tradewinds which haven't settled yet this year so far, and thus making us go out of our way into higher latitudes in search for winds.
Now we're back into an area of calm variable winds and expecting the arrival of another cold front with more head winds.
Some of the crew need to go back home to work, and after a day of very little progress, a bit of frustration and some deliberation we've turned on the engine and trying to make the best progress towards Sain Marteen so some of the guys can make it to their respective commitments on time.
Dissapointed not to complete the crossing by sail, but that's life sometimes and I guess that's the Atlantic, big, deep and very unpredicatable.
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