February 1996 Bequia, St. Vincent West Indies
We finally made it!
Europe is over 3000 miles behind us. The 8 year refit has transformed Alvei from a tired coastal freighter into an attractive andcapable square rigger. Our long project is operational and the best is yet to come. After a few frantic weeks of finishing a long list of work projects and provisioning food stores we set sail from Portugal with a crew of 16.
The passage to Madeira.
Most everyone will tell you it takes about 5 days to make the 550 mile passage to the Island of Madeira. However theyseem to forget to tell you a good portion of the time they spent motoring. After 2 days of fair wind we had 2 weeks of southerly gales and calms.There were lots of swim stops and beautiful starry nights. After the 3rd gale, a solid force 8 on the Beaufort scale, everyone was getting good atheavy weather sailing. By day 16 of the passage we found ourselves becalmed in the area of Josephine Seamount, about half way to ourdestination. There had been much discussion about why we didn't turn on the motor and drive. -"Is this some kind of an ethical issue?"- Many ofthe older people were frustrated by our lack of progress while most of the younger people were happy to just float around out there. After a meetingof the whole crew it was discovered one of the fellows was running out of asthma medication, which constituted a 'possible medical urgency. Sowe fired up the engine and drove south for 2 days. This put us within sight of the island of Porto Santo. Another day of sailing and motoring untilwe finally dropped anchor at Funchal, Madeira, 19 days out of Porto, Portugal.
The island of Madeira.
We spent a week in Madeira sight seeing around this beautiful island and provisioning more fresh food stores at the Central Market. Then the winds turned southerly, coming from the direction of the Canary Islands, our next destination. So, we waited another week for fair winds then made the passage to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria in less than 3 days.
Gran Canaria.
There is a large marina at Las Palmas with berths for hundreds of yachts. The nice thing about the place is hot showers and lots of other sailors to swap sea stories with. But it cost a hundred dollars a week just to drop the anchor, (ouch!) Again we took on food, fuel and water for the crossing and sailed for the island of La Gomera.
La Gomera.
A quick overnight passage we had Alvei sailing along at over 8 knots. The port town of San Sebastian is where Columbus took onwater before his historic voyage. The view from the bay is like a barren lunar landscape of rugged hills. However, after venturlng to the other sideof the island we found steep terraced gardens and a significant number of Gennan tourists. Sort of a mango paradise for the hippie elite. Six days later we were on our way across the Pond with a crew of twelve.
Transatlantic Voyage.
Our voyage started much like the passage from Porto, 2 days of wind, then no wind, then a sou'westerly gale that lasted another 2 days. When things calmed down we found ourselves only 80 miles off the African coast. Not wanting to venture into that inhospitable shore I suggested we return to Las Palmas to wait for better conditions.
Fair wind.
I soon learned several of the crew were pluming to jump ship soon as we got to port. Finding more crew over the Christmas holidayswould have delayed us another month. So as soon as the westerly backed to a light southerly we steered west toward Barbados. Some of the crew were a very dlsappointed after they realized we were not returning to Las Palmas. From this point on the complaints about Alvei,(trying to find an excuse to turn back), never stopped.
Expectations.
At this point it is important to understand what Alvei is and is not. Several of the short term crew clearly expected Alvei to be closer to the standards one would find on something like Mike Burke's Barefoot Adventure Cruises, where the order of the day is to eat, drink, lie in the sun and read and occasionally take a turn at the wheel. They lamented the lack of fresh water showers and washing machines to do their laundry. After asking people to turn off unneeded lights I was labeled "the miser", then they complained about having to listen to the generator that charged the batteries that powered the unneeded lights. I was asked why they should be subject to my Spartan lifestyle. I had to remind them they were paying $17 dollars a day on Alvei while Mike Burke charged $130 dollars a day. There is also the difference between being a charter guest and crew. It will take another couple of years of sailing and saving money before we can buy more convenience items, until then we will have to do some things the old fashioned way.
Slow going.
We continued to have light airs and head winds for another 10 days, while slowly working our way south. Every day people would swim around the boat. We rigged a swing off the lower yard arm to add a little excitement. Slowly working our way south and west, the weather getting warmer each day.
Rendezvous at sea.
Two weeks out of La Gomera we spoke with the 37 meter sloop "Beau Geste" who was at that point 2 days out of Las Palmas. They were astounded we had made so little progress in 2 weeks, but we were sailing along at 1-1/2 knots while they were motoring at 10 knots, so go figure. However they did have a weather fax and told us we could expect to pick up the trades another hundred miles to the south. After several 25 mile days we did pick up the trade winds and finally started to move.
Flying fish.
One morning a flying fish appeared on deck. The fish dried with wings in the flight position so we hitched him under the Mizzen boom with some spun yarn where he has become our wind direction indicator. At first people were wrinkling their nose and tossing them back over the side in the morning. So, I cooked and ate one for breakfast, they really are tasty, after that the idea caught on and they were in much demand as a supplement to the usual morning bowl of Muesli.
Marine mammals.
A family of Dolphin fish (Dorado) swam with us for about a week hunting the abundant schools of flying fish. We were visited by a Fin whale measuring nearly 12 meters, several pods of Pilot Whales, a very active Minki and lots of White Sided Dolphins.
Trade winds.
As we continued south and west toward the latitude of Barbados with all 6 square sails set, rolling along at 6 and 7 knots with a long foaming wake. There was little to do but alter course slightly to keep the wind on the quarter and trim the braces. For 2 weeks we seldom touched a line. We enjoyed brillant starry nights and watched a waning moon rise later each night as it back tracked its way across the constellations of the zodiac.
Land ho!
By the last week most of ehe crew were restless to see land again. We sighted Barbados the afternoon of the 38th day and dropped anchor in Carlisle Bay early in the morning of 17 January. For me there were 2 records, the slowest passage, Porto to Funchal, averaging 29 miles a day and the
Europe is over 3000 miles behind us. The 8 year refit has transformed Alvei from a tired coastal freighter into an attractive andcapable square rigger. Our long project is operational and the best is yet to come. After a few frantic weeks of finishing a long list of work projects and provisioning food stores we set sail from Portugal with a crew of 16.
The passage to Madeira.
Most everyone will tell you it takes about 5 days to make the 550 mile passage to the Island of Madeira. However theyseem to forget to tell you a good portion of the time they spent motoring. After 2 days of fair wind we had 2 weeks of southerly gales and calms.There were lots of swim stops and beautiful starry nights. After the 3rd gale, a solid force 8 on the Beaufort scale, everyone was getting good atheavy weather sailing. By day 16 of the passage we found ourselves becalmed in the area of Josephine Seamount, about half way to ourdestination. There had been much discussion about why we didn't turn on the motor and drive. -"Is this some kind of an ethical issue?"- Many ofthe older people were frustrated by our lack of progress while most of the younger people were happy to just float around out there. After a meetingof the whole crew it was discovered one of the fellows was running out of asthma medication, which constituted a 'possible medical urgency. Sowe fired up the engine and drove south for 2 days. This put us within sight of the island of Porto Santo. Another day of sailing and motoring untilwe finally dropped anchor at Funchal, Madeira, 19 days out of Porto, Portugal.
The island of Madeira.
We spent a week in Madeira sight seeing around this beautiful island and provisioning more fresh food stores at the Central Market. Then the winds turned southerly, coming from the direction of the Canary Islands, our next destination. So, we waited another week for fair winds then made the passage to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria in less than 3 days.
Gran Canaria.
There is a large marina at Las Palmas with berths for hundreds of yachts. The nice thing about the place is hot showers and lots of other sailors to swap sea stories with. But it cost a hundred dollars a week just to drop the anchor, (ouch!) Again we took on food, fuel and water for the crossing and sailed for the island of La Gomera.
La Gomera.
A quick overnight passage we had Alvei sailing along at over 8 knots. The port town of San Sebastian is where Columbus took onwater before his historic voyage. The view from the bay is like a barren lunar landscape of rugged hills. However, after venturlng to the other sideof the island we found steep terraced gardens and a significant number of Gennan tourists. Sort of a mango paradise for the hippie elite. Six days later we were on our way across the Pond with a crew of twelve.
Transatlantic Voyage.
Our voyage started much like the passage from Porto, 2 days of wind, then no wind, then a sou'westerly gale that lasted another 2 days. When things calmed down we found ourselves only 80 miles off the African coast. Not wanting to venture into that inhospitable shore I suggested we return to Las Palmas to wait for better conditions.
Fair wind.
I soon learned several of the crew were pluming to jump ship soon as we got to port. Finding more crew over the Christmas holidayswould have delayed us another month. So as soon as the westerly backed to a light southerly we steered west toward Barbados. Some of the crew were a very dlsappointed after they realized we were not returning to Las Palmas. From this point on the complaints about Alvei,(trying to find an excuse to turn back), never stopped.
Expectations.
At this point it is important to understand what Alvei is and is not. Several of the short term crew clearly expected Alvei to be closer to the standards one would find on something like Mike Burke's Barefoot Adventure Cruises, where the order of the day is to eat, drink, lie in the sun and read and occasionally take a turn at the wheel. They lamented the lack of fresh water showers and washing machines to do their laundry. After asking people to turn off unneeded lights I was labeled "the miser", then they complained about having to listen to the generator that charged the batteries that powered the unneeded lights. I was asked why they should be subject to my Spartan lifestyle. I had to remind them they were paying $17 dollars a day on Alvei while Mike Burke charged $130 dollars a day. There is also the difference between being a charter guest and crew. It will take another couple of years of sailing and saving money before we can buy more convenience items, until then we will have to do some things the old fashioned way.
Slow going.
We continued to have light airs and head winds for another 10 days, while slowly working our way south. Every day people would swim around the boat. We rigged a swing off the lower yard arm to add a little excitement. Slowly working our way south and west, the weather getting warmer each day.
Rendezvous at sea.
Two weeks out of La Gomera we spoke with the 37 meter sloop "Beau Geste" who was at that point 2 days out of Las Palmas. They were astounded we had made so little progress in 2 weeks, but we were sailing along at 1-1/2 knots while they were motoring at 10 knots, so go figure. However they did have a weather fax and told us we could expect to pick up the trades another hundred miles to the south. After several 25 mile days we did pick up the trade winds and finally started to move.
Flying fish.
One morning a flying fish appeared on deck. The fish dried with wings in the flight position so we hitched him under the Mizzen boom with some spun yarn where he has become our wind direction indicator. At first people were wrinkling their nose and tossing them back over the side in the morning. So, I cooked and ate one for breakfast, they really are tasty, after that the idea caught on and they were in much demand as a supplement to the usual morning bowl of Muesli.
Marine mammals.
A family of Dolphin fish (Dorado) swam with us for about a week hunting the abundant schools of flying fish. We were visited by a Fin whale measuring nearly 12 meters, several pods of Pilot Whales, a very active Minki and lots of White Sided Dolphins.
Trade winds.
As we continued south and west toward the latitude of Barbados with all 6 square sails set, rolling along at 6 and 7 knots with a long foaming wake. There was little to do but alter course slightly to keep the wind on the quarter and trim the braces. For 2 weeks we seldom touched a line. We enjoyed brillant starry nights and watched a waning moon rise later each night as it back tracked its way across the constellations of the zodiac.
Land ho!
By the last week most of ehe crew were restless to see land again. We sighted Barbados the afternoon of the 38th day and dropped anchor in Carlisle Bay early in the morning of 17 January. For me there were 2 records, the slowest passage, Porto to Funchal, averaging 29 miles a day and the