About the Atlantic Ocean

Since we're in the process of crossing the Atlantic, I thought it might be interesting to learn a bit more about this particular ocean. It's the second largest ocean (after the Pacific) and covers about 20% of the Earth's surface. Size-wise, it's roughly equivalent to 6.5 times the size of the USA.

The Atlantic Ocean's name derives from Greek mythology referring to Atlas the Titan. The Greeks originally considered any waters beyond the Strait of Gibraltar as Atlantis thalassa, in English, the Sea of Atlas, i.e. the Atlantic. According to Wiki, the oldest recorded reference to the “Atlantic” is mentioned in The Histories of Herodotus c. 450BC. If you remember your Greek myths, Atlas was the fellow who carried the world on his shoulders for eternity. Incidentally, the early Greeks believed that the “ocean” was an enormous river which encircled the world.

There's a submarine mountain range known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which extends from Iceland in the north to South Georgia Island in the south, dividing two major basins, with an average depth of  nearly 11,000' (3,340m) deep. The deepest part of the Atlantic at 28,000' (8600m) is the Milwaukee Deep near Puerto Rico. The jagged light blue line stretching vertically in this satellite image clearly shows the Mid Atlantic Ridge.

The Atlantic is the second youngest of the five oceans formed when the super-continent Pangea separated and the area between the newly formed continents filled with water … now the mighty Atlantic. You can see how Africa fits so nicely with South America … like a puzzle piece.

Though Leif Erikson is remembered as the first explorer to reach North America more than 500 years before Columbus, it was the crossing of the Atlantic by later European explorers in the Age of Discovery that was key to the development and expansion of Western civilization into the Americas.  After all, it's the Atlantic Ocean that separates the "Old World" from the "New World". Our British cruising friends always refer to crossing the Atlantic as “heading across the pond”. I read that the term “Black Atlantic” referred to the extensive Atlantic slave trade and the term “Green Atlantic” was coined to describe the Irish migration to the USA. Incidentally, it's no surprise that the Atlantic was the first ocean to be crossed by both a ship and an airplane.

So there you have it in a nutshell … all you never wanted nor needed to know about the Atlantic in one short blog post. I've obviously got quite a bit of time on my hands during this passage, huh?

Lüderitz to St. Helena - Days 5 & 6

days 5 - 6

Day 5

Miles to go: 840

Yet another gloomy, raw morning after a moonless, starless night. What's up with that? The sky is grey. The sea is grey. Blah, blah, blah! A maniacal wind god got his kicks playing with the wind velocity during the night. First it was 20 knots of wind, then 4 knots, then 20, then 7, then 25 ... all in quick succession, over and over and over. We'd wonder if we should think about reefing, then we wondered if we should get out the oars and help move us along. We're now about 20 degrees off course and thinking about poling out as the wind shifts more southeasterly. I'm sure as soon as we set out the pole, the wind will shift back again. And this was supposed to be a fast trip. Hmmm...no matter, I guess. We'll get there when we get there.

We've met only a few ships, mostly several miles off. A few Chinese fishing vessels were in our path hauling nets, but they were well clear before we passed on through.

We've settled into a routine. Three hours on, three hours off. During the days, we spend a few hours together, eating meals, chatting, talking about new book ideas and where we'll head after the Guianas. Otherwise, we nap and read and write and prepare meals and clean up. On passages, I cook and David cleans up. I consider this a vacation. We have our little daily rituals. David makes his tour of the deck each morning. So far, no major issues to report (thank, Neptune) which is somewhat incredible. I've packed away the Namibian courtesy flag and dug out the St. Helena and Q flags. I try to wipe down the cockpit daily...residual Luderitz sand, salt, and errant crew crumbs mount up if I don't stay on top of it.

We're ready for St. Helena, but still 840 miles to go. And just in case I haven't stressed it enough, it's still cold!

Day 6

Miles to go: 745

What in Neptune's name was I thinking? No major issues, I said. Doing well with power because of solar, wind and prop, I bragged. Am I freakin' crazy to have said that out loud? Written it down and actually shared it with you? Even thought the thought  it in the first place?

Shortly after posting that last blog, we rigged the pole ... which promptly collapsed and bent into a very neat 90 degree angle rendering it much less useable. It's currently lashed, rather artistically, to the mast pulpit, awaiting the captain's verdict as to what will be done. No matter, there is no wind anyway. The erratic S/SE winds calmed to a constant 5-7 knots max. Overcast skies (no solar), no wind gen output and minimal prop gen output, have all contributed to "load shedding" aboard. Bah!

We're eating lots of oranges this trip. On my last shop at OK Grocery ( it's not great, but it's OK?) in Luderitz, they had a special on oranges ... 6 kg (that's about 13# worth) for less than $3! What a deal! But that's quite a crop of oranges and it required a separate trip to the dinghy to haul them (and hanging a separate hammock to contain them all aboard). David was surprised at the volume purchase. "Scurvy", I replied ...enough said.

Now, why did that topic come up today? Well, eating oranges, at the moment, is the bright spot of the day! The skies are still grey. We've seen no whales, dolphins or Krakens. The only sea life we've seen are two stiff, dried-out, smelly squid on deck. There have been no gorgeous sunrises or sunsets ...nary a one. There is no wind to speak of and we're moving at glacial speed...not even fast enough to fish. There's no extra power, so laptop usage has been curtailed. Quite honestly, I'm getting a bit cranky. David woke from his off-watch nap and could smell the  foul humor in the air. It was that palpable.

David has been pondering the pole situation. This is not a new problem. He's worked on the whisker pole several times since Australia, usually resulting in the pole becoming useful, albeit shorter, for some indeterminate period of time, and then breaking again. We need a new pole, and it's on the wish list, but was not in the budget in Cape Town after all of our other repairs and purchases. This time he aims to remove the extension altogether (it's the weakest point) and we'll use it as a mini-whisker with a reefed foresail...better than no pole at all. That was his project this afternoon and he worked assiduously at it with good results. I marvel at his sure-footedness as he works on the deck while the boat is rocking and rolling. I'm always amazed at his solutions and how well they work out. We now have a mini-whisker, about 5m long and it seems to be working just fine.

Miracle of miracles, the sun appeared late this afternoon, as did a pod of whales. It wasn't actually warm, but it was warm-er. I soaked it up and my blue funk evaporated. David saw a green flash. Things are looking up.

Passage Days 7 & 8 coming up1

Lüderitz to St. Helena - Days 3 & 4

days 3-4

Day 3

Miles to go: 1080

Ahhhh...sunshine! Amazing what a couple of hours sleep can do for a body. I woke refreshed from a solid 3 hour nap and David, on his off-watch, did the same. The seasickness has passed and there were scrambled eggs and toast on the breakfast menu this morning. The passage soup went overboard. The bright sunshine does wonders for our demeanors. We've shed our first layer of clothes...our weather jackets aren't necessary in the cockpit, at least during the day.

We've seen a few birds ...a pair of gannets, some petrels and shearwaters and one fine albatross that swoops down to check us out every once in awhile. No dolphins, no whales, no flying fish...yet.

The wind has maintained at about 12-15 knots with 1-2 meter (3-6') seas..a few gusts into the 20s, but nothing uncomfortable. We're moving along at 5.5 knots on average and could probably eke out another half knot if we wanted to shake out a reef, but we're not in any hurry. Maybe later. Despite the cold, rocky start, it's good to be back on the sea again. Now that we can read again, the watches pass more quickly.

By mid-afternoon, a blanket of dense grey clouds obliterated the sun, and we were back to a bleak, overcast sky. We think the cold African coast waters meeting with the subtropical warmer waters might be responsible or ... it's just South Atlantic weather this time of year.

Day 4

Miles to go: 956

Rain? We haven't seen rain since we left Cape Town and it kind of surprised me. I scurried to get everything below before it got wet, but it was just a quick shower and it passed as suddenly as it appeared. It's been misty on and off, a nuisance when everything gets damp.

The night was another pitch black one...overcast, no moon, no stars, no light at all. David had to use a flashlight just to find the wind gen on the aft deck. On an up note, between the wind gen, the solar and the new prop gen, we haven't had to start the engine at all...a savings in diesel, engine wear and noise pollution. The solar, however, has definitely not been doing its share. We're looking for much sunnier weather in the very near future. The sun did peek out this morning briefly, but after one brilliant shine, it retreated behind a dense grey cloak of clouds, not to be seen again. Every once in awhile we spotted a small patch of blue sky, just enough to convince us that blue sky still exists above the grey.

We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn early this morning. We're officially in the tropics, but you can't prove it based on the temperature. It's still mighty chilly.

Continue on Days 5 & 6 ... bundle up!