Atlantic Crossing: About to be underway.
Monday, January 10th was start day for the 2022 ARC January—a rally for cruising boats that are set to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. The nearly 60 boats departed from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, and arrive in St. Lucia at the end of January.
We haven’t left just yet, but are about to…. yesterday morning was windy and warm, and right away we were met with challenges. A boat to our port cut our med-mooring line as they exited, one crew member cut his foot, and another tested positive for COVID. (Way to go, Chris! Way to go!)
[Insert COVID protocols here to explain delays.] And yada, yada, yada…
We are gearing up to officially leave, and we’re hopeful it’s with a better overall forecast. There are some big holes in the Atlantic between the Canary Islands and the solid NE trade winds that will sweep us into the Caribbean. But we’ve got the fuel to bridge the gaps, and the forecast is better and more encouraging now than it was 24 hours ago. Still light but very reaching biased, which is good for us.
Fingers crossed we’ll slip our dock lines this afternoon. I’ll post more and share via my social channels as the journey unfolds. (Weather routing below.)
WEATHER ROUTING
solution details created at: Tue Jan 11, 2022 09:37 UTC
Vessel name: SV Thula
Solution name: Solution
Sailing polar: Amel50Polar @ 90%, night scale: 75%
Wind file: BIG LOOK.20220111.00.grb2 @ 100%
Wave file: BIG LOOK.20220111.00.grb2 @ 100%
Current file: RTOFS.20220110.00.grb2 @ 100%
Sailing angle limits: upwind: 55° true, downwind: 170° true
Avoid wind speeds greater than: 30.0 kn true
Avoid wind speeds less than: no limit set.
Avoid wave height greater than: 12.0 ft
Tack/Jibe penalty: 2 min, penalty at night: 15 min
Land clearance distance: 0.0 nm
Constraint sequence:
28°06.5'N, 15°20.3'W. Start point.
14°34.3'N, 45°07.7'W. Target point.
Route start date: Tue Jan 11, 2022 18:16 UTC
Arrival date: Mon Jan 24, 2022 09:26 UTC
Local arrival time: at sunrise
Duration: 12 days 15.2 hrs
Distance traveled: 1,964 nm
Motoring time: 5.0 hrs
Vessel speed through water: max: 8.5 kn, min: 3.2 kn, average: 6.3 kn
Vessel speed made good: max: 8.5 kn, min: 3.1 kn, average: 6.5 kn
True wind: max: 15.6 kn, min: 1.1 kn
Apparent wind: max: 17.0 kn, min: 2.1 kn
Max wave height: 7.2 ft
Max current: 0.8 kn
True wind angles: 0° 45° 67° 90° 112° 135° 157° 180°
% time: 1% 4% 8% 14% 30% 40% 2%
min true wind: 7.8 8.1 5.1 1.1 1.3 5.2 2.9
max true wind: 9.1 12.3 12.3 10.8 15.1 15.6 13.7
min app wind: 12.6 11.6 7.0 4.5 3.9 3.6 2.1
max app wind: 14.1 17.0 16.3 13.2 12.5 11.0 7.7