St Helena to Barbados

We arrived in Barbados in the late afternoon of Friday 14^th April. We are well and Sal Darago is fine but we have had some problems on the way and had to make some changes to our original plan.

 We left St Helena on 7^th March. We’d checked the weather and saw that we needed to make the most of the wind in the first few days as it was likely to be lighter later on. We sailed slowly with the wind speeds ranging from 7-12 knots ESE to SE. From time to time there would be a squall bringing sudden bursts of wind up to 20+knots. We flew our ghoster (a light wind sail – like half a spinnaker) but nearly always struggled to take it down when a squall arrived. It was very hot without the cooling wind, but the calm seas meant we could have portholes and hatches open. It was too hot to wear clothes. We were glad we had a bimini and awnings to give us some shade.

 We were on our way to French Guyana admiring the superb display of stars and planets at night. Venus and Saturn shone in the western sky after sunset until the moon rose and lit up the sky. We had stowaway seabirds that spent the night on our radar mast, pulpit rail and safety rails.

Stowaway sea bird

Between midnight and 0300 on 11^th March a block broke at the top of the mast. We were taking down the ghoster and putting up the much smaller number 2 jib. As Jeremy hauled up the halyard, the jib fell down on top of him along with the halyard. We were 300 miles from Ascension Island, the nearest place where we could go for repairs. We altered course

Broken masthead block

 

We managed to contact Ascension Island Radio as we approached three days later, but communication became more broken as we closed with the island. Eventually, Sea Rescue made contact and then Port Control. We motored into Clarence Bay, Ascension Island in the dark. There was a French catamaran already anchored and many local boats on moorings. In addition, a long, snake like floating oil pipe stretched from a buoy to the shore. I stood on the bow with a spotlight and the French skipper shone his spotlight at nearby hazards. We anchored behind the catamaran just before 2100.

Approaching Ascension

 

Next morning at 0800, Jeremy was up the mast replacing the block. We were allowed to go ashore for essential supplies. We paid £15 port fees and £3.20 for water. We were taken by car to see the police, who act as Immigration, and allowed to buy food at the supermarket. Back on SD, we were strongly advised not to swim as there have been recent shark attacks. We heeded the warning.

The offending block

On Wednesday 15^th March, we weighed anchor and left Clarence Bay. Marrant, the French catamaran, followed a little later, but we soon lost sight of them. Slow progress continued and an adverse current made our speed even slower. One day the wind came from the west, which was a big surprise, as we were in the South East Trade Wind belt! Light winds and frequent squalls continued. When the wind dropped to only 3knots, we motored going through most of the 365 litres of diesel we carry on board. It became clear that we would have to stop at the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronho for diesel, water and fresh food.

 

French Cat Marrant, Clarence Bay, Ascension

We anchored off the harbour at Fernando on Saturday 25^th March. The Canadian yacht, Kiaja Song, which we’d first met in Cape Town and again in St Helena, had already been at anchor for four days. They were very helpful in giving us information about Fernando. We launched the dinghy and went ashore to the Port Captain’s office. He was most helpful and used Google Translate to communicate in English. Immigration came and stamped us in and out. The officer took us to the nearest ATM in his car and directed us to the nearby supermarket. After buying a few supplies, we took a taxi back to the port and retuned to SD. At 1400 hours we were back in the Port Captain’s office filling in forms for the Brazilian Navy, observed by three navy officials.

 

Improvised Brazil flag using Ellie's vest and crayons

Over the next few days, we had our laundry done and bought more food supplies. We used the local bus and taxis. Sometimes people would stop and give us a lift. They were very friendly. The Lord sent heavy rain, which was enough to fill our tanks and water bottles. Otherwise, we would have had to buy bottles of water from the supermarket. The day before we left, we paid our fees at the Port Captain’s office – approximately £55 per day for anchoring, which included a per person environmental charge. This has to be the most we have paid anywhere, including marinas with pontoon berths, water, electricity and showers.

 

Fernando de Noronho

We left Fernando on 28^th March bound for French Guyana. The anchor windlass broke as we weighed anchor. Jeremy fixed it at sea a few days later. Remember we were still in the South Atlantic and expected SE Trade Winds. The ITCZ (Doldrums) was not supposed to affect us until north of the Equator. Nobody told the winds! We had NW, NNE and N winds ranging from 0-7knots. We motored. Dolphins came to swim at our bow. Some of the stowaway seabirds returned. About two days out from Fernando, we found ourselves crossing mats and lines of seaweed, possibly kelp. I thought this had washed out of the huge Amazon Basin, but we continued to experience this weed all the way to Barbados, 1750 miles away.

 

The dreadful weed

We used up all but our last tank of diesel motoring north to find the NE Trades. We crossed the Equator and shared brandy and biscuits with Neptune. At about 3 degrees north, the wind began to blow from the N and NE. Jeremy went down with a cold and sore throat first. Then it was my turn. A winch broke off from the side of the mast and dropped to the deck. Fortunately, we don’t use it very much and could continue without it. The new port side genoa sheet chafed on the clew of the sail, probably against a shroud. It’s a little shorter now but still okay to use. 

 We had a discussion after realising how far behind our schedule we were. It was decided to miss French Guyana and make directly for Barbados. The cooking gas ran out. Jeremy changed the bottle, so we’re now on propane. It was a relief to be sailing again with fewer squalls. We had no eggs for Easter. I was able to put together an Easter Treasure Hunt and smiles were brought to our faces as Jeremy searched for “treasure” (a cereal bar, which he shared with me – aahh.)

 

Sunset at sea

On Friday, 14^th April, we approached Bridgetown, Barbados and called on the VHF for permission to enter the port. Everyone had gone home as the last cruise ship had left. We knew that Health, Customs and Immigration were on duty until 2200, so we entered the port and tied up in front of catamaran Pivot Point with Conrad from Buffalo River YC, East London on board and other crew. A voice shouted, “Hello Jeremy!” and two men helped us tie up to the cruise ship dock. We had last seen Pivot Point in St Helena when Jeremy helped them to tie to one of the moorings.

 With the help of rope ladders, we scaled the dock and cleared in with the officials. Afterwards, we cast off and motored to Carlisle Bay and anchored. We were just in time to see the last rays of the sun disappear over the horizon as we celebrated our second circumnavigation of the world with beers.