Cape Verdes to Antigua Passage Summary

Hi everyone,

We arrived in English Harbour, Antigua on Tuesday at 0700 local time after a passage of 21 days from Mindelo in the Cape Verdes.  It was a great passage with light winds.  We knew there would be very light winds along the rhumb line so planned to go well south.  As usual we gybed to and fro for more comfortable sailing and better VMG.

Chasing the Sunsets

Here are the usual plots...

Track

Arrival

Graphs

Here are the vital stats for the passage…

    • Distances/Speeds
        • Route Distance = 2200nm
        • Logged Distance = 2449nm
        • GPS Distance = 2491nm
        • Duration = 21 days 0 hours
        • Average speed over ground = 4.9 kt
        • Average day's run = ~117nm
        • Best day's run = 138nm
        • Minimum boat speed = 2 kt
        • Maximum boat speed = 6.6 kt
    • Weather
        • Minimum wind speed = 2 kt
        • Average wind speed = 15 knots
        • Maximum wind speed = 20 with gusts to 35
        • Apparent wind angle range = 90 to 160
        • Seas up to 2m
        • Swell up to 3m
        • Saharan dust for first week, sunny for second week, rain showers for third
    • Engine
        • Total = 26 hours
        • Driving = 24 hours
        • Charging = 2 hours
    • Failures
        • SailnSea SailingGen hydro-grenerator
       • Vesper Cortex GPS input - again - rendering our AIS receive only
    • Stars
        • The boat!
        • WindPilot vane gear (steered well for 90% of passage)
        • Icom HF/SSB radio (for voice skeds plus backup email and position reporting)
        • Starlink (on Roam-Unlimited plan with Mobile Priority data On)

We motored for 24 hours when we fell into a windless hole near the southern-most part of the passage.  We might have avoided it if we'd continued SW for another 6 hours.  We used about 30 litres of diesel and 120 litres of water.

In Mindelo Marina

Wind on the passage was benign once we cleared the Cape Verde acceleration zone.  After than the maximum wind gust was 25 knots.  We had no real squalls, rather just minor rain clouds with a little more wind around them.  For several days we were under full sail which is very unusual for us.  Of the three weeks about one week was 'champagne sailing'.

Acceleration Zone

Through the Saharan dust

A feature of the passage was the Sargasso weed.  Gooseneck barnacles gradually accumulated during the passage and it took us several hours to scrape them off in English Harbour after arrival.  There were less of them this time compared to our 2022/2023 crossing.

Champagne Sailing

Rain Showers

Our SailingGen hydro-generator was making nasty noised at the start of the trip, but providing good output.  Sadly if failed after two weeks.  Earlier in the passage our Vesper Cortex's GPS input failed for the second time.  Last time Garmin provided a replacement antenna but that only worked for a few months.

We repaired our leaking thru-hull while in Mindelo.  We applied plates and copious amounts of sealant outside and in.  Initially it was still leaking when we departed but after three days had stopped.  We believe it took that long for the sealant to fully cure due to its thickness.  It was good to have a dry boat. 

We arrived four days after Moody 44 OCC sv Metzi, having departed a day after them.  They took a much more direct route and motored for twice as long.  But they beat us on handicap nonetheless.  Twas good to anchor next to them in Freemans Bay (at the entrance to English Harbour).

Overall the passage was very pleasant.  It was a good 'shake down' for our long passage from Panama to the Marquesas in a few months.

Anchored in Freemans Bay with sv Metzi astern

It was a busy 2024 for us.  We sailed about 7000nm to complete our North Atlantic circuit.  Here's our track for the year (plus one week)...

2024 Track

It's great to be back in the Caribbean!