MARCH 2016 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 69THE ATLANTIC IS A STATE OF MIND
There is much more to an Atlantic
circuit than just the Caribbean,
says Roger Kynaston
Once upon a time, an Atlantic
crossing in a leisure boat was
extraordinarily rare, but in 2015
there were 260 yachts in the
Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC)
alone and, according to the RCCPF
Atlantic Islands guide, over 1,500
transients pass through Horta
in the Azores every year, often
heading to or from the Caribbean.
Since returning from our own
18-month Atlantic cruise I can
safely say that the islands of
the eastern Caribbean are still a
magical cruising ground. But what
I have also realised is that there is
an awful lot to see on
the way there and on
the way back, too.
We spent the
summer of 2013
cruising south-west
Spain, Morocco
and the Atlantic
islands. We broke
our transatlantic
in the Cape Verde
Islands and reached
Barbados at the
end of January.
For sure we took
a conservative attitude to the
hurricane season, but it’s so easy
to forget that the eastern Atlantic
is a destination in itself.
The Caribbean can seem
crowded these days. Yachtsmen
used to be able to anchor in the
Tobago Cays and have the place
to themselves, but today it is a
major charter-boat honey pot
with hundreds of visiting vessels
during the season. Whether you
choose to sail before the trade
winds or battle the currents
between the islands, there will be
dozens if not hundreds of other
boats at your destination – you
will even find the odd marina in
places like Le Marin or Rodney
Bay. Don’t worry, though – the
rum is still cheap and plentiful.
Speed of travel is one of the
eternal dilemas facing cruisers.
Is it better to thoroughly visit anarea or to move on over the next
horizon? We wish we had stopped
at Bermuda on our way back east.
We plan to take more than twice
as long over the route in future.
Like most modern cruisers
we faced a never-ending
struggle with our electrics and
electronics. The fundamental
lesson for navigators is to treat
the electronic chart with a certain
amount of scepticism, as the
surveys upon which they are
based often pre-date GPS and
incorporate significant errors. The
one big issue we never fully got to
grips with aboard Sarah Giddings
was our electrical system and the
batteries in particular.
Since our return, I’ve been
reading Red Mains’l by Peter
Pye – an account of a similar
circuit to ours undertaken nearly
70 years ago. I wouldn’t give
up our anodised alloy mast and
stainless rigging for their oldIT administrator
Roger 50, has
sailed all his life
and now owns a
Rival 34, Sarah
Giddings, having
previously cruised
in a DrascombeRoger
Kynaston
Lugger and a Hurley 22. His wife, Audrey, works at Goldsmiths
College, London, and was taught to sail by Roger before they
married in 2002. In the summer of 2013 the couple sold up and
sailed off on an 18-month cruise. They plan to go to sea again in
the future. Follow Roger’s blog at: http://www.rogersrants.co.ukgaffer, wooden mast and hemp
rigging, but I would gladly give
up the complexity of keeping a
range of navigational electronics
fed with their essential juice and
the paraphernalia of keeping juice
in the batteries. So long as I still
knew where I was all the time! WDon’t miss treasures in the eastern Atlantic, such as the Rio Guadiana and the village of Alcoutim in PortugalWe had a close
encounter with
a waterspout
south-east
There may be more boats sailing the Atlantic, of Bermuda
but trade wind sailing is just as idyllic as everAnchored in the shadow of Mont Pelée on the island of Nevis
PHOTOS: ROGER KYNASTON