Atlantic Crossings

A sailor’s guide to Europe and beyond 3back to home page

The new book was being launched at the Annapolis Boatshow in October 2006. Gloria and I were at the show to meet people coming to the Sheridan House stand and to give two seminars in the series arranged by Cruising World. We had a great time meeting and talking to sailors and giving them our lessons and experiences. There was such a buzz in the air. We hope to hear from our new readers and the other sailors we met in Annapolis.

One of the highlights for us was to meet John Kretschmer at last. John has been a great support during the publication of Atlantic Crossings and wrote a most generous foreword. You can get an excerpt of this on the Sheridan House website. John was launching a new book of his own, a tragic tale of loss which he writes about with great emotion and yet with impressive restraint and dignity.

Atlantic Crossings is for specifically aimed at sailors setting out from the Caribbean or North America to make a crossing to Europe or the Atlantic Islands. It was clear from the seminars that novice sailors took heart from the central message that an ocean crossing is a life enhancing and life changing adventure and not one to be missed. The simplified approach to key elements, such as the route planning both to Europe and back again, re-assured many I spoke to. I was also told that the more general information on preparation and seamanship hit the mark with potential first-time Atlantic crossers. I hope that Atlantic Crossings will have the same impact with North American sailors “Your first Atlantic Crossing” has with British and Europeans.

	The east-to-west and west-to-east crossings of the Atlantic differ considerably in character. It isn't so much the weather that you'll meet here but the climatic boundaries you will be crossing. Given your initial choice of route your strategy will be to work your way most directly to the wind belt that offers the strongest, safest winds. Atlantic Crossings draws on my own knowledge of sailing in the Atlantic and Europe. It uses the experiences of many ocean sailors we met on both sides of the Atlantic. It draws on a wide range of sources. One novelty is that it uses our own analysis of data collected by harbour authorities in the Azores to look at the actual boats, crew sizes, passage times and routes of most Atlantic crossers in the four years 2001 through 2004. One of the key simplifications in route planning is the idea that the wind and currents and weather provide a Turnpike route with a welcome stop-over at the Azores before deciding where to aim for in Europe.
Horta harbour photo by Carlos Almeida	The more G and I thought about it the more appealing a prolonged stop in the Azores became. We had just come back from a visit to the bottom of Faial’s ancient caldeira and were having a drink in Peter’s Bar, so no wonder we were wide open to this new idea. We realized that spending a year here was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Suddenly we were in no hurry to get to mainland Europe. For us, as for the other boats crossing the ocean, the Azores began as just a convenient half way stop. Like the others, we just intended to rest, re-stock and sail on. I don’t know why we all want to keep going. G and I needed a place to over- winter and till we got there the Azores weren’t even on the long list. But now we grew excited about exploring the nine islands of the 600 mile long archipelago. Most yachts just give themselves time to see Horta on Faial and perhaps take the ferry to Pico. The all-year round mild climate and the high rainfall make the landscape green. Fields are prettily hedged by blue hydrangeas, growing tall and bushy. I have never seen this any where else. Bananas, oranges, lemons and other sub-tropical fruit grow everywhere. Hibiscus and Bougainvillea bloom all through the year. Wine is still made from local grapes. The Azores are like a well kept, well stocked garden.
Section one is about the routes across the Atlantic and the way that the seasons, winds and currents lead you to decide the most appropriate route. Planning your route isn’t exactly rocket science although there is plenty to confuse you if you are that way inclined. Section one emphasizes the simplicities. It also tells you about your journey back, in case that is what you want to do. Section two tells you what pleasures you will find in Europe and what sources of sailing information you should consult or carry with you. This section gives you a guide to Europe in a nutshell, so that you can plan an outline of your voyage to get the most life-enhancing sailing and cultural experiences. Section three offers guidance on the two main practical concerns of choosing and preparing your boat and choosing and living with your crew. There is plenty of scope to get this right, just as there is plenty of scope to get it wrong. Section three deals with the key practical issues you face as you step from being a coastal cruiser to being an ocean crossing sailor. They all come from our experience and our reflections on things which have happened to us. You don’t have to accept our views and conclusions. You do, though, have to address these issues for yourself. There are also many practical hints about boat handling and equipment that might otherwise take you a whole Atlantic circuit to realize. Section four helps you prepare for heavy weather sailing, in case you get some, and light weather sailing, because you certainly will. Section five tells you about two real-life mid Atlantic experiences: the charm of the Horse Latitudes and why the place exists at all. the charm of the Azores and why you might consider staying longer. Appendices deal with more specific and technical aspects of blue water sailing from grab bags to bin bags.
Not much weather to worry about in the Horse Latitudes Photo by Les Weatheritt	The famous wall paintings in Horta Photo by Gloria Jardine
Nice sailing breeze along the Algarve coast Photo by Gloria Jardine	Cadiz Photo by Gloria Jardine

The first reader’s review.

“This is a big book and deserves big applause. It catches just the right spirit of a first crossing for me. I heard the author’s seminar at Annapolis boat show and thought then that he was speaking direct to my main issues. The book takes this much further and goes right to the heart of the things I think are the big issues of my first crossing. It has also helped me bring my wife, who will be the other half of the crew most of the time, more enthusiastically into discussing our preparation for the crossing. The book ranges so widely that she has found a lot of comfort from things, like tips on seamanship and roles of skipper and crew, that I had glossed over in my first reading. It’s her idea that we give copies of the book to the friends we ask to sail with us. That’s a really neat way for a skipper to get the crew thinking along the right lines from the very start. It’s a great book and the author also points me at other books to go on my reading list.”

The book is available from bookshops or direct from Sheridan House www.sheridanhouse.com.

7Home