“Dec 7th, a day which will live in infamy” FDR
How fitting to sail into Grenada on such a historic day in the history of the United States (and the world), although 72 years later to the day this sunrise would instead foretell celebration, with fair amounts of rum to follow.
Upon departing Fernando de Noronha, what transpired was the longest nautical mile section of the journey, covered the quickest, and certainly was the most generally uncomfortable for a protracted period of time. The days of champagne, downwind sailing on flat seas seemed like nothing but a distant memory once we reached the point of traversing the Brazilian coast northward.
The ITZ or intertropical convergence zone around the equator is where the various trade winds collide. While the ITZ moves around a bit depending on the time of year, what doesn’t change are the clouds and generally unsettled weather, including squalls, associated with this area of the globe. Our forecasting tool ‘Predict Wind’ bypassed the hoped for straight ‘rhumb line’ approach to Grenada and recommended a path taking us westward and approximately 90 miles off the coast of Brazil before turning northward, in doing so the goal was to avoid the no wind area referred to as the doldrums, while benefiting from the robust north Brazilian current to give us the added push from behind.
What followed was a raucous ride northwestward skirting the coasts of Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago before our arrival to Grenada.
A few highlights of the final leg into Grenada:
Large ship traffic – typically I wouldn’t qualify this category in the context of the journey as noteworthy however after so many days of absolutely nothing on the radar, seeing the behemoths bearing down on you at night and at the speeds they travel warranted attention. No caffeine is needed to wake up with these behemoths, trust me. And these aren’t the smallish 400 ft container ships traveling at 12 kts, these were largely Chinese flagged machines of 170-190M / 550 – 625 ft (more than 3 football fields in length) and moving briskly at 19 kts… Water borne mountains passing by in short order.
Crossing the Equator – This journey has seen us round one of the great capes of the world (Cape Agulhas – Southern Tip of the African continent) and during this final leg after departing Fernado, on day five we sailed across the equator. Another sailor’s milestone, (crossing specifically at 00°00.00’S, 44°18.725’W) achieved during the early morning hours of December 1st. Kristian and I are no longer polliwogs, having sailed across the equator we ceremoniously have been inducted by Neptune’s proxy (Captain Brett Gething) and are now forever titled as ‘Trusted Shellbacks of the Ancient Order of the Deep”.
Dolphins – daily visits of increasingly larger pods and size of dolphins. Just magnificent creatures. Purposefully created for slicing through the ocean, the pods always seemed to have the play button on full blast. Exceedingly social and downright extroverted, they were just a marvel to watch and truly are food for the soul when experienced in their environment.
Two unexpected behaviors witnessed that produced a broad smile for me each time when observed:
1) Surfing the swell. Typically this would consist of 3-6 dolphins gathering about 20 m off our starboard aft section and surfing into and under the bow, riding the large swell that was contributing to our less then comfortable conditions. They would then drift back under the boat aft, grab the next large well and rinse/wash/repeat. Almost as if begging you to come in and join them as clearly, they were having a ball. Surfing in the wave as opposed to on top of it. Their gray contrasted against the magnificent cobalt blue water, a spectacular sight to observe.
2) Eyeballing you. When rolling under the bow on a swell or playing off the front of a hull, on occasion, you’d see a dolphin roll on its side and eyeball you. As if to check out what or who the heck was aboard this seagoing vessel and confirm that you’re still watching and keeping tabs on their performance. Not unlike our dog who walks away from play if you avert your attention anywhere else but to her, dolphins are plugged into their audience. Including the evening I turned my head to furl the lines and clean up the foredeck instead of watching and one wiseass executed a perfect cannonball and soaked me. Thankfully not a skill our dog has yet mastered! All in all, unexpected experiences that only reinforce the magnificent intelligence of these swimming missiles.
Overall, we achieved 119nm on the shortest day traveled and 223nm gained on our greatest day. On land that equates to a range of 140 to 260 miles per day traveled.
Squalls – The northeast coast off of Suriname and Venezuela represented a bed of activity during our passage. Moving rapidly, and at times engulfing a radar screen, these bad boys were a sight to experience. Overall, we were very fortunate and tracked through this expansive squall area with no lightning of significance near us. Excluding our final evening when caught unexpectedly by a squall that veered course and consumed us while our code sail remained up, albeit furled, or so we thought, this challenging area delivered more of a welcomed deck wash and reality check of the power and speed of mother nature. The lesson learned with squalls, run when you can, yet remain exceedingly conservative in sail plan choice or risk getting hammered.
Our arrival into Grenada marked the culmination of 47 days of a journey since we departed Knysna South Africa with Sláinte. In total, the oceanic passage component of the journey consisted of 35.5 days of on the water moving. The remaining time was spent in Cape Town provisioning as well as 1.5 day stops respectively in St. Helena and Fernando de Noronha.
Crew for the journey consisted of Lisa Heidenthal and Gillian Gething (Knysna to Cape Town leg) along with Brett Gething Captain, Kristian Holmsen and yours truly for the full passage from the Knysna factory to Grenada. A team that worked exceedingly well together whether in moments of more challenging weather or days of simply blissful conditions. Getting the team dynamics ‘right’, especially for close quarters and at times stress inducing journey is a challenge in and of itself. In reflection, I’d simply say we all got along very well and most importantly, worked exceedingly well together. The journey represented different goals and objectives for everyone aboard, and certainly delivered way beyond expectations on multiple fronts. Truly a watershed experience that we are blessed and fortunate to have had the ability to achieve.
Following Slainte’s arrival into Grenada, a whirlwind of activity ensued that involved a period of copious rum consumption along with meeting new friends hailing from Knysna South Africa, as well as coordinating a few necessary boat repairs to be completed prior to returning home for the holiday. After heartfelt sendoffs to Kristian and Brett, a heads down week ensued of literally wiping away what seemed to be oceans of salt and residue on every surface and piece of cloth on Sláinte.
It had been over 4.5 months since departing the states to start this journey – time ‘back home’ was long overdue and a flight home to reunite with loved ones for the Christmas holiday followed as the culmination of a journey of a lifetime. Although too short in time and what seemed to be exceedingly cold in temperature, returning home to loved ones was by far and away simply the ultimate highlight of all the days passed along this journey.
As we wrap this chapter of our journey, we’ll leave you with a Irish blessing for sailors that is appropriate for all seafarers and non-alike:
May the seas lie smooth before you,
May a gentle breeze forever fill your sails.
May sunshine warm your face and kindness warm your soul.
