Across the Atlantic — Las Palmas to Antigua

by Irene Bates on 13 Mar 2007 The brand new Lagoon 500 Sailaway IV is on a delivery passage from France to Australia, Irene Bates and Maurie from Macquarie tell of their transatlantic passage.

Las Palmas on Gran Canaria Island (the Canaries) is a city of about 400,000, and major Trans Atlantic shipping port became our home for the all too short 4 day stopover.

One of the great aspects of visiting new places is the experience and knowledge we gain and gather through cultural diversity.

At first when we arrived in Las Palmas city shops were ablaze with coloured lights and shoppers. 'It’s the after Xmas Sales' we thought, shops and department stores were packed and on this tiny Island streets were choked with traffic. It wasn’t until later we learnt we had stumbled into the 'Las Palmas Xmas Holiday Festivities' where, we join the locals for the 3 Wise men (on camels) street parade and found that all presents are exchanged on the 6th January. And, like all religious festivals it also meant shops are closed.

Old Las Palmas a town on holidays and we still had to provision for the long haul across the Atlantic!

At the marina the day before our departure we meet up with a French delivery team onboard a new Lagoon 480. They are bound for Martinique (an Island in the French Antilles group – East Caribbean Sea). We swap Lagoon stories, and then race off to find a supermarket and replenish our dwindling supplies before all shops close for the holidays.

We top up the water tanks and I insist Morrie check the gas bottle. 'Yeh, should be enough gas,' comes the reply-'Do we have a spare full bottle?' I ask. 'No' comes the reply 'but we’ve got an electric toaster and an electric jug!!!

'Well, that should lead to some very interesting meals should we run out of gas' I respond.

We’re both eager to leave but its 11.30 AM before we complete all exit documents. There’s no fanfare, band playing or for that matter not a person in sight to even gesture a wave We ‘throw off’ the lines knowing that the next time we step onto the shore is 2650 miles away (as the crow flies) and I murmur to myself: ' I guess it’s all downhill from here!'

Weather conditions are looking good as we depart Las Palmas and commence to settle into a 24 hour onboard life for maybe 18 days (depending on weather).
'The plan is to sail south west towards the Cape Verde Islands' Morrie explained, then turn west and take advantage of the trade winds. The forecast for the first 3-4 days looks good and although it’s still cold at night it’s certainly getting warmer as we travel further south.'

We commence with winds force 4. The boat is trimmed with 1 reef and a full Genoa – seas about 1 metre. At 3 pm, with winds increasing we secure reef 2 and 60% Genoa. At 11.30 pm we put in reef 3 and reduce the Genoa accordingly. It’s blowing 30+ knots by 3 am and we’re surfing at 12 -14 knots down the 3 metre swells, cross seas are hitting the hull sides and between the hulls with loud cracks and bangs. We gybe onto port, start the gen-set to recharge the batteries.


It’s cloudy, cold and very little moon. Not the type of first night we’d hoped for, so we drink more coffee and eat biscuits – It’s a long night, but maybe it’ll be a little friendlier in the daylight?

At daylight the wind decreases to a steady NE 20 knots and we sail these conditions during the next 24 hours. The Lagoon 500 skims along at 5-8 knots picking up some nice 10 – 12 knot surfs.

'During this first 72 hours we cover just 477 miles an average of 6.6 knots.' Morrie explained. 'With long ocean hauls yet to complete, the delivery priorities are to look after the vessel and each other. I need to ensure that the boat has minimal stress: and I reef early!

The last things we want as we cross ‘the ditch’ are breakages! You’re virtually on your own in the mid Atlantic and it’s a long way to just ‘drift around’. Each shift requires a constant and consistent monitor and check of the boat’s integrity, working equipment and systems while underway.' Morrie added. 'And, this includes not only visual checks but testing, trialing and learning about new equipment and technology. While basics remain the same all boats are different. They respond differently in varying sea and weather conditions. And, with new boats, it’s always a learning curve keeping up with the latest technology.'

Ocean test sailing and trialing new vessels or long hauls are not new to Morrie as a delivery skipper or short handed sailor. In 1994 Morrie completed a two handed 53 day non-stop circumnavigation around Australia and Tasmania and apart from the International deliveries to Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand, in 2002 Morrie delivered a new Beneteau 47.7 from France to Panama.

Day 6 – From the Log
0030 – 1600 Winds are a steady NE force 4 -5
1900 – ENE freshening to force 6 – time to reef.

It takes us almost an hour to secure the second reef. Under deck and torch light we can see a screw has loosened in the sail track just below the first set of spreaders. The main sail refuses to budge either up or down. We try several different methods to release the main to the second reef point.
Finally it’s down and we secure the second reef.

It’s a daylight inspection and repair job, and we hope the wind doesn’t strengthen throughout the night.

Day 7 - At 7.30 am Morrie prepares to ‘go up the mast’. 'I like my feet firmly on the ground.' Morrie explained. 'I figure, any height above deck level is too high – more so when your at sea with the boat moving around.'

We retrieve the bosun’s chair and attach this to the spinnaker halyard, find some webbing (to secure the chair and Morrie to the mast) gather tools and run through the procedures.




A temporary fix! Morrie ‘up the mast in the Atlantic.

We congratulate each other on a job well done, have a cup of coffee and get on the job of sailing. At 10am it’s time to start the Gen Set and charge batteries. Morrie is preparing to have some much needed sleep as he’s been ‘on watch’ since 4 am. The Gen Set code system reveals we have a raw water problem. We trace and repair the problem. Morrie gets to bed at 1pm.

'All delivery skippers need their ‘tools of trade’ and as part of my ‘kit’, packed with the paper charts is a laptop, GPS and satellite phone. Installed on the laptop are world charts, linked by software to the GPS.' Morrie explained. 'This system provides me with a portable chart plotter. I can use on most deliveries the satellite phone I purchased earlier last year is crucial hardware. We can send and receive onboard emails and make and receive phone calls (all at a cost per minute).'

'The best feature of the interlinked communication system is being able to ‘dial up the weather’. I pay and annual fee to 'Ocens Weather' as the weather and email service provider. This provides me with the opportunity to select (from a menu) weather information in a variety of formats. Each menu item attracts a direct cost and indicates the download time: Downloading attracts an additional cost.' Morrie explained.

'The weather information I choose to work with is saved onto the laptop and is then overlaid across the charts.' Morrie added.

'Getting the system up and running and learning how to use the technology took some time and I’m very grateful to Andrew (Jennifer’s husband) who spent many hours making sure the system worked, troubleshooting for me and teaching me how to use the system. I’d also like to acknowledge Bruce Bragg’s input and valuable assistance. Bruce, located in Newcastle is another professional delivery skipper.'


Days 8 – 12 across the Atlantic (15th to 20th January)

We sail 793 miles in these 5 days in a mix of East to North East constant Force 5-7