( Johannes Mario Simmel : I wonder why I am so happy, 1949 )


Dear Reader,
this is Part III of the Atlantic Story with 
PART I : THE BEGINNING OF THE END
( see blog: Island of dogs )
PART II : THE 'ERDAPFEL'
and this last part
PART III : THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA
( also HAPPY NEW YEAR ! )

Hopefully you remember the previous parts, but the story explains how the Venetian  monopoly of "East India" trade was severely interrupted by the Ottomans, and due to the inability of Venetian boat construction to conquer further out of the Med into the Atlantic, it was left to others to explore new routes. 
And although the Portuguese had all the ingredients to do so, fate left it to the 
Genoese Christopher Columbus 
to do just this on behalf of the Spanish Court.

However whilst he got many things right, 
his navigational skills and calculations were 
inexplicably deplorable.


So where did he get it wrong ? 
Well I don't want to bore you with details, but basically he, 
although better known
 since Phythagoras ( 570 - 495 BC ) and latest Eratosthenes ( 276 - 195 BC ) , 
totally underestimated the circumference of the earth, and as a result got distances utterly wrong. 

I give you a simple example of what he seemingly believed in: 
Take a nice apple, round in shape, with the top and bottom slightly flattened. 
I like the type 'Pink Lady' best actually. 
 If it is a perfect apple, and you look at it for more than 24 hours, 
you will see instead of an apple the shape of the earth, with its flattened poles . 


Now Columbus believed and suggested that 
going West ( around the apple ) via the sea was a shorter route to the "Indies" 
than by its established land routes going east ( around the apple ).  


What a "plonker" !


 Grab the apple again.
Let's assume it is a nice and juicy apple, no worms inside, and 
take a good bite at one side. 

NEVERTHELESS
IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA, 
THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW WORLD. 
A JOURNEY WITH SUBSEQUENT DISCOVERIES 
THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING 
AND STILL DOES !

Gosh, what a long story, And still I could talk much more about it, but why don't you buy yourself a history book, drink a nice glass of red wine, then 
close your eyes and start dreaming: 
What leadership skills this man must have had, 
how did he get the people to join him,
 what made him fall out with the Spanish Crown, 
what about the "egg story" , 
and so on and so on.

When I teach 'Leadership' at the University Ca'Foscari in Venice, 
I have my students presuming to be Columbus, 
and they have to give a speech to entice their fellow students to join on such a journey. 
Try it on strangers in your town-centre !
Then you understand what a man he must have been. 

And for the sailors in you : 
All sailing boats crossing the Atlantic still sail to this very day along the same principles and routes that Columbus took. 
So I would say that the ARC, 
the Atlantic Rally for Sailors, 
which started 26 years ago in 1986,  
is a homage to an era of a great explorer called Christopher Columbus. 
I hope Jimmy Cornell agrees with me.

AND THE FIRST DAMAGE REPORTS FROM OTHER BOATS COME IN, AND IT IS BAD !

As suspected before , the weather takes its toll, specifically on the smaller boats. 

Here one report from ARC control on the 5th of December, 2012 :

""""
123 Modus Vivendi update:
Modus Vivendi  has been closing Mindello, Cape Verdes having previously los=
t her rudder. A tug is now on route from Mindello and should take the boat =
under tow some time tonight.  A great effort by Dag and his crew to sail th=
e boat in such difficult wind and sea conditions. They are all looking forw=
ard to arriving in Mindello tomorrow.

No further assistance required.

201 Trantes - Situation Advisory

Trantes  has damaged her mast. Rig is bent, but has been stabilised with ad=
ditional halyards. Advice from spar builder being sort.
Position at 16UT as 20 10.90N, 38 58.35W
At present, no assistance required.

ENDS
ARC Rally Control
""""

I am sure these will not be the last ones with similar reports. Let's hope that we will be doing ok, and that all others will arrive safely !


And then suddenly :


NO WIND AT ALL !!!

""""""
To: @WorldCruisingEvents
Subject: BROKEN HEARTS ON CHAMPAGNE
Date: 7 December 2012 15:23:02 UCT

Yesterday it finally happened. 

At exactly 19:00 h UTC. The empire has struck back. Poseidon goes for a brake, the dark forces are having dinner, I don't know what, but after a very strong rain shower it really happened what we did not have since we departed on the 27th of November. For the first time we experienced significantly less than BF 7 wind, in fact , and this is the funny bit, we experienced no wind at all . Niente, basta, fini, aus, nothing goes any more. We waited for an hour , tried to hoist the Parasailor to take advantage of that whisper of a wind that wasn't really there, but gave up quickly. 

Who wants to hang around Mid-Atlantic ? No Cafe Sport ( Azores) here, no Sailor's Bar ( Gran Canaria ), or any other friendly 'etablissement' available, no Disco like in Benidorm, no cinema like in Leister Square, no nothing. Not even Dolphins, Turtles, Whales, Birds, any fellow ARC participant, no fishing lines left - those we had were all thrown overboard by Pieter for reasons we still have to understand -  so nothing to do. 
Just wallowing in the swell. 
Thickening ! 

SO WE DECIDED WITH A GRAVE HEART TO SWITCH ON THE ENGINE. AFTER 9 DAYS OF CONTINUOUS SAILING.
 IT ALMOST BROKE OUR HEARTS !
 WE ARE CRYING ! 
WHY ? 
WELL, WE DON'T LIKE MOTORBOATS, SILLY !

Master Mike

""""""""

But in overall terms , we only sailed under engine for 13 hours in total , then the wind came back.
AND THAT WITH A VENGEANCE !!!
and only 940 nm to go.


Sleep well, you city dwellers and party goers,
SLEEP WELL !!!!!!!

POSITION : 19°44•1 N 039°05•1 W
DATE/TIME : 5/12 AT 16:02 UTC
MOOD: SILLY
Today is the 5th of December, and we have been celebrating - of course in style - 1350nm  as halfway to our target destination, 
S.Lucia. 

But not all went according to plan.

Around half an hour after midnight both our plotters stopped receiving the position signals ( GPS ), so they went blank. We switched them off, got our old handheld emergency ones out, and continued through the night.

Have you ever thought about marriage ?
 Now you are surprised that I raise this issue , right ? 
Or may be you are married ? 

Have you ever raised your voice saying : "GET OFF MY TOES "
or something to that effect ?

 Do you realise that people get best along with each other in a marriage when they don't see each other that often. Now I am convinced there are some folk out there who will disagree with this statement, but that is what I believe in. 
Anyway, that makes life on a boat so difficult. 
You can't hide. 
You have 5 people, cramped in a tight space, and in order to do that, you have to set up some rules and call to order when things get out of hand. The skipper has to do that, usually. But it is not easy to understand all the time what is "horse" and what is "carriage".Otherwise you either have a mutiny, or foul mood, or else. 
So it is interesting to understand what characters you are dealing with when you go to sea with them. 
Remember, 
friendships have been lost, indeed marriages have been broken up when on board a ship ,
 and nothing worked according to plan, or what ever other reason there was.

On Champagne, the characters on board continue in their endevours to wind each other up.

Well, and there is me,
Master Mike.
Probably a little bit of everybody else's "deficiencies", good and bad.
Thankfully we are all different,
which makes life so beautiful and interesting !

So we are a good mix of you lot out there to the extent that we all get along with each other quite well. 
And why not. 
"Normal" 
people never have problems 
with each other, 
it is always 
"the others" 
who are the troublemakers.
Right ?

Best, Master Mike.

Dear Reader, what else to say than the headline. 
Still Christmas for "Boaties" and other seamen is often different. 
Away from home, away from their families, may be in warmer climes, 
but nevertheless in the same spirit. 
And of course they dress up their boats in the same way as you might do to your home or your Christmas tree.

So again, from all of us to all of you ! 
A MERRY CHRISTMAS, 
with all the best wishes, be well, sane and prosper,
 and reflect for a second that 
other people might not be as fortunate as you and us. 

Take good care.

Master Mike and Crew 
( from left to right: Ian, MM, Jim, Fati, Pieter ) 

ps: Pieter will return to England soon, Jim and I are already back home, but will return to the boat in January,
 whilst Jim comes back end of March. 
Fati and Ian look after their 'home' in Saint Lucia.
NEVERTHELESS, THE STORIES WILL CONTINUE. 
There is still a lot of catching up to do !

POSITION : 21°30•3' N 032°14•1' W
DATE/TIME : 3/12 at 12:30 UTC
MOOD :  FUNNY

Last night was the official end to the ARC. We had a big party, and a lot of prize-giving. And Champagne won !
We got one award, and I believe we deserved it. Now you wonder , don't you. But I will not tell you.....yet.
I will continue confusing you whilst switching between past and present. 
Hope you can follow !

BACK TO THE JOURNEY AGAIN AS A LITTLE TEASER 
IN-BETWEEN !
Of course we have been eating , eating, eating. And that every day. I know folk , you do the same, but do you ever get in a couple of days Chicken Curry, Pasta e' Pesto, Spaghetti alla Pomodoro, Tiramisu, Banana flambe with ice-cream, ice-cream with caramelised brown sugar and frozen raspberries,, a glass of red wine for lunch, and a gin & tonic as a sundowner. 
Want to know more ? 

In order to fight boredom, each boat I assume has its own scheme. Depends on the desperation on board, I guess, Funny or not, I can best describe our scheme as 
" Model Parties". 
 Here is our model getting tanned, 

Funny Characters, these sailors !

There is so much else to tell, but that I leave for another day. We have been doing more than 400 miles over the last 2.5 days. And tomorrow we will have reached half point of our journey. 
Now thank's for that , so we can celebrate with some good food, wine, a glass of champagne, and of course a cigar.

A sailor's life can be tough !

Master Mike.

POSITION : 22°30•3' N 029°14•1' W
DATE/TIME : 2/12 at 15:20 UTC
MOOD : CONSTANTLY IMPROVING

We  really have a lot of catching up to do. After the disappointing third day where we made little progress because of the problems with the pole, the genoa, the wind direction and its speed, we are improving however. 
Our strategy to follow the more northerly , more direct route seems to work finally. 
The wind has changed from a very strong E-NE to an equally, but for us much better wind from SE. 
For 7 days now, we did not have more than one hour with the wind strength significantly below BF 7. And you know what ? In case it does, we immediately say :
 Where is the wind gone?  
I would have never expected to be happy by sailing for a week now in gale force winds. 

Besides that, we at least are confident again with our genoa, so we let her fly. We have also detected some chafe at the outhaul of our main sail, so we change positions once in a while. Other than that difficult to say. 
Nobody so far has volunteered to go up the mast to control the halyards . 
So let's hope all is well. 
And again, we have now settled in and do our own things. : 
FISHING !
  


Subject: Champagne - what a "bloodbath
Date :    2 December 2012, TIme 18:32:09 UTC
to :          World Cruising Events


""We had a bloodbath today on our boat. It all started well though. We decided fishing, Pieter and Ian that was, and after 2 hours of untangling the fishing line, we finally got it into the water. 
First with a bait that had landed on the boat during the night : 
Quite a large species of a Flying Fish. 
What a mess . 
All skin particles flying around, and bleeding through " the nose " this poor devil of a creature. 
Anyway, dead is dead, so we had left it lying there in the cockpit until somebody had the good idea to put it into a bucket filled with seawater. To keep it fresh, so to speak. 
Not for us though, but as a bait for more things to come.

Anyway, I gave up, hacked the fish into pieces, and instead of Sashimi  we had fried fish pieces. 
Not bad actually.
The new rule on the boat is as follows : 
Those who still dare to fish clean up the mess as well. 
For some hours now nobody talked about volunteering for tomorrow. Good. 
Fati proposed to kill the remaining water melon. 
That's what I call clean cooking !

Master Mike.
ps : Don't worry, we didn't hiss the fishing cone ! ""

To finish this story: Today these two enthusiasts tried again. Everybody else went early enough into hiding. But no worries, Mr "Knotty", that is Pieter because every rope or line  he touches he gets by miracle a knot into it, lost the line. He claims to have put it onto a cleat, but nobody believes him. And my new and perfect lure went with it. 
Oh dear, Pieter, Pieter.

DO YOU REMEMBER MY LAST QUESTION IN MY LAST BLOG, 
" THE START " ? Well I said those sailors 500 or 600 years ago, how did they cope with these conditions ? And why did they do it, without knowing necessarily what was behind the horizon ?  This leads me to the second part of my previous blog "The beginning of the end" , with the new title : 

THE "ERDAPFEL"
OR
THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA.

                

Remember: 
The Mediterranean and its connected land routes to the East 
( loosely called East India )  transported almost 80 % of all trade in the then known world, when the Ottomans started to interrupt this business. 
So alternative routes were sought,
 specifically for the lucrative spice trade with Asia. 
At the end of the 15th century, Britain was locked in skrimishes with the French and Spanish fleets, so their seafarers knew part of the Atlantic, but kept closer to land. The French as well, although they had already conquered into the western parts of Africa, and thereby knew about the Canaries and may be Cape Verde. 

But the Portuguese under King John II in those years were actually the most active explorers. They developed the scheme to reach Asia by going East, so around Africa,and  
Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 reached Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa..
The Portuguese had also previously discovered the Azores  and Madeira. So they knew the eastern part of the North and South Atlantic well. 

And yet it was somebody else, "who added one and one, got three", 
and went for it , 
if you know what I mean.

Young Columbus started a business apprenticeship with famous Genoese families . As such he began to travel, most likely by sea I guess, to countries like England, Ireland, possibly Iceland, and in the Med as far as the Aegean Sea. 
He also visited frequently his brother Bartholomeo in Lisbon, who had become a cartographer in the meantime. 

I am convinced that through these travels he got an understanding of the world at sea, of sailing and sailing routes, and prevailing winds and weather patterns. 
Through his brother I assume he also got hold of the most advanced and most likely secretive chart works and records of Portuguese explorers.
 According to the historian Edmund Morgan, he also learnt Astronomy, and read besides history some travel books like those of Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville.

He must also have been visiting the Azores, Madeira, its neighbouring island Porto Santo,  and the Canaries. 
In 1478 he married the daughter of the previously mentioned Bartolomeu Perestrello, the Governor of Porto Santo. 
( Remember my blog " The Island of Wood " ? ) 
My speculation is that later he also met a German with the name of Martin Behaim , a cosmographer, astronomer and geographer who had married in 1486 the daughter of the Governor of the Azores, a Flemish community leader form Antwerp, and stayed there for some years. 
Now you did not hear about this in school, did you ? Because your teacher was not a sailor, simple ! 

Now what makes me belief that this happened ? 
I have no proof but I had an interesting discussion with Jimmy Cornell, the founder of the ARC rally 26 years ago.

 He confirmed that one of Columbus's three ships with the name Santa Clara, or La Nina as her nickname, 
had originally a latin sail plan, like those boats in the Mediterranean. 
But he changed it to a square rigger, ie sails that are predestined to sail with the wind from behind. 
Why should he have done that if he hadn't suspected the essential of Atlantic sailing and its crossing? 
Go West with Easterlies in the South and go East with Westerlies in the North.  
Am I too smart here or what?

And that, folk, is all for today. I believe it is time for another brake. I don't want you to get bored !
 THE STORY WILL THEREFORE CONTINUE IN MY NEXT BLOG
"The beginning of a new era"

Dear READER. This and the following blogs have been written during my time at sea, so that I didn't get too bored . As if there was the chance for it.. But one step after the other.

POSITION : 25°O8•3' N 020°56•7 W
DATE/TIME : THURSDAY 29/11 AT 18:48 UTC
MOOD : EXHAUSTED

DAY 1 - 3 : GOOD START AND SCARY MOMENTS :
The delayed start of the rally to Tuesday the 27th of November 2012 was somehow chaotic. The Port Authorities of Las Palmas were not able any more to close the port for us exclusively for a certain time period. So roughly 190 boats had to leave the Marina within 45 minutes, and the start almost a flying one directly from a starting line in 2 batches with 15 minutes intervall. And that with a very gusty wind from East - Northeast with rain showers and a moderate to poor visibility. Anyway, the start was a spectacular view.

One hour later two groups of boats were clearly forming. One that was about to follow the classic route down to Cape Verde and then on a great circle towards the target, the others took immediatley after passing Gran Canaria a direct, west to southwest course to run on a direct line. The latter would be roughly 120 nautical miles less. 

We also followed this route. Actually we did not do badly at the start. 
And Champagne needs wind, so we were in the top 30 of the Cruisers for quite some time. But during the night we caught a cut in the top end of our Genoa ( front sail ), and we were not able to maintain speed and direction for the whole of Wednesday . Only one day after that did the wind change to North East, with good force, and Champagne started to run well again, even with a half reefed Genoa in order not to distroy the sail totally. 

We need a very calm day at sea to bring the sail down and repair it. 
Until then, we have to do with only 50% of our best sail. So already on the first day our competitiveness had been reduced.. But then, remember, it is 'only' a rally'. So we make ourselves believe. But when the racing fever grips you, the is no holding back. 
At least for some ! 

"" BLOG sent on 1.12.2012 by Champagne to ARC :
Subject: ALL IS WELL

Dear Friends. First of all, we are all well, which of course is important. Mainly for us, may be also for you. Secondly, we had our ups and downs, and of that plenty.

We actually had a good start. Tactics worked, and we were with roughly 30 others in the front having passed the starting line. The weather was lousy, a lot of wind, but that suits Champagne. Having passed Gran Canaria we turned after a while West. It must have happened after midnight , and we don't know why, but our Genoa developed a cut in the top third , so we have been running with a reef in our best sail, meaning we have the full main out and a hugely reefed Genoa. That makes the boat totally unstable on the run, meaning we take the wind now on the quarter, but for speed and direction it is not optimal. The only luck we have so far are the very strong winds. Whilst some reported BF 5-6, we had from Thursday to Friday night constantly BF 7 with gusts up to 54 knots ! Regards to the weathermen. 

Then disaster struck again. In one of these squalls our Genoa pole which was lashed to the mast, became loose at the bottom bracket, swung twice to each side, broke loose at the top, crashed onto the deck and vanished overboard in an instant....without leaving a trace and any damage. Now that's what I call a clear cut. SInce then however we have been deprived of our second best sailing option, the poled out Genoa. Now we have a second disadvantage. Of course we will try best, but it is frustrating , because the third plan, using our Parasailor, is not feasible. For it the winds are much too unstable, wind speed last night jumped between BF 2 to BF 6 to BF 10, all in 3 minutes. 

But don;t worry you lot out there, we do not give up. And we still enjoy our three course breakfasts !
Master Mike ""


Anyway, what now ? A cut  in the sail, pole for the Genoa gone, great, and that only after 3 days. Aren't we lucky. So we had pizza. I know, there is no connection necessarily, but pizza is a good moral booster when you are down. And down we were. Or better totally overtired and exhausted. Up all night in squalls and rain is not something adults should do for more than one night. And this was already our second one. 
Gosh, any idea why men do this stuff ?
Machos, little Arnold Schwarzeneggers, and Silvester Stallones , listen to me - and I listen to myself as well : These people are only good in movies, real life is different ! 
Do you read me ? Over !

However I assume we are still more comfortable than those sailors 500 or 600 years ago. How did they cope with these conditions I wonder. 
And why did they do it, without knowing necessarily what was behind the horizon. 
This leads me to the second part of my previous blog "The beginning of the end" ( Part of the blog : The Island of Dogs ) with the title :
THE EARTHAPPLE
or
THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA.
( see my next blog coming soon ! )

ARRIVED


POSITION : 14°32'•7 N AND 60°12'•4 W
DATE /TIME : 13.12.2012 , 20:45  UTC
MOOD : RELIEVED



DEAR READER, I KNOW, SOMETHING YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.
 WE PASSED THE FINISHING LINE ON THE 12.12.2012 AT 23:22:40  LOCAL TIME 
IN SAINT LUCIA. 
IT WAS A FAST PASSAGE AND TOOK US 15 DAYS.

But let's leave it like that. All you need to know is that all and everybody is up and well - besides the few repairs that are forthcoming.

What is more important however is that I will start the story again from the beginning, ie from the start at Gran Canaria. So watch the page  " Atlantic Adventures " , there will be some blogs coming up shortly.

LET ME SLEEP FIRST.

Master Mike