Ep. 32 Crossing the Atlantic Solo from East to West in a small boat, Contessa 26, Pt 6
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- Having crossed the Atlantic from West to East in 2019 she is now crossing from East to West. Departing from the Port of Calero on the easternmost island of the Canaries.
If you are wondering what I've been up to when not sailing Wave Rover check out my other channel: Rover's Rest / @roversrest
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Been waiting for the new episode .
I *love* that a Canadian is using hockey tape on a repair!
I mean, who doesn't carry hockey tape?
Great video and a demonstration on the importance of reeefing. Not just for less,stress on the boat but also comfort for the crew without compromising distance made good. Looks,like in the 3rd week you hit the nice trades. The distance is much greater than week 2
Fair winds
Well said!
I second the suggestion for roller furling. I have an unneeded Simplicité with a 7” drum and 35’ stay from my Contessa that I’s be willing to donate to you. I couldn’t bear to watch you going forward!
I’m 100% serious.
That's a great idea! And thank you for your sincerity. However I'm very happy with my hanked on sails and I'm quite comfortable working on the foredeck (usually out there daily). On a bigger boat I wouldn't think twice about using roller furling and I thank you for your offer.
What are the pros/cons of reefing sail versus roller furling? I know the basics, that roller furling is quick and easy, but the sail gets reefed into completely different shapes. Is that a big deal? What else matters or would be a factor in the decision either way? Thank you:)
@Mike B roller furling can make smaller boats a little top heavy which can affect recovery from a capsize
This is a fun video well done! Check out Webb Chiles around the world in an ultralight Moore 24. Talk about understated spartan!
I recently discovered your vlog and I already consider it the best of all. Congratulations and good trips on these seas.
Welcome aboard!
I don't know if you are just adventurous or crazy to be out in the Atlantic in that little boat, I do know that I am enjoying the heck out of this video series! Wishing you safe and smooth sailing!!
Thanks for the comment, jury is still out on whether it's adventurous or crazy.
Curious, a sail channel on youtube, which actually sails! I liked all the minutes, I also liked the promising video, excellent intrusion, of course, I subscribed, and I'll watch the second video, until the most recent! Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words and welcome aboard
Great videos sailing ⛵️ I really hopping return to sailing again soon. It was amazing voyages in the Atlantic crossing completely. Thanks for sharing. Good sailboat 26 footer Contessa .
Hey man, sounds like you already know a fair bit about sail making. I learned from The Sailmaker's Apprentice, and lots of experience. Building two sails from scratch, resizing two, and numerous other sail repair jobs and other fabric constructions. All by hand only. (Check out Wandering Steve's channel, I built his cockpit spray cloths)
Here's my two cents, for you or anyone else that needs it -
Firstly, never use glue to fit the cloth before sewing, cheap double sided tape is acceptable if you need it (although using nothing is better), as it will disintegrate in a few months. Always line up the weave in the same direction as the original, and avoid 90 degree corners as it creates a chafe point. Don't use fabric that is heavier than what you are repairing, as this will also create stress. Always use a hotknife for cutting, never scissors, unless that is all you have, in which case you can seal the edges carefully with a lighter/cigarette. If you don't have twine, strip down a rope core into its individual strands and wax them
For the big L shaped rip you have, two overlapping strips, or an L shaped patch would do if you don't have time to do more, although it would be better to remove an entire section from the broken panel (cutting along the weave) and replace it. Patches should be at least 1.5" wider than the damaged area. I personally prefer to use two layers of slightly lighter cloth for patches (if the damage is small enough that replacing an entire section of a panel is not needed), one on each side of the sail, and one and inch smaller along each side than the other.
I live aboard, so laying the sail out is difficult. I have instead a plywood board under my berth with a sheet of rubber attached to it. I use thumbtacks to hold the cloth in place, then mark my edges with pencil. For the first seam, especially when you're start out, it is good to mark out the holes you will be sewing through first, using a larger size needle or thumbtack to punch holes.
Sorry if you already knew that, but hopefully it is useful to someone.
Great comment, thanks for that!
I got something out of it.
SV Chineel, Junk-Rigged Schooner Sailing
I love when people share their knowledge with a good hart 🤝 thanks you!
I learned something too. I am just starting the Sailmakers Apprentice. Making the ditty bag now, never sown before, but an old dog can learn, I hope.
@@RoversAdventure ...Estoy sorprendido de lo pequeño de tu embarcacion.(your sailboat is very small. greetings from Bahia Inglesa, Desierto de Atacama, Chile)
Making good time. Nice to see that high an average speed on such a small sailboat. On my 8.25m Albin Vega I was delighted to see 5 knots, but my average was usually a bit slower.
Why not stop at Martinique? even for a beer?!?
Great just great, can you tell us more about your chart plotter that you using ,it seems like simple tablet with gps signal & antenna ,and some chart's installed, work very well, what model? How do you obtained, your internet connection from there? Greetings From Split !
Thank you for sharing this exciting voyage with us. I intend doing something similar (Canary Islands to Antigua) with my Nordship 808 late this year. Your videos are encouraging me to believe, this can be done solo in a smaller boat.
Good Luck and Fair Winds!
...despite the fact you suffered a knockdown, which I lately got the news about. I hop you did recover from your injuries and will be able to bring back Wave Rover home safely.
All my best wishes to you Alan and thank you for sharing!
Good Canadian proving that there are a million uses for white hockey tape.
Absolutely!
What a change in motion when you reefed the jib...amazing adventure. Thank you for sharing
Glad you enjoyed it
I just love the whole concept of mend and use again,I’m sure if I was on board I would spend most my time looking in cupboards to find things, tends to get worse now I’m in my 50s..I would definitely be overboard...Thanks enjoyed watching
Thanks for the comment.
Muy buen video
So far congrats. The sails you use are way too light.
Why do you think so?
J'adore vos vidéos. Vous êtes notre fenêtre sur l'océan Atlantique!
Merci beaucoup!
Great video! But, I can't help but wonder if there wasn't a better way to run your lanyard so that it would allow you to go forward and aft, but still not be long enough to let you go over the side. I think it would be pretty difficult (or maybe impossible) to pull yourself back up if you did go over.
This is my biggest concern every time I watch you leave the cockpit. Have you considered practicing "Man Overboard" with a buddy in favorable port?
Are you running tri-color, then? Better to use nylon webbing for jacklines, as normal cordage is like a roller bearing under your foot.
I really enjoy this channel. You do an excellent job!!!
Thank you and welcome aboard
Thank your for sharing your experiences with all of us. It's hugely beneficial for me (and others I'm sure!) to see how your boat responds to various wind and sail combinations. I chose my boat (Joel White / Custom 29 / sv Manali) because of its simple rigging and have had many discussions relative to my lack of roller furling. After many years my humble offering is that I'm still confident of my choice following the various mistakes and incidents we all experience. I have a double lanyard on my harness which allows me to continuously tie off (even in cockpit) and have been thankful in past that I could go forward and change head sails plus be able to retrieve whatever I had aloft. You are a "do-er" not a dreamer be assured / Be well, Fair winds D.
Thank you for the kind words.
This is my first visit to this vlog. I used to have a Contessa 26, as you know the standard boats didn't have self draining cockpits, they drained into the bilge. That and a two stroke Vire engine with an attitude, happy days. I used to put bungs in the drains in the cockpit sole and use a hand held bilge pump if I had any sea came over the quarters. I crossed Biscay once en route to the med. but returned to the UK via the French canals. Good luck and good sailing.
I really didn't like the cockpit sole as it was originally designed with a removable panel to access the engine, so I raised the sole and made it solid and self draining. Just as well as small boats like these are quite wet at sea.
I really like your vlogs especailly when we see you work on deck so I hope to see more of that. BTW what kind of watch schedule doe you keep?
I like you have and prefer hank on gibs with reef points much simpler than rolling reef forsail which can be prone to snags at the most inconveniant moment which can be dangerous.
Everyone says there so much easy to use which of course they are until things go wrong. Also even if you can rollthem in tight they present extra windage and in a gale or storm force wind present extra stain on mast and rigging.
I always enjoy your clear explanations and learn ideas from looking at the modifications on your lovely clean contessa 26 / candanian equiv. Cheers !
Epic solo sailing Alan! Practical suggestion: to increase viewers use more compelling video title e.g. for this episode could be: “Jib rips in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean solo sailing”
Thanks for the tip!
YIKES !!!! crossing an ocean in such a small boat , you are one brave man , but with such a small ship and in the middle of the ocean just wondering what are the biggest waves a boat that size can handle cause it seems to me in the middle of the ocean 50 foot waves can pop out of nowhere
I have a contessa 26 in the uk. Mines does not swing herself round on the waves. It could be because you don’t have the weight of an onboard engine or it could be your self steering gear.
Pleasure to see you back ! Given the duration of your world tour, you might consider adding a short bowsprit to move the tack of your jib forward. The weather helm will go away and you can carry a mainsail when the wind comes up...Mach 3 will love you for it !! . Thank you again for you great videos... All the best.
What a surprise, didn't knew that Winston from "Still Game" is a sailor. 😄👍
Fun watching but give some thought to roller furling on you head sail. Reefing is simple and it will keep you off the fore deck. Clipping yourself to a safety line is smart but single handed can produce a lot of challenges. Staying in the cockpit or down below is best. Thank goodness, we almost never had to go forward at night because of roller reefing and we always put one reef in our main in the late afternoon for night sailing, just in case and usually shook it out in the a.m.if all was well. Thanks for your great video and be safe!!
What you said makes perfect sense. However I like hanked on sails and usually go forward daily, as a result, I'm very comfortable doing this. Above all else, I keep my eyes and ears open for rogue waves and exercise sensible safety procedures.
Hi Wave Rover. Good to see you. Wave Rover reminds me of my Grampian I had years ago. I love your updates. Thanks again for taking me along on your adventure. 💖
Thanks for watching!
Well done Alan. Great seamanship as always.
Many thanks!
Wow bro that is a small boat it seems like it would be easy to take a swim in the drink
Sea state varies, captain’s inner state always calm and steady. Learning much from this channel as I search the market for same seaworthy vessel. Thank you.
Kind words, thank you indeed.
Hi. Did you increase the height of your deck house so be able to sail from inside, as per the simple sailor Roger Taylor on Ming Ming?
Yes I did. I was inspired by Ming Ming. A very sensible and safe modification.
Well, well, well. Fascinating to spot and make the connection. Happy sailing, which it will be with these mods. 👍
why did you dump your solarpanel overboard?
No jackline, life vest in a tossing small boat,? (Not trying to be critical, just hope for your continued safety.🤞
Don't worry, he does have jacklines. He clips on at 7:41
Hiw do you POST a *video* from the middle of an ocean? Cell service? How?
Also ... seems like would be good to attach a float to tools and construction materials for which theres no neighborhood Lowes to shop at for replacement!
It's done by waiting until you reach land to upload a bunch of videos, and having your channel be a few to several months behind real time, with videos automatically released on a schedule. Lots of cruising sailor channels do this. With luck, in a year or so, Elon Musk's StarLink system will allow sailors everywhere to have real-time 24/7 high speed internet access.
Dude get on that lean 😆😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣😅😅⛵🇺🇸
Loving the films. Can you do a film on the food you took and total water storage?
I have filmed some cooking scenes already and they will be shown on a future video.
Another excellent video........thank you and stay safe Wave Rover
Thank you kindly
Hello Alan, very informative video, certainly one of your best efforts. Felt like i was aboard, well done.
Glad you enjoyed it
Might want to put a lanyard on the file when using it out on deck eh :-)
Same with the knife, I thought.
Hi Alan, I am half way through Wave Rover 'video binge watch'! Great information and very watcheable footage. One question for the timebeing if I may-what is your reasoning for storing your water in the blue containers? Look forward to the answer because I am sure it will be a good one!
Those water containers are very common in Canada. Rather than one or two built in tanks, small containers are easy to transport (from anchor) and limit potential contamination. It's also very easy to keep track of water remaining
@@RoversAdventure Many thanks Alan.
Cheers to safe travels!
Reefing the jib with a furler from the cockpit sounds a lot simpler and safer to me, than going up the bow in lumpy seas ;)
Well of course you are right. However, a lot can be said about the simplicity of hanked on sails. I never actually feel unsafe going forward on Wave Rover, but I'm going forward almost daily when at sea, consequently I'm quite comfortable when out there.
It would appear that you made an excellent decision in going with the Contessa 26, it seems very seaworthy for it's size, particularly with your dog house modification. Did you consider any other boats ? In light of this episode, what's your opinion on a jib furler ? At first glance, they would appear 'easier', but....in the real world, are they given the added mechanics ?
Very happy with my choices concerning the Contessa 26. Concerning the roller furling, I'm very comfortable going forward so I like the simplicity of hanked on sails.The Albin Vega (27-28' ?) seems to be a great boat with considerably more headroom.
Alan, if you were staying strictly to the Northumberland Strait, what would be examples of boats you would consider for week ending and why ? I've had people tell me that shoal draft over full keel is preferred. I really do appreciate your point of view on this subject matter.
It says solo but you use words like "we" and "us".
I say we as I am referring to Wave Rover and myself. It's just something I've always done with my boats.
I am looking for a dingy like yours. 8 feet long would be perfect. Where did you find yours? I am enjoying your adventures.
I made it, it measures 7'2". I built it based on the space of the foredeck. It was a simple project that I did in my basement during winter.
Great video. What is the navigation app you are using? Sorry if this has been asked before.
No worries. I have loaded Navionics on to a very inexpensive Samsung tablet.
patreon is really a problem. trying for 15 minutes to get past the security images. seems they are using visiting images for something other than security check. perhaps you can find something more user friendly.
thanks for your efforts and work. blessings out there 🙏
I have really enjoyed your videos. Quick question, what is the phone app that you are using to show your progress, speed and distance. Thanks
I have loaded Navionics on my tablet
Good stuff and we lockdownees appreciate you!
I am impressed good job
Thank you so much.
Hello Allan, Good you viedo your pilothouse hatch from inside and from outside. Thanks I hear the lovely sound the water rushing by.
Glad you enjoyed it
Bravo. I have been following your crossing videos and appreciate you posting them. What navigation system/tablet do you use? And the white tape you used to cover up the welded areas on the pulpit - is that just a regular silk tape?
The white tape I use is a cloth tape that is typically used on hockey sticks. As for Navigation, I use an inexpensive Samsung tablet and I download Navionics Charts.
Sailing Wave Rover thanks for the response and good luck for the next sailing leg 👍
Back to the roller feeding for the jib..... I had one on my very seaworthy Wayfarer dinghy (16 foot). It’s so easily controllable from the helm and a necessary luxury. You can experiment with sail size. In essence Jib Reefing is from the Tall Ships era!!
Alan, have you left Martinique? This is Maggie from Bliss. Safe voyage
I know the circumnavigation voyage is over, but may I ask, why did you cross the Atlantic east, and then back west again if you were trying to go around the world? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to keep heading east?
The short answer is I was using both the current and wind to my advantage, as I don't have an engine or power to do a contrary (against wind and current) passage
You left the safe confines of PEI only to return to a completely changed world. So life alteringly strange. Glad to hear you're safe.
Watched this again and saw that it was the jagged metal left by removal of the plates that caught on and ripped the sail....bummer.......Tape is a good thing!
Wow 4 weeks for that passage
Another great video. Do you know what caused your sail to tear? Was it a result of one of the re enforcement points that caused the tear? Do you find the tender is in your way when you try to get to to bow?
According the video the jib tore on one of the bowsprit plates on which the navigation lights were once mounted. He removed the plates to avoid a recurrence of it happening again.
Thank you Leonard, you are exactly right. As well the tender gives me something to brace against when up forward. I'd miss it and feel more exposed without it.
I’m fisher man and I’m very experience on that but I’ve never been in a boats I guess scared of going in the boats I don’t know why. Thanks for sharing it’s a good video
Why does the camera move in relation to the mounting when you're not holding it?
What kind of mounting do you use?
We will be following you to the Caribbean this summer. We are also leaving from PEI. Take care from sarahlynnesailing.com
Great, when are you leaving and where are you leaving from?
@@RoversAdventure Hi, I hope to be leaving on July 1st from Souris PE where I stored my boat last year.
@@adventureswithgrandpa very good, Wave Rover and I should be back in Summerside around the end of May.
@@RoversAdventure What are your plans moving forward?
@@adventureswithgrandpa :(
Curious as to what part of your gear caught on the sail ti rip it like this?
Fantastic old chap. Well done!
Many thanks!
Just curious. What watch are you wearing? Has it been a good one in the salt atmosphere? Thanks. PS: Excellent video and WR looks as ship shape as ever.
Just an inexpensive Casio Quartz. It is holding up great and I would buy another should this one ever give up the ghost.
Hi waver rover I just love your vids and presentation you seem really genuine. If you get to New Zealand I'd love to meet you. Good sailing
Thanks for the comment. Maybe one day!
lol at that music at 4:00
How are you getting internet at sea?
I can only upload when in Port
Next time that you are in port and at rest, how about showing us how you reef the jib. Thank you in advance.
That's a great idea.
Thanks . take care out there /////
You spend a lot of time on the foredeck. Did you consider a rolling system from a safety point of view?
At this point I'm still quite happy and confident going forward and although it may not be obvious in the video I'm also being quite safe whilst I go forward.
Get with the times and purchase a catamaran. Dont you get sick of constant rocking?
Nice video, thanks. Wwhere are you now? Are you affected by the virus? Have you been able to cross the Panama canal?, Richard
I'm in Martinique and movement is prohibited at this time in the Caribbean. I will be leaving directly from here to Canada at the end of the month.
@@RoversAdventure Any thought crossed your mind to go back to the original plan at all , and instead head for Panama, leave WR in the marina over your northern summer, then continue the circumnavigation? Or, is your mind made up and that is that? Apologies, but for purely selfish reasons I 'd love to see your Contessa sail the Pacific, and make a stop down here in New Zealand?. A crowd funding page perhaps, to pay the Panama Marina bill for the 6 months or so? I will gladly contribute.
I would like to know what the phone app is that your are using to show your sail track and speed. I am sorry that you have had to stop your voyage. It has been great to follow along. Thanks for sharing.
@@alanwells4127I'm using Navionics on an inexpensive Samsung tablet
@@junk_rig_sailor1698 my friend you make a compelling argument. Although I didn't really talk about it, money was a significant factor in making my decision, but so too was the investment in time.. Mrs Wave Rover is quite unlikely to sanction adding a year to the voyage let alone spending more money lol. When you make your voyage I hope you can squeeze in a stop over on PEI where I will be delighted to welcome you.