The trans-Atlantic was not going to be our first major trip. We’d had an idea that we’d spend our first year learning more on a trip around the UK; close to ports we may be more familiar with, the UK supply base and home if we needed to be there for any reason.  

As we’re fond of saying though, any plan is a basis for change. Several discussions later, led to us deciding to cross the Atlantic and spend a season in the Caribbean earlier in the schedule. In some respects, this did not change much of the boat preparation. We had planned to lift the boat out to do some upgrades to the fridges, clean and make some repairs to the hull, complete all the routine engine maintenance and a myriad of smaller jobs. We did though have to fit a satellite communications system for the Atlantic as the previously installed one had been removed by the last owner.

Cassini had been well fitted out for an Atlantic crossing by her previous owners, so some of the big capital outlays were already done – lots of solar, wind and hydro power, plus a water maker, all fitted to help make electricity and water more plentiful. We did find in early season sailing that our existing domestic battery bank struggled to hold charge and recharge. After some research, we decided to not just change like-for-like, but to upgrade from Lead Acid to Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. They are more expensive and needed some other electrical system modification, but the usable capacity is much greater. Instead of installing 600 Amp Hour (Ah – think of this in terms of a cabin light that draws 1 amp for 60 minutes is 1Ah) as originally fitted, we felt we could manage with 400Ah and save some money. After 2500 miles, I would probably have installed another one or two hundred Ah, if only to really run electrical devices like microwaves, kettles, toasters etc without any concerns whatsoever. Microwaves are 100A, toaster, about 80, so you can see that breakfast ‘costs’ quite a lot in power terms. I do have to at least think about power use in terms of whether the various charging systems will cope: is the sun shining, the wind blowing, or are we travelling through the water making power through the hydro generator? I try really hard not to have to run the engine just to charge the batteries. We’ve only had to do this twice so far.

Apart from the engineering systems, the sails and rigging are another major component to prepare for ocean crossings. Our standing rigging – that’s all the wire that holds the mast up – was replaced in 2021. With a plan to cross the Atlantic now on, I felt we should get our rig professionally checked. This took a bit longer to organise and resulted in the mast needing to come out just a few weeks before our planned UK departure. The riggers added extra reinforcement in an area that had some small cracks and the mast went back in about a week before departure. This in hindsight was too tight a turn-around. We were unable to properly test the rig upwind and down in various wind strengths and let the riggers make adjustments. We know now, from the poor performance in one direction, that we need to re-tension our starboard side rig. Arrangements are being made while we’re here in Las Palmas to do this before we leave here.

The boat of course is just part of the preparation. Of probably more significance, is the crew readiness to take on an ocean passage. Sally and Catherine had decided early on that they would not cross the Atlantic, but that they would bring the boat down to the Canaries. I’ve heard several people say since, that that is the harder of the two trips. The winds are much less predictable the further north you are, it’s colder, and everyone’s heard stories of gales in the Bay of Biscay. We experienced fickle winds all the way here and gales in Biscay. While the experience of gales and heavy seas has given me greater confidence in Cassini, there’s no doubt that it caused huge anxious moments for Sally and Catherine. We’ve had to use the engine a great deal more as we headed south than I had hoped, and it’s cost about £1600 in fuel altogether.

As we’ve progressed further south though, Sally and Catherine’s level of confidence has increased as they’ve aimed to learn more about how to trim the sails in the various conditions we’re had, when to reef and not. It’s been great to witness their increase in competence and confidence. I’m sure that they won’t realise just how good they are now (and how proud Nigel and I are of them both); that’s what 2500 miles, in all kinds of conditions, does for you.

Simon