Atantic crossing in Sept.

[lagoon100]

Hy

What do you guys think of that, of course we are all aware that a crossing in late Nov. would be better.

But my time window is in Sept. as if i can not depart then i would need to buy a boat on the Caribbean side, of course a good option but i would like to know if it is an option to lock at EU boats as well.

Version 1:
Sailing from Canary Island to Grenada, Start 20. Sept., WX following from the mainland so in case there is a tropical depression building we could circumnavigate it. (150NM in 24h).

Version 2:
Sailing from Kap Verde to Trinidad, Start 20. Sept., WX following from the mainland so in case there is a tropical depression building we could circumnavigate it. (150NM in 24h).

Is that to Riski? Is the 150NM 24h not enough?
Are trade winds not good enough to the sud?

Thanks ah lot.

Best regards
Lagoon

[GordMay]

You might check out the On-Line Pilot Charts
NGA Digital Navigation Publications - Atlas of Pilot Charts (and more)
Maritime Safety Information

Specifically, the North Atlantic Ocean for September:
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/St...106/106sep.pdf

See also: The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers
http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/

[Hud3]

Hello, Lagoon, and welcome to Cruisers Forum.

I can't give you specific advice on your plans, having never done the trans-Atlantic trip, but I can perhaps add a bit of perspective from someone who lives in the eastern Caribbean and watches the weather patterns with great interest.

September is the peak month for tropical storms in the North Atlantic. It's also the peak period for tropical waves emerging from the west coast of Africa. There will be a steady procession of them moving westward from Africa to the Caribbean and beyond--two or three pass over us in any given week.

The tropical storms and the tropical waves all have some varying degree of influence on the mid-Atlantic High Pressure cell. The effect is to diminish or even eliminate the tradewinds that you will depend on for making 150 nm per day for days at a time, or even a couple of weeks. So even if you're lucky enough to avoid encounter with a storm, you may end up motoring for extended periods, or drifting to conserve fuel.

[lagoon100]

Hi again

Thanks a lot for the great Information.

When i look at the Pilots Charts it looks like it shall be possible to make it, good winds, very little dif. from the Nov. Charts.

With Version 2 via Cap Verde it is only 2300NM to Trinidad, so its only 11 to 15 days.
If we take 400l extra Diesel we can make 1000NM with Engines if needed for storm or no wind.

With the WX out look you can check about 48h so almost 1/6 of the way, i'm i making wrong conclusions.

Any comments welcome.

Best regards
Lagoon

[Hud3]

Lagoon,

1,000 nm worth of fuel sounds pretty good to me. You'll be able to keep moving during the inevitable lulls in the winds.

In my mind the best strategy (short of waiting 'til November) would be to work you way south as early as possible and then go west. The storms tend to recurve to the north, so if you preserve the ability to duck south of the normal tracks, you might be OK. The storms tend to move west at 10-20 kts, so you wouldn't be able to outrun them. And don't think that you can rely on the available weather forecasts to tell you where the storms will track. It's a guessing game at best.

Here's how September looks. You can see the other months at NHC's Tropical Cyclone Climatology page.