The
Mission
Position:
37:06.36N
008:40.25W
Over the next few years
the plan is to work our way south, down the east coast of
South
America, to
Tierra del
Fuego and the Beagle
Channel. In the winter (their summer) of 2011/12 the INTENTION is to head south
across the Drake
Passage, subjecting
ourselves to 500 miles of some of the roughest and windiest seas in the world,
before arriving in Antarctica. Having previously taken Mina2 into the
Arctic
Circle the ultimate
objective, if conditions allow, would be to shove our way through the ice into
the Antarctic
Circle (66° 33’ 39’’S).
Then, of course, we would have to make our way back across the
Drake
Passage and complete our
rounding of Cape
Horn. Well, that’s the
intention.
But first things first.
Throughout September 2009 Mina2 was in Lagos in Portugal undergoing a major refit in preparation for the
tough conditions and uncertain boatyard facilities we will encounter over the
next few years. Spitting in the face of recession, she has been fitted out with
a new set of AGM batteries, been re-rigged, had a new set of Hood Vektron sails
made, had her bottom sheaved with copper impregnated epoxy resin (Coppercoat) as
long-term antifouling, and acquired about the biggest anchor you ever did see (a
Rocna 40 kg, to be precise). Communications have been beefed up with an Iridium
satellite phone to supplement the SSB communications we already have, so now we
hum like (and have the power consumption of) a Type-42
frigate!
So the boat is better
equipped and better prepared than she has ever been. That doesn’t mean that
things won’t go wrong. They will, and doubtless you will hear all about the
failures in future blogs!
The plan for the next six
months is to sail south across the Atlantic to Brazil and cruise down the coast
ending up in Angra Dos Reis, a fabulous cruising ground in between Rio de
Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Most of this will be in the company of 35 other yachts as
part of the French-run Rallye des Isles du Soleil ( www.islesdusoleil.eu ). I am not by nature a
rally person, preferring the flexibility and sense of adventure of independent
travel. However this rally does include not only a trip into the mangroves of
the Sine Saloum delta in Senegal but also a trip 500 miles up the Amazon, escorted by
an armed escort boat for security. Both these trips would be unwise travelling
independently and alone. I will not, in fact, be joining the rally up the Amazon
next year, as it would be almost impossible getting back south 1000 miles
directly into strong trade winds and a 2 knot current. Instead I will be
rejoining the rally when we have completed our Antarctic adventure and we are
heading back north again.
The route of the rally
from October to the end of December is: Madeira, Tenerife, Dakhla (Morocco), Dakar (Senegal), Sine Saloum delta,
Dakar (again), Mindelo (Sao Vicente in the Cape Verde Islands), then at the beginning of December down the
Atlantic to Salvador in Brazil. The Atlantic crossing will involve heading south,
through the Doldrums, across the Equator and then SSW across the southeast trade
winds to arrive in Salvador a week or two before Christmas.
The Downstairs Skipper
doesn’t do ocean passages, so I will be joined by a succession of friends on the
way: Lawrence Wells, Adrian Burn, Richard Close-Smith, Tom Mallaburn, Colin
Andrews, Neil Thackray, Venetia Kenny-Herbert and my son,
Peter.
We plan to leave
Lagos in Portugal for the 500-mile passage to Madeira on 8 October, so the blogs should start on or about
the 9th. Should we seem to disappear off the map with no
communication, fret not – it will simply mean that the computer / satellite
phone / something else has packed up!
I hope you will enjoy
sharing our adventures, and our trials and tribulations, through the blogs over
the coming months.
Tim
Barker
S/Y
Mina2
