January Transatlantic Sail

[Jibaro]

I would like to ask for any thoughts or suggestions regarding a transatlantic sail (from Turkey to the Caribbean) in January. We will be sailing a 47' Catamaran.

Thank you for your assistance.

[camaraderie]

Wrong Time of Year!! Wait a few months!

[Giulietta]

CAm is wrong...PERFECT TIMING!!!!


Good time...bring an umbrella and 2 or 3 EPIRBS...buy a life raft and then come here tell us how it opened....

Please try to sail south as soon as you get to Portugal...our SAR are busy that time of the year saving the fishing fleets, as they really need to go out now and venture in North Atlantic at that time of the year...so they can make money to feed their families...

It will be a good ride...especially in a Catamaran..you will know a different meaning to the word "Portuguese trade winds"..

IF you get to the Caribben..tell us how it went....

[bubb2]

Cam is wrong. January is great time to cross the Atlantic. However don't do in one hop. Stops can be made at Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland. Winter rocks there!!!!!

As Cam said, Wait!!!!!!

[smackdaddy]

Dude, don't listen to these chuckleheads. They don't know squat. They don't sail. You're insane for even thinking about it.

[sailingdog]

Actually, I think your timing is fine...provided you're leaving TURKEY in January. Take your time crossing the Med, and by the time you get to Gibraltar, it should be about the right time to cross the Atlantic.... say April or so... That gives you three months or so to explore the Med... Crete, Greece, Italy, Southern France, Spain, Portugal, and such...

Originally Posted by Jibaro

I would like to ask for any thoughts or suggestions regarding a transatlantic sail (from Turkey to the Caribbean) in January. We will be sailing a 47' Catamaran.

Thank you for your assistance.

[FarCry]

Jibaro welcome to Sailnet I see this is your first post. I am sure your question is appreciated, even by the moderator. It would seem better to ask a quesiton here and hopefully take the advice that is offered rather than become another sad news article in a couple of months. Most members, myself included, do love to read and learn from trips gone bad. Perhaps you would like to volunteer some more information about your experience and vessel.

Where is that student that wanted to do a documentary last week? From what others have indicated this could be the adventure he is looking for.

[Delirious]

Originally Posted by bubb2

Cam is wrong. January is great time to cross the Atlantic. However don't do in one hop. Stops can be made at Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland. Winter rocks there!!!!!

As Cam said, Wait!!!!!!

I think it would be easier to come in low and with the equatorial current. Go back the high route. ;-)

Surface Currents in the Atlantic Ocean

[catamount]

It is my understanding that December/January generally is considered a good time to transit from the Canaries to the Windward Isles via the trade-wind route, after the threat of hurricane development is over. But this would mean leaving Turkey well before January.

You need to study some resources such as the Atlas of Pilot Charts for the North Atlantic and a guide like Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes,Ocean Passages and Landfalls by Rod Heikell and Andy O’Grady, or The Atlantic Crossing Guide by by Anne Hammick and Gavin McLaren revised by John Lawson.

Good Luck

[captbillc]

i made this trip leaving spain the first of november on a 42 ft vagabond. stopped at gibralter and had a strong east wind push us through strait & down the coast. stopped at the canaries before heading for antigua. the autopilot quit a day out & we hand steered for 22 days . we had 6 aboard so 2 hours at the wheel was easy per watch. we had 20 ft swells from a storm in the north atlantic & broached 3 times when the rudder came out of the water. we got the spinnaker halyard wrapped in the genny & had to go up to the top to get it loose, but on the whole it was a good passage.