Crossing the Atlantic with Mr. Malingri – Third installment

Enrico Malingri, brother of Vittorio and Francesco, a member of the most famous dynasty/family in Italian sailing, has prepared an X 562 (Magix) for the Atlantic crossing and has sailed just these days from Gran Canaria to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.A great sailor, with tens and tens of thousands of miles behind him, Enrico will tell us, episode after episode, about sailing on the one hand, and on the other, how to set up a cruiser so that it can take on the ocean smoothly.

JUST DEPARTED FROM MINDELO (CAPE VERDE)
Lat . 15 25′.459 ; Long. 26 57.286
Course 287 for Guadeloupe, miles to arrival 1985 , speed 7.2 kn
We left yesterday after lunch after the short stop in Mindelo–folkloric place but not much, water, naphtha, some coolness but the real shopping has to be done in the Canaries. The weather this past week would have resulted in passing a few miles to the North/West anyway so we opted to stop having consumed naphtha needed for the crossing. That’s fine for those who want a slightly shorter crossing, from here it’s 2088 miles to Guadeloupe. We also did some necessary chores from which to get some useful advice.

THE GENNAKER STOCKING
For the crossing the gennaker or spi stocking is essential, I have used many of them and I advise you not to skimp on the expense: the best is ATN made in the USA, you can also buy them online. It has a rigid vrt funnel that provides excellent glide when closing and a circuit of the open/close maneuvering lines that is foolproof. The one we have, although from a well-known velerai, is not perfect, and I modified it, adding a swivel at the head, changing the attachment of the maneuvering line circuit, and replacing the sheave of the maneuvering line circuit at the head. Now it works much better. The crew is now broken in by several gennaker hoisting and lowering maneuvers with associated spinnaker to frame it and sail with the wind at the stern, so last night after sailing with 20 knots downwind with mainsail and genoa, when the wind dropped around 9 p.m., we hoisted it up. Carlo (owner), Andrea (helmsman), Alessandro (regular boat skipper), Marco (communications man), Edoardo (rigging and halyards), Nicola (rigging and sheets), me, after a week of sailing and 950 miles covered we are starting to get into gear well.

ON-CALL SHIFTS
I have divided the shifts as my dad Franco taught us, according to a technique I believe followed by most historical sailing seamanship, the 4-quarter watch, alternating night and day.

1. Day shift from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and night shift from midnight to 3 a.m. (Alexander and Mark)
2. Day shift from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and night shift from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. (Henry)
3. Day shift 6 pm to 9 pm and night shift 6 am to 9 am. (Charles and Edward)
4. Day shift 9 a.m. to noon and night shift 9 p.m. to midnight. (Andrew and Nicholas)

This allows 9 hours of sleep between shifts and possibility of daytime naps, then by keeping the same shift all the time the body adapts the biorhythm, and you go like a charm. I am against those messy shifts derived from the regatta, one shift one guard staggered that you don’t understand anything, and you rotate like a spinning top all the time.

RELAX
Everyone is relaxing and resting …but that is also because the phone is not ringing and daily life is out of reach …for now. Here you have to think about walking the boat, cooking , preserving the rigging and equipment on board, throwing off the stresses of land. In the next installments, I asked each crew member to write a piece about how they are experiencing this. We started off pointing south/west to go for wind as the Azores high pressure was pushed down by two strong depressions that are making landfall in Europe.

OF COURSE TECHNOLOGY HELPS!
Of course if I compare the communications and electronics technology of this crossing to the previous ones made there is a gulf, technology makes long range navigation more accessible even to people with less experience. The first crossing in 1976 with the CS&RB was done with a compass, log and sextant, the second with the Moana 39 in 1983 with a sextant and Tamaya machine for efemerides and sundial, the Quebec – St Malo with the Moana 60 in 1996 with handheld gps and connection with e-mail and e-mail maps downloaded to the computer. Now instead we have the ability to download the grib files with iridium connection, and follow the dynamics of the wind direction and intensity on the computer by overlaying them on the navigation program with the route to follow. A course can then be plotted avoiding areas of becalming, the main problem of crossings at these latitudes. Also through Iridium if you go to www.blog.mailasail.com/magix you follow us in the daily posts and see the progress of the boat. We can send and receive emails, although without photos and various attachments. We also carry a portable Iridium phone and the YB system. The YB system is very interesting, it is the one also used at the ARC, it is a closed system that uses the Iridium network and sends the boat’s position every 4 hours detectable at www.my.yb.tl/magix. It is also possible to receive and transmit text messages. So to sum up 3 communication systems, one was enough. Marco aka “the marcher” spared no expense for safety and staying in touch with the families on the ground. In the next installment, I asked him to write a piece on the systems-how he chose them, where he bought them, how much they cost, what it takes to install them. In the meantime you can see if they work and follow us on the web.

BEAUTIFUL SHIPBOARD LIFE
Tonight we have to decide when to gybe so that we don’t slip into the center of the high pressure, so I’ll leave you now and study the situation, while Alexander prepares the dolphinfish we caught day before yesterday, filleted and vacuum-sealed in the refrigerator. By the way, I had never sailed with all these comforts… generator, desalinizer, two refrigerators, vacuum roasts, Nicola’s mom’s vacuum cutlets and meatballs, about 70 bottles of wine… aperitif in the cockpit at 8 pm.

A happy night to all.

Enrico Malingri

HERE THE FIRST EPISODE

HERE THE SECOND INSTALLMENT