Atlantic crossing 2020: Some feedback.

We did the crossing from Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Antigua, which meant that we had to stay way more north compared to other more common landfalls like Martinique or Saint Lucia. And a main concern was not to stress nor boat nor crew, meaning not as fast as possible but reefing as a precaution if in any doubt.

Statistics:

We left Tenerife the 9th of February, and arrived in English Harbor, Antigua, 20 days later.
Distance travelled: 2797 nM
Wind:  Max. TWS: 33kn (in the acceleration zones of the Canaries). Min. TWS: 5kn
Wave heights: between 1,5 and 3,0m average.
Other vessels seen: just two cargo ships and one sailing boat ! (and 2 others only on the screen over 10nM away)
Rigging choices: (in time, approximately)
– 35% Parasailor
– 35% Just genoa
– 8% Main + genoa (broad reach)
– 8% Main + genoa ‘en papillon’ like the French say so nicely.
– 14% Motor-sailing or just motoring (especially the last 3 almost windless days).
Engine hours:
– Integrel (port) engine:
= 3 hours specifically for charging the batteries
= 89 hours for navigation reasons (especially during the last 3 days).
– Starboard engine:
= 95 hours

Sails:

Our Parasailor is a great sail indeed: Very forgiving once it is up and trimmed. But we still have difficulties to get it down with only two pair of hands. Not in light winds, of course, but that is rarely the case. Because when we decide to change it, most of the time, it means that the wind is building over 20kn (TWS). One night, we struggled heavily with it while TWS was building rapidly to 24-26kn. With the help of one of those always present bigger waves, we accelerated to 14,4kn SOG. Up till then, our maximum speed had been 11kn, in daylight. But now it was pitch dark, so scary enough to decide to take it down … Almost one hour later, we were completely exhausted, genoa was open again, Parasailor packed down below, and then, of course, the wind dropped again to a perfect 14-18kn ! From then on, our nickname for the Parasailor is ‘the beast’. And we will have to learn better how to tame the beast  (= bringing it down).
Another things, that in extremely light winds, a lot depends the waves: We had mostly 1,5-2,5m waves, even when the wind was below 10knots, coming from many different directions almost all the time. This made our mast swing that no sail could stay filled if the apparent wind was less then 8-10 knots (AWS). We even had minor damage of our mainsail because of the hard sudden swinging of the mast. But at the rare calm moments, 6 AWS appeared to be the limit. (=TWS of about 10-11knots).
Final reflection: For us, the perfect addition to our Parasailor, would be a code 0 on a furler. I will keep it in mind for our following downwind ocean passage next year.

Energy during passage: Integrel, lithium batteries, etc…

I consider this crossing the first real test, and I can say that we are very happy with our modifications. During the almost 3 weeks, we had to start the Integrel engine 3 times for about an hour specifically to top up our batteries. Otherwise, having the engines on during changing the sail set up or the more exceptional periods of motor-sailing (mostly to limit the drift at low rpm), had the benefit that lots of watts where pumped in the batteries meanwhile:
Running the engine at 1200 rpm means topping up around 5kWh, 1500 rpm is close to 7kWh. In other words, no need to lift the rpm, in 1 hour ‘bulk’, we are easily topping up 1/3 of our total battery capacity.

What I would love though: (I gave this feedback also to Tom from Triskel Marine, and if they have a solution I will add it here too of course.)

1 The Integrel screen gives a nice summary of the state of the different battery banks, the overall input or output at that moment, and what has been cycled in and out already. But I truly miss the details: How much is my solar giving (I have to look at the Victron app and start calculating), what is the Watt&Sea producing (led colors on the regulator are giving only an indication)… The interesting Smartcruising app on Garmin is of little use because all you can see is what you consume from 12V and what comes in from the 48V Lithium battery bank. But the 12V batteries are topped up permanently to around 100% by the 48V bank, so almost always more or less in balance. Of no use for any evaluation …

2 I would prefer that the Integrel generator (on the engine) was more protected against water. If you open the engine compartment, rain or salt water spray is entering. And even closed, drops of condensation are falling on it. And with the wiring visible, there is not enough protection against corrosion, IMHO.

3 Initially we agreed on the following settings, as a compromise to spare the lithium batteries: Float charging not above 90%; We get a warning once we go below 50%, followed by a warning to start the engine below 35%. But this last alarm can’t be ignored and keeps beeping till the engine is started. Not always convenient, if it happens in the morning for example, knowing that there will be a nice sunshine soon to charge them. Or a short time before we will have to start the engines anyhow for entering a marina,  … Another warning, that can be ignored (cancelled), and a second one (at for ex. 15%) that can’t be ignored, would suite much better our daily life expectations. But I don’t see how I can change these settings myself.

Energy at (Caribbean) anchorages:

Although this feedback is somehow premature, but for those really interested in our energy solutions, it wil surely give already a good idea:
During daytime our solar has to compensate the uses. We had sunny days with some clouds.
Cooking was moderate. Normal use, let’s say. One night we had the Dyson fan going all night, the second night we did some washing, the third evening we cooked, and did some washing, … Early morning of the next day we had to start the Integrel engine.
The two first nights, we used around 20% of our battery capacity. The last evening and night we used almost 30%.
During the day, batteries were topped up on solar between 5 and 10% again.
We start at 90% of our batteries. At around 35-40% our system is warning us to start the Integrel. All this because that is how our settings are. Which means we have a bit more than 50% available, or at moderate daily use, we have at least 4 days of autonomy without diesel. Less if we will do extensive cooking, washing or making water. Or, as we do it in general, just do that while the Integrel is on. Because even while doing so, the batteries are still topped up pretty well.
If needed, we could easily start at 100%, and use them till 10%, but that would stress the batteries more, and probably shorten their lifetime. So we keep that as backup.

Some annoyances:

We love our FP Astréa very much, and it would be already too difficult to go back to our previous monohull. But there are some concerns though:

The steering installation is really not ok: After 1000nM, I had the attachment of the autopilot replaced by a better design because it was already showing signs of deterioration. And after some 2000nM, I remarked a problem at the port rudder connection. I will have that one modified too. But, IMHO, this is not acceptable at all for this kind of vessel.

The acoustic insulation of the maestro cabin and the engine compartment is insufficient. Especially the almost permanent zooming of the automatic pilot while sailing is very annoying, even with plugs in your ears. And this is one will not be easy to approve … The noise of the engine isn’t bothering me too much because, although It is loud, it is monotonous. The autopilot is more the noise of a crying baby … hard to ignore !

Initially, the handling of the mainsail was quite difficult. But with the following modifications, this annoyance disappeared completely:
– We added 3 extra cars on the mainsail track,
– we replaced the halyard by a high performance 10mm dyneema line, and all other important lines like the reefing lines,
– we also changed the attachment of the lazy bag,
– we changed the lines of reef 2 and 3, with extra blocks and jammers, to have all line handling done from the cockpit.
Since then, the handling of the mainsail has become so much easier. 

Decorative ceiling panels are almost all glued, even if there are attachment points behind it that could need servicing over time. Not convenient and certainly not user friendly. For example: Our sliding door needs just an adjustment, but a new panel had to be ordered because the mechanism is not accessible without damaging the panel.

The wooden panels of the interior are damaging quite fast. Quality of, as well the flooring as the decorative panels, could be absolutely better.

And to finish this feedback, here a small suggestion:
The anchor light is just an ‘on/off’-switch, and as a result, it is forgotten too often. Because anchoring will be our almost every day situation from now on, I will change that to a “ON with a 12v light sensor”, so we can leave it ‘on’ permanently once at anchor and don’t worry about it anymore.