CONTESSA 32 STORY
BILL HOWATSON GOES ACROSS THE
ATLANTIC ... AGAIN!
(Bill raced on Fresh Herring for several
years and is well known to many Contessa folk. He purchased his Contessa
in Las Palmas, refitted it and set off across the pond)
I received this e-mail ...
Hello Robin,
Just a note to say we made it across the pond and are sitting in Ft
Lauderdale.
The trip from Las Palmas to Nassau took about 30days, 3,400 odd miles and
the
boat stood up the the 30-40kts thrown at her during the voyage. The only
problem
I had was the tiller snapped in the first week (It was on its way out and I
had a new
one standing by). We also lost our ensign, one morning it was just gone ?
That's all
we knew about it, oh and we found all the leaks in the boat, all deck
fittings that
need re-sealing. The crew I had with me (Rocky and Igal) also did very well.
The crew
I found using crewing agencies on the net. A bit of a risk, but these guys
turned out
to be good Rocky was Italian and Igal was Israeli. So lots of Pasta and
Moroccan food
was had,
We where pooped a few times, but very little water made it in to the
cockpit. I'm
glad I fitted a seacock on the engine exhaust, as the sea was well above the
exhaust elbow.
We had lots of dolphins and one morning awoke to find about 8-10 whales each
the size of the boat with blue grey backs and white belly's, the boat is
blue with
a while bottom, so I was hoping she was not attractive in any way to
these whales.
They did show us a lot of interest and stayed round the boat for several
hours,
often getting very close but rarely breaking the surface for air. I would
have taken
a photo but I was too concerned for the safety of my boat and the crew to
leave the helm.
Excitement over, we caught four Dorada on the way, although by the fourth I
was
getting fed up with it so I make fish cakes which came out very well. I have
the
recipe if any one wants it.
After the first week we didn't see another ship for the next two and a half
weeks,
so I called up the first ship we sighted on the pretext of getting a weather
report,
but it was just to talk to another person, and do a radio check of course.
I dropped my crew off in Nassau and stayed there for a week looking for
work,
without any luck. I then sailed single handed to West End, Grand Bahama
which took about 24hrs, then next day on to Ft Lauderdale about 16hrs sail.
As I approached the berth in Ft Lauderdale a chap with an American accent
shouted out "Hey it's a Contessa" I know know Jeremy Rogers, didn't some one
sail one of these round Cape Horn ?" ...well it just goes to show these
little boats
are truly world class.
