Cape Town to Brazil and Caribbean Passage
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* [[Ascension|Ascension Island]] | * [[Ascension|Ascension Island]] | ||
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| - | * [[Fortaleza|Fortaleza]] (Brazil) | + | * [[Natal_Brazil|Natal]] (Brazil) and/or [[Fortaleza|Fortaleza]] (Brazil) |
* | * | ||
* [[Trinidad_Tobago|Trinidad]] (Caribbean) | * [[Trinidad_Tobago|Trinidad]] (Caribbean) | ||
Revision as of 08:36, 5 November 2007
Contents |
Cape Town to Brazil/Caribbean
Routes
Route 1
- From Cape Town (South Africa)
- St Helena
- Ascension Island
- Natal (Brazil) and/or Fortaleza (Brazil)
- Trinidad (Caribbean)
This is the most common route for either 'Round-the-Worlders', or South African yachts en route to the Caribbean or Europe. The sail can be extremely pleasant as the wind will be off the starboard quarter once the trades are encountered.
The best time for the crossing is in the summer months.
A few suggestions:
Stock up with supplies very well in Cape Town, or other South African cities, as prices on the islands are high and stocks are limited. The direct route from Cape Town to St Helena Island is approx. 1700 miles, but it keeps you in a rather busy shipping route (Cape Town to New York).
A more northerly departure than Cape Town, with a southerly wind forecast, will keep one away from this shipping lane.
There are three seamounts close to a direct route that one should be aware of. Rough weather the area around the shallowest of these creates turbulent seas. These banks are close to each other, but the one of particular concern is Valdivia Bank with a least depth of 23m (rising out of depths of 5,000m plus). The others are 115m and 163m.
The position of Valdivia Bank is 25deg. 55'. S, 5deg. 30'. E. There are often many fishing factory ships and fleets in the vicinity. St Helena is free from offshore dangers if a reasonable distance is kept to sea. It can be rounded either way, but a northern approach to the anchorage off Jamestown will keep one in the windless lee of the island for the shortest period.
St Helena can often be seen on a clear day from about 70 miles away. There is a delightful medium wave communal radio station (1548kHz) that can be heard about 250 miles from the island.
Winds and Weather:
A central area of high pressure dominates the South Atlantic, and both the wind and current systems circulate in an anti-clockwise direction. The southeast trade winds flow around this high which is generally centered between 20deg. to 28deg. S, and blows with consistency from S.S.E. on the African side to almost east close to the North Brazilian coastline.
In summer the southeast trades are normally encountered a few days sail NW of Cape Town, and are often heralded by a day of light fluffy clouds. Line squalls followed by stronger winds and sometimes heavy rain, are often encountered in mid ocean, and towards the North Eastern Brazilian coastline.
If headed to the Caribbean the Doldrum belt is narrow, with torrential rain, and will be encountered close to the mouth of the Amazon River.
Fog, or sea fog, are very common in the Cape Town area and northwards, in the autumn months with very limited visibility.
Further North, towards the deserts of Namibia, fog often occurs in any season, the worst conditions develop at night, when the overlaying air is cooled, as it encounters the cold Benguela Current.
Inshore, in the summer months, the fog usually clears by noon.
Sea and swell:
Moderate to heavy swell from between SW and NW, depending on wind strength and direction occurs off the Cape area. Very rough and confused seas are common in winter, occurring anything up to 25deg. S, right across the South Atlantic.
Heavy seas are rare north of 25deg. S, but can develop during violent squalls. North of latitude 10deg. S, the sea is slight in summer between SE and SW.
Changes in direction and strength of the SE trades, can cause landing and anchorage problems at the South Atlantic islands.
About 3 days in any summer month "rollers" occur at St Helena, Ascension and Fernando de Noronha islands making landing almost impossible. (From Cape to Caribbean Cruising Notes by Tony Herrick)
Route 2
From .... to ..... to ..... to ..... etc.
Timing/weather windows, etc.
Planned stop-over details.
Weather Sources
There are a number of sources for weather for this route but two main ones. The first is from the South African Maritime Mobile Net (see times below in Radio Nets). These are voice transmissions and read quite quickly. They originate from South African Weather. Non HAMs can listen but may not communicate with the net controller.
The second source is digital over HF radio transmitted from Cape Naval, just outside Cape Town. You will need a receiver and laptop computer with radio fax software to receive and decode the fax signal. The transmissions are listed in the free PDF download from: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/home.htm
Charts
Chart details for the passage.
Radio Nets
The South African Maritime Mobile Net operates daily on 14.316 mHz and immediately after the transmission on 7.045 mHz. The times are 06:30 UTC and 11:30 UTC
The morning call is short and basically a roll-call with no weather information. The 11:30 call is the most informative. On 14.316 mHz the beam is first pointed to the Indian Ocean for vessels there. After the roll-call the weather is read out after which the beam is pointed at the south Atlantic and the process repeated. Please note that non HAM’s may not transmit to the operator unless they have an emergency aboard.
It is advisable to go to: http://www.weathersa.co.za/Marine/MarineFCAreas.jsp and save or print the forecast area map before departing South Africa.
After departing St Helena HAM's can call Jack (AA3GZ) on 14 297.5 KHz at 19:00. He will put you on Shiptrak and give you a three day forecast for your area.
Documentation
Documentation required for this passage.
Health and Security
Any health and security issues for this passage.
Forum Discussions
Links to relevant discussions on the Cruiser Log Forum
References
- Cape to Caribbean Cruising Notes by Tony Herrick
External Links
Links to relevant websites.
Personal Experiences
Share you personal experience of this passage.
