48 hours prior to setting sail on the 36th ARC, on 20th November 2021, the crew of Arcona 460 SY IdaLina caught up with Sailworldcruising.com.
Tina Bååth and her husband Ingmar Ravudd are sailing on their Swedish Arcona 460 IdaLina with his two sons, Niklas and Kristoffer, two other female crew, Ann Samnegård and young J109 sailor, Sanna Moliis. Tina and Sanna were on the dock carefully washing and preparing a huge pile of fruit and vegetables that they’d just bought from the market and spoke about how they were feeling: “There’s so much to do right now that you don’t have time to work out what you are feeling,” said Tina. “The main problem is where are we going to put all this food? I want to know how I will feel when I am out there in the middle of the ocean, with the night sky and probably feeling so small. I wonder what will happen to my thoughts when I don’t have the TV and all the normal information, but I am absolutely looking forward to start day now.”
They went on to successfully complete the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers finishing second in Class B of the Cruising Division. 17 days, 8 hrs and 41 mins at sea arriving 8th December 2021. An awesome achievement.
Once they had arrived, they kindly gave us this short interview:
What did you love most about the trip?
More respect than love. You feel small when you are out on the Atlantic. Sun, moon, planet and stars that you cannot get enough of. However, the waves were not like 40 years ago. Waves were more uneven when there were cross waves from the low pressure north of us. It was difficult to get to a smooth moment through the sea. We needed to cut with AWA (apparent wind angle) of 140 degrees from the wind to get the Arcona to take the waves better.
Did you see any wildlife?
During the first third of the sailing, we saw many dolphins. Sometimes pods of 10-15! They were small, playing around the boat like children. Jumping in formation and make high jumps with belly splashes to show off while the older “parents” swam calmly behind the boat and watched the game.
Many more flying fish than I expected. After each night we had to pick the deck clean! They don’t smell very good. Especially as Niklas, saved some of these in a bucket for the morning to have as bait.
Unfortunately, two jumped in through the roof hatch down on the sofa. Luckily, one ended up in a plastic box. We did not find it until we arrived in Saint Lucia when we cleaned out the boat. The smell was there so we suspected something!
We tried to fish every morning and evening. We got 4 dorados which we filleted. Plenty of fish for a change. We were hoping for tuna but the one we saw took our bait, the hook went off. It was too heavy. We saw it swim to catch up with the boat before it departed.
How did your Arcona fair?
Maintenance and overhaul are important. But you do not see everything. Even though we had two rig inspections before starting. A split pin that sits under the bolt to the holder for the spinnaker boom was not enough. So, the holder was bent out and the spinnaker pole ended up in the water. Luckily it was fixed by lift and downhaul. And luckily we had two holders for spinnaker poles on the mast so it was possible to pole out the jib anyway. But using two spinnaker poles was no longer possible.
Even in an Arcona it sounds a bit when you get out in Atlantic waves. We got a crisp sound at the helm when the waves were at their worst the second week. We contacted GMC Henrik via satellite phone to find out if it was a known sound and what it could be. We were advised to lubricate the upper bearings with warm water and washing-up liquid. It helped, but not so much. A second tip was that there was noise in the wire and that it needed to be lubricated. But it could not be remedied during the sailing as the steering wheels move all the time and cannot be picked up. Now we lie still for a few days and will take care of ourselves and check the lubrication.
Were you happy with your preparations & provisioning?
We have been trying to prepare the boat for three years for this sailing. But not everything was handled so it was hectic two weeks before the start to prepare and get approved by the safety inspection.
Most of the provisioning was ok. We really had enough fruit and vegetables for the 17 days it took. We had too much iceberg lettuce and too little cabbage. We now know that green apples and squash last a long time!
What was your watch schedule?
There were six of us on board with two active per watch shift. We changed one person each time, so you sail with two different people under your watch. At night it was a 3-hour session and during the day 4-hours. This gave us a rolling schedule over three days and nights.
How was it being at one with nature?
You are really dependent on nature. There were a little more squalls with gusts of wind than we expected, so the type of sail was affected by it. Squalls came more frequently in the afternoon, evening and night so radar was required to see them. Radar surveillance to find them and extra reefs at night for safety. Jib poled out with a spinnaker pole rolled in and out each squalls. The wind could increase from 20 knots to a maximum of 34 knots. But it was difficult to know which squalls would give the most wind, so we always played it safe.
Did the adventure live up to your expectations?
Almost! Due to the Covid situation, the get-together-parts had to be different and covid safe, so of course, that part was a bit disappointing, but the ARC did their best according to the situation. The security part is important and support from the ARC is really good to get everything fixed in time.
