Crossing over to Vestmann Island, Iceland, 5-9 August

We finally were able to sail the 574 nautical miles from Bara, in the South of the Hebrides archipelago, to Heimaey, the harbour on Vestmannaeyjabær (the Vestmann Islands). All together, it took us four full days, meaning that our average speed was 6 knots. Not too bad!

The window of opportunity was quite narrow as gale level winds were expected along the Hebrides around 8 August, which would have delayed our crossing for another week. But, after carefully looking at the weather forecast we decided to leave within few hours of our assessment as there was an opening with fair winds along the course. 

So, we made it...

The planning was essential. We used initially (while connected to Internet) Windy to anticipate the the wind strength and direction, and current over the course to Iceland. There was a clear window of opportunity, with supporting winds between 13 to 23 knots over our course for the next 5 days. But then, winds would get to gale levels over Iceland. So this was initially a bit of a race against time.

To refine our planning, we used Weather4D routing and navigation for "routing" our way to Iceland. Weather4D is available from the Apple store for 54€ and operates on IOS devices. The few images below do not have the ambition to be a tutorial, but rather to present in short what we could get from the App.

To do a routing, one should first load the GRIBs for the weather in the area to be covered, then identify an appropriate "polar" for the boat, set the starting and ending point, and the time of departure. GRIBS are datasets indicating the strength and direction of winds on a grid of points over time. Polars provide for a given boat the speed it can go for a certain wind strength and direction. Additional parameters can be used to constraint the routing e.g. avoiding strong winds, going through specific points on the way, using engine if wind is to weak...

Once done, the routing is generated and Weather4D proposes a route, optimized for the weather expected along the way. Of note, the standard version does not include currents and swell in the routing, but these options can be purchased within the app.

Finally, when activating the "Navigation" feature, one can monitor the progress of the boat against the planned route. Most comfortable for those long crossings!

When out of reach of land Internet, the GRIBS for Weather4d can be acquired through an Iridium subscription. This allows to update the weather forecast and the resulting proposed route every six hours. 

"On the first day of the journey...", getting out of Bara in the South of the Outer Hebrides, we had to divert our course by 20 nautical miles to by-pass a UK military firing range where practices were taking place. Later in the afternoon, the firing range coordinator called us on VHF to announce the end of the exercice for the day and allow us to get through the firing range to shorten our course to Iceland. Very very nice of him indeed! 

Of interest, on the way through the firing range, we came across a UK patrol boat not visible on our AIS plotter, on full speed. To assess her speed, we activated our radar. But, to much of our surprise, within a minute, the boat disappeared from the radar screen! Obviously, they were not very happy to be monitored by a radar, even if friendly.

Then, the routine sets, punctuated by trimming the sails and changing shift every 3 hours. We have been most of the time sailing with the staysail and 2 reefs on the mainsail.

In Cybèle 17, all sail trimming operations can be done from inside the cockpit cover. Furthermore, given the large number of clear areas, we can steer the boat from inside the cockpit cover. This was most comfortable as we had heavy rain at times over the first three days. 

Note the iPad with Weather4D navigation on

On the fourth day of the journey came the sun!

Late fourth night, we started seing the light of the Dyrlohaey lighthouse on our starboard.

See the small yellow dot in the centre?

Passing along the Sólheimajökull glacier on the Southern tip of Iceland

François moved by the sunrise above the Sólheimajökull glacier

Vestmannaeyjar Islands in sight...

Welcoming Fou de Bassan (Northern Gannet)

Approaching the main island

Entrance of the harbour (I swear I did not photoshop this picture!)

François ready to moor

Moored!

574 nautical miles for this segment, 974 all together since Galway.