The overview:
On Tuesday the 27th of November 2007, S/Y Golden Gate set out from Madeira, heading for the Caribbean. We sailed about 1200km into the Atlantic, but ran into technical problems, and decided to return to Gran Canarie.
However, though the Atlantic crossing had to be postponed, the trip was quite an experience, hence dubbed Atlantic Adventures. Below is a short description of the ship, the crew, and a sketch of the routes, both planned and actual. Finally, there is a daily log from the relevant parts of the Atlantic.

The ship:
The ship is a 62 foot Oyster Yacht from 2002, named S/Y Golden Gate, purchased by Ole Vagner in 2007. During the Fall it has been sailing south from Southhampton to Madeira, preparing for its Atlantic Crossing in November and December 2007.
Below are drawings of the exterior and interior of this fantastic yacht along with its profile.


The crew:
Owner: Ole Vagner, who since starting has increased his knowledge and passion for sailing at impressive pace.
Skipper: John Himmelmann, who is an experienced American blue water sailor.
Skipper's wife: Lailani Himmelmann, who is knowledgeable on both sailing and cooking.
Chief of deckhands: Andy Willett, who is a professional English ship builder and keen sailor.
Deckhand: Troels Petersen, who is... well... best described here.
Deckhand: Lise Raben, who is a long time passionate sailor.

The route:
We depart from the Portuguese island of Madeira (N 32 44', W 16 42') more specifically Marina Quinta do Lorde on the very Eastern tip of the island, where the skipper and his wife have been preparing the ship for departure for several weeks.
The classic route starts almost due South, in order to catch the trade winds and the North Equatorial Current, and gradually turn more towards West, upon passing the Canarie Islands and the Cape Verde Islands, aiming at the Caribbean.
However, we started sailing West to begin with, as the wind pattern in the North Atlantic suggested that this was favorable, when aiming for St. Maarten (N 18 01', W 63 03').
Unfortunately, we ran into technical troubles, which would slow the Atlantic crossing enough to endanger the flights for Christmas in the other end, and so we decided to return to Gran Canarie, where the ship could be repaired for a second try in January.
On the two maps, which can both be greatly enlarged, the red curve shows the classic route, while the blue shows the actual route we sailing along.

The photos:
A few of the (admittedly better) photos from the trip are shown here (click for large photo):


The daily logs:
If possible, daily logs with position and experiences will be posted below:
Monday the 26th of November 2007
Tuesday the 27th of November 2007
Wednesday the 28th of November 2007
Thursday the 29th of November 2007
Friday the 30th of November 2007
Saturday the 1st of December 2007
Sunday the 2nd of December 2007
Monday the 3rd of December 2007
Tuesday the 4th of December 2007
Wednesday the 5th of December 2007



The acknowledgment:
Kaere Ole

Et stort, hjerteligt og uforbeholdt tak til dig for at give mig chancen for at opleve Golden Gate. Det var en sejltur - ja, et eventyr - som jeg sent vil glemme, og et eksempel paa livets (og sejlads') herlige uforudsigelighed.
Tak for din store generoesitet fra start til slut, som baade gjorde turen til en luksusoplevelse og atmosfaeren sjov og livlig. Det har vaeret en oplevelse faa beskaaret.
Og sidst men ikke mindst tak for de sene nattetimer og tidlige morgentimers overlap af vagter med hyggelige samtaler om og diskussioner af alt fra uduelige bankfolk og anekdotiske handler til Universets sammenhaeng og livets forunderlige indhold.

Kaerlig hilsen, Troels