Has any one sailed or motor sailed directly from the VI to the Acores?
Typically, people seem to go to Bermuda first then to the Acores. Of
course the more favorable winds can be found on that passage but I do
have 650-mile range motoring and would love to cut out the 500 mile
out of the way stop to Bermuda. The pilot charts indicate variable
winds through much of the areas when a direct rout would take me.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Vince

Vince LoRusso wrote:
Has any one sailed or motor sailed directly from the VI to the
Acores? Typically, people seem to go to Bermuda first then to the
Acores. Of course the more favorable winds can be found on that
passage but I do have 650-mile range motoring and would love to cut
out the 500 mile out of the way stop to Bermuda. The pilot charts
indicate variable winds through much of the areas when a direct
rout would take me.

The old rule used to be: "Run up to 40 North and hang a right." This and
many other old sailing routes were based to an extent on "Ocean Passages of
the World," which itself was based on ships' logs from the days of sailing
ships. In recent years a lot of these routes have been discredited based on
the experiences of modern yachts and modern sailors. This is especially the
case when the availability of custom real time weather reporting is thrown
into the mix.

There have been a number of passages made directly from the Virgins to the
Azores in recent years. If you have the fuel, go for it. However remember
that depending on the season you may encounter headwinds in the low 20's
latitudes. This occurs usually during the winter months. These are the
same winds people ride back from the Canaries to Barbados.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/