Wind Surf, mid-Atlantic

Back in 2007 we took the slightly crazy decision to take a cruise.  Crazy for a number of reasons;

• We’d never cruised before
• We booked it a week before sailing … and two days before we needed to leave
• The cruise was 14 days long, with no ports of call
• The cruise was across the Atlantic in one of the world’s largest motor sailing yachts

Suffice to say that the gamble paid off and we absolutely loved it.  So much so that in 2008 and 2009 we went on exactly the same trip – the eastbound Transatlantic crossing on Windstar’s Wind Surf.

Before that first trip, and in subsequent cruise planning, we’ve made great use of the Cruise Critic website.  They provide forums for cruise lovers, and cruise newbies, to pool information.  For lovers of the Windstar ships the Windstar forum is a fantastic resource.

A while ago there was some discussion of the Transatlantic crossings including the relative merits or eastbound vs westbound, the passenger loads, the peace experienced onboard in the middle of the Atlantic with no other ships visible.

This brought to mind that as part of the dozens of photos we’ve taken onboard Wind Surf we also have a very short video clip taken using the camera.  It has no commentary, but it does give a sense of the peace of the mid-Atlantic.  For those interested in technical details the camera is Fuji 6500FD.

The footage was taken late morning on Monday 14th April 2008 from just outside the Compass Rose.  For reference deckplans are available here.

Notes from that day give the ship’s position at noon was 33 49N 031 21W.  Nearest land Pico in the Azores, 310 nautical miles away.  At that point we were approximately 2,050 nautical miles (nm) from our start point in Barbados.

To give that some context, our position was about here;

Wind Surf's position

Our experience is that people either love or hate the idea of a Transatlantic crossing.  The thought of day after day at sea excites some and terrifies others.  We know folks who risk coming out in a cold sweat just looking at that map …

14 days without sight of land, are you mad?!

For us it is one of the most restful places in the world.

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