SAILING ALONE IN ROUGH SEA UP THE ATLANTIC
October 17, 2025 · 22 min · 145K views · Cape Town
Sailing vessel rides rough Atlantic waves at golden hour
What this video covers
Barry Perrins departs Cape Town solo aboard White Shadow, bound for Saint Helena on a passage up the Atlantic — the start of his return leg toward Plymouth after circumnavigating the globe.▶ 3:06 Friends escort him past Robben Island before he clears the wind shadow and picks up the Atlantic swell.▶ 2:14 Early days bring light wind and flogging sails; conditions build to 30-knot forecasts with heavy rolling, forcing him to drop the mainsail and run under foresail alone.▶ 9:39 On one night passage, AIS and a collision alarm alert him to motor vessel Franklin closing from dead astern; he raises the captain on VHF, identifies White Shadow as a sailing vessel with limited maneuverability, and the ship passes to starboard.▶ 7:33 Mid-passage, the fridge compressor fails, spoiling fresh meat, milk, and cheese; he diagnoses the fault from the instruction manual, confirms no cooling after an hour at 70°C, and goes without refrigeration for the remainder of the leg.▶ 14:01 He also crosses from the Eastern into the Western Hemisphere — the same longitude as Falmouth, his departure point — marking a technical near-circumnavigation.▶ 20:56 Saint Helena is 3–4 days out at the transcript's end.▶ 18:59
More from Adventures of an old Seadog
From Adventures of an old Seadog — see the channel’s boat, crew, and every analyzed video.