Wondering....Which Transatlantic Options Seem Better?

I've always been intrigued by the notion of doing a transatlantic crossing on one of the sailing vessels, probably Wind Surf. I've always wondered what weather patterns would be most prevalent.

All other things being equal, I think I'd want to sail when the conditions were most enjoyable. So which one seems to be more pleasant -- April (heading east) or November (heading back west)?

I asked one of the WS captains once which was better Europe to the Caribbean or Caribbean to Europe. He said Europe to the Caribbean because you are following the warm weather and the waters tend to be calmer. Since I love warm weather that was the first one we did and that was around Thanksgiving time. It was wonderful. We started in Spain so it was perfect traveling weather and from Lisbon on great weather, warm enough to swim in the pool every day. We did the reverse and even though it was lovely, it is quite a bit colder. About 5 days out you are in sweater weather. I have great weather karma so on every transatlantic we have taken and on the transpacific we took on the Spirit, calm seas but I know the Atlantic can rock and roll. We love the transocean cruises it is the best possible way to relax and gives me a great perspective of our world and the need to care for it. If you love sailing it is a great way to go. Personally we would rather be 14 days on sea that 7 hours in a plane. Happy Sailing.

Strenz, that was EXACTLY the kind of thorough answer I wanted to hear. Good job! I'm sold on the virtue of a westbound sailing.

This year, the Wind Surf's November 5th itinerary calls for a 13-night sailing from Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Saint Maarten, so if I wanted to take in Lisbon I'd have to book the October 28th trip from Lisbon to Tenerife, another 8 nights. Hmmm. Rather than spending money for that B2B cruise we could spend more time on the front and back ends on land. I'd especially like a few days post-cruise in Saint Maarten.

Or, how about this? Sailing on the Wind Star's October 28th itinerary directly from Lisbon to Barbados? With a couple days beforehand in Lisbon and several more afterwards in Bridgetown....yes, I like that idea a lot.

It's all good, any way you slice this.

I've always been intrigued by the notion of doing a transatlantic crossing on one of the sailing vessels, probably Wind Surf. I've always wondered what weather patterns would be most prevalent.

 

 

 

All other things being equal, I think I'd want to sail when the conditions were most enjoyable. So which one seems to be more pleasant -- April (heading east) or November (heading back west)?

I prefer westbound better not only for the reasons mentioned, but also for the fact that I get an extra hour of sleep every few days due to the time changes.

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LTC - Thanks for starting this topic. My wife and I are planning on retiring November of 2019 and we are thinking about doing a transatlantic as a kickoff to that part of our life. I think it would be a great way to just fully embrace the life of leisure. Since it would be the westbound, I'm glad to see that most prefer that. I'll be interested to see how the trip goes for you.