Trans Atlantic

22 days at sea, 2900 miles route length plus all the dodging weather and upwind tacking means about 3100 miles sailed.  As we approach St Lucia it is hard to believe it is all coming to an end.  Relief is a primary emotion, of course.  This boat has lots of space, but we are all looking forward to more space, the opportunity to go for a walk more for than 4m and without holding on. Nonetheless, the crossing has been an extraordinary experience and we are also all feeling a little nostalgic as we do our last watches, last catch of fish, last bit of school work (well, that’s more a celebration!).

After a steady start (in cruising cat fashion) out of Las Palmas, the breeze slowly built as we made our way down the east coast of Gran Canaria.  We were soon able to put the spinnaker up and really get moving.  It was an amazing day, to look around and see all the ARC boats heading down the coast with us.  We felt part of something special.  As the sun set on the first day, the fleet had already started to split, with some heading turning west at the bottom of Gran Canaria to take the northern route, and some (including us) continuing south.  The southern route is typically slower, but more comfortable.

Flying start - heading down Gran Canaria east coast

Day 1 - passed by Claire

Sunset on Day 1

Sunrise on Day 2

By Day 3 the wind had died and we were under motor, heading south for more wind.  The forecast was not great.  There was more wind in a few days, but it would be on the nose.  On the plus side a few days of calm gave us the chance to get stuck into boat school, finish some jobs on the boat and try our hand at fishing.  On Day 5 we caught our first fish!  We are not sure if it was a tuna or bonito.  It was big – enough for at least 4 meals!  Lucky we have a freezer on the boat.

Boat school!

Day 3 - becalmed

Day 4 - lets go fishing

Day 4 - that's entertainment

Day 5 - Tuna for dinner!

Sunset on Day 5 - red sky at night...

The wind hit on Day 6 and we had two days of upwind, hammering our way through the swell.  Very unpleasant and all on board rather squeamish and quiet.

We celebrated 1 week at sea with an awesome day, even though we were under motor sail.  Everyone was well again.  Hayley and I were on dawn watch and we saw a pod of dolphins of the port side.  They moved quickly around the boat and before we knew it they were swimming with the bows.  What a delight!

Day 8 - bow riders

We had pancakes for breakfast because we could finally eat again!  We spent the morning doing boat school and getting a few boat jobs finished.  After lunch we pulled the sails down and switched the engines off.  It was time for a swim!  The water was incredibly warm and so clear, but we couldn’t see the bottom 5km below.  Hayley and Megan were a bit nervous getting in at first, but soon found their confidence and stayed in longer, though no one strayed too far from the boat.

MANGO!

A swim in the middle of the ocean

Water so blue and so clear, but we can't see the bottom

Day 9 we found the trade winds at around 7am and finally started heading west - hooray 😊.  We had 4 glorious days sailing under spinnaker and making good progress generally toward St Lucia, although we did take a dive south to avoid some doldrums.  By Day 11 the wind was a steady 15 knots so we decided to leave the spinnaker up overnight.  We left it up for the next 3-4 days, except when we noticed some wear on the main halyard, so Dave had to go up the mast (yay) to fix it before we had bigger problems on our hands.

Day 11 - Dave climbs the mast

Day 11 - Megan sends her first message-in-a-bottle to Kim

On Thursday 30^th November we officially celebrated half way (by distance)!  We cooked a leg of lamb on the BBQ and had roast potatoes.  We also had a small glass of red wine each (Hayley and Megan had their own can of soft drink) to toast the halfway mark.  It took 12 days to get to this point.  We were hoping the second half of the journey would be faster!

Day 13 - Lamb on the BBQ to celebrate halfway

Day 13 - Cheers! Halfway across an ocean

Day 14 was not such a good day.  Our spinnaker tore in two neat lines down either side to about ½ way down.  On the plus side it was daytime and we watched it happen, so were able to respond quickly before the sail fell in the water and under the boat.  On the down side that’s the end of the spinnaker run, so our speed has dropped 1-2 knots in the current breeze.  We pulled out the jib and started sailing goose wing.  This at least made our wind angle better and we were heading straight for St Lucia. It makes you think about the true meaning of ‘wear and tear’. 

We started noticing lots of seagrass in the water around Day 14 too.  We thought this might mean more fish and as we had almost finished all the tuna, we threw the line out again on Day 15.  The girls and I baked fresh bread for lunch, after which there was some action on the line and in came a big Mahi Mahi for dinner.  To top off the day, the night brought a full moon tonight bathing the ocean in blue light.

Day 14 - Megan is Nim

Day 15 - Lots of seagrass... time to try fishing again

Day 15 - fresh bread for lunch

Day 15 - looks like Mahi Mahi for dinner

Day 16 we finally got down to 3 digits.  This was a big milestone and the miles seemed to just fall away after this.  Perhaps we have got into the rhythm of being at sea, of filling our days with not much by regular standards, but remaining content with this.  We had many small celebrations – under 1000NM (we made challah for breakfast); under 750NM (we saw AEDIS!); under 600 NM (we had steak and a beer for dinner + we opened a block of chocolate 😊).

Day 16 - puzzle complete!

Day 17 - Making Challah to celebrate under 1000NM

Day 17 - the end product, delicious

Day 20 and we hit the 500NM milestone at 10am.  The wind cheered for us and began to build to 22, then 25 and finally 30 knots!  We had to reef the main, but we were flying again, though the penalty was high in the bigger swell.  We were all queasy, but would do it all again for another 190NM day!

Day 21 the sea calmed and the wind dropped a little, so we were all much more comfortable and still with good speed under full sail.  Dave did catch another fish – a Wahoo.  It was striped and had big teeth.  Unfortunately, our dinner was already cooking when he caught it, so we had put it in the fridge for the next night.  Megan finished school for 2017. 

Day 18 - Hayley doing her science experiment on the boat

Day 19 - Time with Dad as the sun sets

Day 20 - Wahoo!

Time slowed, along with our boat speed on Day 22 as the wind slowly fizzled out.  Our top speed all day was just over 5 knots.  By 8pm we had dropped below 3.5 knots and we decided enough was enough, time to switch on the engines.  This brought our speed back up to 5 knots and would ensure our arrival in St Lucia on Monday.  We have boats around us again now, as we start to converge towards the finish line. Hayley finished school for 2017.

Day 22 - 100NM to go!

We had our last supper at sea – BBQ Wahoo, zucchini fritters and cucumber (the last of our fresh veges) and the last packet of Tim Tams for dessert!

Day 22 - Last dinner of the crossing, wahoo and zucchini fritters  

Day 22 - Tim Tams for dessert!! Thanks John!

Today must have been the longest day of the entire crossing.  At around 9:30 UTC Hayley, Megan and I went up into the helm station to watch the sun rise (this is about 5:30am St Lucia time).  Not long afterward we noticed a small triangular shadow on the western horizon.  The triangle grew, and then got some lumps on either side and then the lumps stretched along the horizon into what was definitely ‘Land Ahoy!’.  We were still 40 miles out and travelling at 5 knots under motor. 

We finally came through the strait between St Lucia and Martinique around 4pm, then rounded the corner past Pigeon Island, where the wind came in so that we could sail to the ARC finish line.  We even sailed past another ARC boat and beat them to the finish – unbelievable after weeks of seeing no one.

Day 23 - Sunrise and we wait for St Lucia

Day 23 - There she is!

Day 23 - Atlantic crossers just across the finish line

We arrived to the sound of steel drums, with a rum punch handed to us (cola for the kids) when we stepped onto land.  Welcome to the Caribbean!