Atlantic Adventure (week 3)

Woke to: “I might need a hand, there’s squalls around”

..and although there were, we reefed and managed to avoid the worst of them.

This did give us enough ‘correct’ wind to spend some of the morning sailing, before our signature tune ‘Flappety flap flap flap’ started playing in the rigging.

Once we plucked up courage to try flying the spinnaker again, the wind turned gusty and rain came down - it did not go well.

Sushi for lunch (for me at least)

Then as Martin caught up on some sleep in the front cabin, we were visited by a pod of around 25 playful dolphins who spent some time messing around at our bow - always a good mood lifter.

Dinner was a close to the bottom of the provisioning barrel concoction of noodles and the last of the ‘fresh’ veggies.

“SHIP!!” Cries the skipper after dinner as the galley slaves are washing up below. Sure enough, the first vessel for over a week is spotted on the horizon. It’s a massive I don’t know what - possibly military as no sign of it on the AIS.

Later, just shy of my shift starting I’m woken by Martin tickling my feet to alert us of another vessel he’s spotted - and well spotted, as at that point it was just a speck on the horizon behind him.

This turns out to be another yacht, who, after coming a lot closer and having some flashlight to and fro to confirm we’ve seen each other, hails us on channel 16 to say ‘Hi’.

It’s a nice American guy, who also had not seen anyone since Cape Verde and is enroute to Antigua.

I’ve just read back the last few days - I do seem to be moaning about the sea/swell/wind conditions a lot. The conditions have been quite hard on all of us - as I said to Chez tonight: when it’s good, it’s good, but when it’s hard, it’s been really hard. Don’t get me wrong, this has been the experience of a lifetime, but it’s not, as the saying goes, all plain sailing... not by a long shot.

Day 16: Thursday 27 Jan 2022

Theres really not very much going on, here’s the highlights from today:

Sun out, calm sea, little wind, sails flapping.

We tried once again to fly the spinnaker ....and we failed once again at flying the spinnaker - we’re getting closer!

Cleaned the fridge out

Martin is still dominating at ‘eye spy’

Not much else today. Antigua is tantalisingly close, but with little to no wind and insufficient diesel to drive all the way there, for now at least we need to content ourselves with bobbing along in roughly the right direction.

So in the absence of any real news from today, I think we’re far enough through the journey to try and summarise what it’s been like.

We’ve had seas from flat, mirror smooth without a ripple, to raging unpredictable mountains of surf and everything in between.

Our winds have gone from ‘not a sausage’ all the way up to ‘blowing an absolute hooley’ ....I realise these aren’t the normally recognised Beaufort scale terms but you get the idea.

It’s been a true adventure: thrilling and exhilarating, at times scary and challenging for all of us. That said, there’s been a large portion of slow and boring mentally sapping days too - It’s a very very long way.

It’s been a mixed voyage sadly beset for a large part with illness.

It’s physically hard - you’re constantly tensing to keep your body upright with a moving deck below your feet and develop arm muscles like Popeye from pulling the sails in and out.

Days have been sunny and warm in the main with only occasional squalls coming through to wash the decks and keep us on our toes. Nights have been star filled with the moon ranging from nothing to full.

I really couldn’t have wished for better company on board.

Day 17: Friday 28 Jan 2022

We’ve gone a little South, so needed to jibe today - it went well. There's sufficient breeze to sail, nice day punctuated by naps at various times by all of us. Sunset dinner in the cockpit we were joined by a slow moving pod of dolphins, stayed close, popping up to breathe next to us every 30 seconds or so.

Really not much else happening - I’m genuinely running out of things to bore you with!

Day 18: Saturday 29 Jan 2022

Woke to the crew in a glum mood. The sky is grey with drizzle and darker grey clouds signalling upcoming squalls surround us. There’s not enough wind to sail by, but there is the exact amount needed to loudly and continuously flap and crack the mainsail in the most torturously annoying way. The cockpit is soaked and all the cushions we sit on are stowed below for the time being. Chez and Martin retired to their cabins for some slightly more comfortable surroundings for a little respite. This left me on deck staring out to sea, under my breath singing: ‘I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden’ which had come up on a playlist in my overnight listening.

Just then, 20 meters in front of me on our Port side breaking out of the surf comes a massive shiny black whale’s fin and back. It’s as long as the boat, keeping pace with us and gracefully arcing out of the water to breathe. I’m shocked and amazed, I excitedly shout for the others to join me back on deck and we spend 5 mins staring at the water hoping for another glimpse. Between us we see three more rises before he or she heads on their merry way. This went some way to lift our spirits. The wind slowly returned to a useable degree, the day turned sunny and by sunset we’re once again gliding along under sail alone.

Overnight we had a few brief squalls, enough to wet the cockpit and disturb Chez from her sleep. She came and kept me company for a while until we thought they’d passed

....and then I had some more, possibly the most fierce and intense ones yet - and that’s saying something. I had a scary wet horrible night being thrown about and couldn’t bring myself to wake Chez at 5 to take over in the maelstrom, so stayed wedged in the supposedly ‘dry’ corner until just shy of dawn.

Day 19: Sunday 30 Jan 2022

After little sleep, woke up irritable and snappy. When the highlights of the day are making corned beef hash and losing yet another lure, you’ve probably heard all you need to hear about day 19. Nearly there.

Day 20: Monday 31 Jan 2022

A brighter day today. Started the day with a drag/swim/wash hanging from a rope off the back of the boat. My first swim in Caribbean waters...well my first since the 80s! I was surprised at what a strong current the sails create just going along at what, from on board, appears to be a slow rate. It was a struggle to get my foot onto the swim ladder to get back onto the transom. Also surprised by the amount of growth on our hull - that’ll need some attention when we get to a suitable anchorage. Anyway the water was lovely - clear blue and close to warm. Pasta Puttanesca for dinner.

The incessant kids in the back seat of our brains are now asking on a continuous loop: “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

Well - happily we are nearly there: the island is about 60nms away as I write.

As we get closer there’s a few concerns:

- Will we have enough diesel to actually get there?

- Will we arrive during daylight hours?

- Will the marina office be open when we arrive?

- What quarantine measures will be imposed after Chez’s bout of Covid?

- If we are quarantined, will Martín miss his flight (4 days away)

- Will the docking be easy?

- Where will we be able to get local currency?

- Will we be able to get a SIM card?

- Will customs want to inspect the boat?

These, and probably a thousand and one other things that aren’t on my radar, have Captain Chez very stressed. What should be a time for joyous end of passage celebrations is instead filled with furrowed brows and occasional tears. Hoping that by this time tomorrow I’m writing a significantly happier entry - with a triumphant Captain Chez sipping a rum heavy beverage from a coconut with an umbrella and listening to the welcoming sound of steel drums.... we’ll see.

Day 21: Tuesday 1 February 2022

Pinch and a punch for the first of the month.

As I head up on deck, a still somewhat sorrowful Chez is having a hard time again this morning - possibly having been pinched and punched by someone while I was below - jokes aside, she’s got a lot going on. Needing to motor through the night, we now find ourselves without enough diesel to make it to Jolly Harbour in daylight today.

I spend the morning trying various sail configurations in light breeze until we eventually end up with a workable setup to get us - hopefully - to English Harbour by evening. There we can drop anchor, grab diesel and motor the additional 3hrs round to Jolly Harbour the next morning to check in.

A significantly happier Chez calls out an eye spy we’ve all been waiting for:

“Eye spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘L’!”

...and sure enough to our absolute delight, it’s Land!

Initially just a small grey smudge on the horizon, it’s now grown into a real life proper island, with hills and trees and buildings - by now I’m pretty much ruling out it being a scurvy induced mirage.

I think I’ll call it a day there - if you’re reading this, we must have eventually arrive safely. Hope you enjoyed reading most of what I managed to capture. Bye x