So, we are still in Jolly Harbor in Antigua, we spent the day and the night in the marina. It was a lazy day yesterday and calm and a peaceful night. We cleaned the boat a bit, find the laundry service and had a good dinner in the evening. Today we are leaving the marina and are heading towards English Harbor, where there is a big Christmas party tomorrow that we don't want to miss.
Here below is the diary of our Atlantic passage, as it was written every day through the journey. I'm still gathering some pictures and thoughts and there will be more posts about the passage in near future.
Preparations
Guys were finishing boat project and
preparing the boat for the ocean and Mirjana and I did the
provisioning. It was much harder than I thought, there were tones of
stuff to be brought back to the boat and even worse – they needed
to be stowed away. I just hope to be able to remember what we have
and where it is.
1st day - 30th
November
We sailed off at 5 in the afternoon.
There wasn't much wind, but waves were short and annoying. I had hard
time cooking the supper (chicken fillets in cheese and garlic sauce)
and then the crew had hard time eating it without letting meat and
salad slide from their plates. I skipped the dinner, my stomach
didn't want to get used to the movement of the boat just yet. During
the night wind slowly grew stronger, and so did the waves. We decided
on fixed 3-hours watches and during the night we were all tethered
(tied to a boat with a rope).
2nd day - 1st
December
Sea was choppy but at least sailing
speed was good. In the middle of the day a huge flock of dolphins,
about 50, came to play around our boat for half an hour. It was a
real acrobatic show that they presented and we enjoyed it immensely.
The highlight was without a doubt when couple of dolphins clapped on
the surface with their tails. We haven't seen anything like it
before. In the crowd of so many dolphins the turtle, that swam by,
almost got by unnoticed. We spent the rest of the day repairing
refrigerator that died on us that morning. After several hours the
cause of troubles turned out to be the cooling pump, that stopped
working each time when some air came into it. With waves like we were
having that happened on each wave. We can only hope for the sea to
get calmer eventually. The wind grew throughout the day and so did
the waves. Cooking dinner was again a hard work (beef in mushroom
sauce and tortillas), luckily this time we were all hungry and able
to eat.
3rd day - 2nd
December
From the forecast we knew this day and
the following night the wind will be the strongest, so we were all a
bit nervous about it. The wind wasn't gentle up till now and we all
had some problems with the waves. We decided to have burgers for
dinner, so no plates or knives and forks were necessary. As wind was
growing stronger we were reefing the sails. In the evening we were
sailing in 30 knots of wind and were surfing down the waves with
great speed. The waves were coming at us from different directions
and some of them managed to spit and spray some water into the
cockpit. Then suddenly a giant wave came from the side, broke over
the boat and managed to get a lot of water into cockpit and even down
below. All of us were awake immediately and came out to see what was
happening. There was no damage on the boat, so we started to get the
water out of the boat. It wasn't to bad, but it was unpleasant work
that we had to do in very unpleasant weather. During the night the
wind got up to 35-40 knots and genoa got reefed more and more until
it was just a small piece of cloth. It was a bit scary, but luckily
in the morning wind started to calm down a bit.
4th day - 3rd
December
The day was again rough, with wind
between 20 and 30 knots and very choppy sea. And none of us got much
sleep the night before. We tried to sleep as much as possible during
the day and ate only “gentle food” - bread and butter, cookies
and risotto with vegetables and chicken for dinner. The night was not
so bad, even waves got tamer, so sleeping was a bit easier.
5th day - 4th
December
First half of the day was great, wind
got down to 20 knots and waves were bearable. We were all enjoying
“normal” sailing and warm sun. In the afternoon we even catch our
first dorado. What a beautiful fish. I apologized to it for taking
its life. Anyway, we are eating fish tomorrow. In the afternoon seas
got heavier again, just in time for cooking dinner (chicken in cheese
sauce and potatoes). I'm starting to think this is happening on
purpose.
6th day - 5th
December
Night was terrible, sea was extremely
choppy with waves from several directions. None of us got much sleep.
Morning was grey and hazy with visibility down to half a mile, but
waves got tamer and tamer. We still have 15 to 20 knots of wind and
are traveling with good speed on full genoa – full for the irst
time after the first day. By noon sun managed to come from behind the
clouds and the sea was much more bearable. The good spirit was back
again. And today we've eaten our yesterdays catch – we ate dorado
as sushi with soy sauce and wasabi, from bones and head we made a
soup and for dinner we had grilled fish filets and rice. Fish was
exquisite in all variations, we ate it with great joy and gratitude,
so it died for good cause.
7th day - 6th
December
Finally things are getting into normal
rhythm. We slept well and the day was like summer holiday. Wind got a
bit weaker so we flew a genaker whole day. It was calm enough to make
a barbeque. In the afternoon we caught another dorado, so we had
grilled fish, burgers and tortillas and cucumber salad for dinner.
8th day - 7th
December
In the night the wind got weaker so for
the first time we wished for more wind for faster sailing. We are
still doing above 5 knots in average, but our overall average from
first few days was 6 knots. In the morning we pulled up a genaker
again, but the block at the top of the mast, that was holding genaker
halyard, fell apart after ten minutes, so we quickly pulled it down
again. Then we pulled out the genoa again and put a flock in another
track on genoa roller, so now we are flying wing-on-wing with both
genoa poles. Sea temperature rose to 28 degrees, so we opened a “open
bathroom” season – we were “bathing” on the platform at the
back of our boat with sea water. The calm day was just right for
another barbeque, this time we had T-bone stakes and potato and
cabbage salad. We opened a good bottle of Lanzarote's red wine and
the day was perfect.
9th day - 8th
December
Night was calm, the only thing
disturbing our sleep was noise from genoa poles rattling against the
mast when wind weakened. Which happened a lot and stayed that way
throughout the day. Shortly before 10 in the evening we crossed
1000th mile of our journey. Day was sunny and warm and we
were reading books, talking and lazying around. No luck with fishing
today, so we ate beef in mustard sauce and rice and tomato salad
made of our last tomatoes. In the evening wind changed direction so
we pulled down the flock and pulled up the main. We are hoping for
more wind tomorrow.
10th day - 9th
December
Night was very slow, due to very gentle
wind and partially due to sailing on genoa alone. We pulled the main
back down because the wind was changing directions so much it was
difficult to keep the boom from flying over the boat. So this morning
we put flock back on. Wind is getting stronger and stronger so we've
been sailing fast whole day. Since yesterday evening it is very
cloudy, we hope no rain or anything more unpleasant is cooking up. I
bake my first bread on this trip today, we ate the last of bread we
bought on Lanzarote yesterday. We also finished bananas, pineapple
and tomatoes. We still have apples for couple of days and some
cucumbers, red and green peppers and red and green cabbage. When we
will finnish all this, we will switch to canned fruits and
vegetables.
11th day - 10th
December
The wind is getting stronger and
stronger and seas heavier. We are all pleased with the good speed we
are having. Today was a fish day – we caught first dorado already
in the morning before breakfast and second, the big one, in the early
afternoon. It was cloudy all day so it seems this is the right kind
of weather and visibility for catching fish. But life on the boat in
this kind of sea is hard, even taking a shower is a hard work. Not to
mention cooking. Or eating – on several previous occasions stakes
and potatoes were flying around the cockpit. We ate fish stew for
dinner – from bowls.
12th day – Sunday 11th
December
In the evening we pulled down the flock
and reefed the genoa, since wind was getting stronger. Even so we had
average speed of 7,4 knots in the night and 7,6 knots this morning.
Unfortunately our genoa pole broke, so we are sailing without it now.
In strong wind this is not a problem, even in 5m waves as we are
having. The day was cloudy and we even had some rain in the
afternoon. I bake the bread again, and we ate grilled fish steaks and
tortillas for dinner.
13th day - 12th
December
The night was very windy and the sea
was rough with waves up to 5m from several directions. It was quite a
work keeping a watch and it was not easy to sleep either. This
morning the weather didn't change, we had wind of 25 to 30 knots and
heavy seas, and again a lot of clouds and some rain. We are sailing
very fast, we had average speed of 7,2 knots in the night and 7,6 in
the morning. But the wild movement of the boat is making life on
board difficult, even simplest tasks are a hard work. So there isn't
much one can do except read, sleep and eat. And cook of course. And
because of the heavy sea we ate again food from the bowls – pasta
with vegetable and fish (made of fish we caught, of course).
14th day - 13th
December
Night was again windy but waves were a
bit more round, so some of us got a bit more sleep during the night.
There were couple of short showers in the night, like we are having
now for the third day in the row. But in the morning the weather got
even worse – there were already couple of showers between 7 and 9,
and afterwards a big cloud has grown from behind us over the sky and
with it came very strong wind and a lot of rain. It seemed like heavy
rain has flattened the sea and the boat was flying over it, we had
average speed of 7,7 knots. It was my watch, so i was the one that
got very wet. By 11 rain was gone but it wasn't until afternoon that
we saw the sun. The wind got steady at 20 knots and we were again
sailing pretty fast. Waves were not so pointy and erratic as last
days. Regardless it was difficult to cook and eat, so we ate from
bowls again – cooked potato and veal and beans stew. We are hoping
for quieter night and some sunshine tomorrow! Can't believe we are
already sailing for almost two weeks! At this speed we shall be on
Antigua in 7 – 8 days. Can hardly wait to step on land again and
have a peaceful night on anchor – without watches.
15th day - 14th
December
The night was a bit quieter and we
slept better, there were again some short showers during night
watches. The day was surprisingly sunny and with little clouds, but
the sea was still choppy and sailing bumpy. There was enough wind to
keep the good speed between 6 and 7 knots. Today we passed 2000 miles
of our journey and a bit later got closer to Antigua than 1000 miles.
Other than that nothing really exciting happened. We cooked fish
curry with boiled potatoes for dinner.
16th day - 15th
December
The wind and waves got a bit calmer in
the night, so we had a good night. This changed in the morning with
strong gusts of wind to 35 knots and heavy rain and heavy sea, and by
the evening we were all wet several times and very tired. It was a
terrible day, all of us were really tired after each watch. We eat
only sandwiches, it was to wild inside of boat to prepare anything
and most of us were not hungry anyway. Forecast said that tomorrow
will be another rainy day, but with less wind and we hope also less
waves. The wind is suppose to turn to W to NW, weaken to 5 – 15
knots, which is not the direction or strength we would like. If so,
we will use motor more and catch up with sleeping and eating.
17th day - 16th
December
Last two yesterday watches were stormy
and rainy, but clouds were already breaking and now and then there
were couple of stars. The rest of the night went even quieter and we
got some rest from the hard day. Morning was nice and sunny and we
had some short showers before noon with long periods of sun in
between, and it was completely different from stormy grey depressive
yesterday. Around noon a flock of dolphins came by to say hi, the
first ones after more than one week. Afternoon was sunny and warm, we
enjoyed the summer. We even saw a couple of whales splashing in the
distance. Wind was getting weaker and the waves smaller, and wind
turned from S to W. Luckily the forecast wasn't completely right,
there was enough wind to sail, but it was blowing from the wrong
direction. Hopefully wind will turn to NW, so we can proceed in
better or even right direction. We ate steaks and tortillas and
cucumber salad for lunch, this time from plates and with forks and
knives again. We are hoping for a quiet night and tomorrow for a
sunny day without rain and moderate wind from NW. So if Santa is
reading this ...
18th day - 17th
December
The evening was calm, we sailed under a
starry sky until 4.30 in the morning. Wind was still blowing from W,
but we had enough speed so that we were still doing between 2 and 3
miles per hour in direction Antigua. Towards the morning wind
weakened so we started the engine. In the evening we saw the light of
another boat on the horizon, and later we saw yet another vessel 16
miles away on AIS. None of them came close enough to make a contact.
Day was warm and summery, but unfortunately with little wind, and
even that from wrong direction. Santa is obviously not in the office
yet ... We pulled up the sails again in the morning and tried tacking
towards west, but it was to frustrating. Our speed was not so bad
considering the gentle wind, but we were hardly making any progress
towards west, where we should be going. So we made a break to swim in
the ocean and had a barbeque in the afternoon – to make the most of
the beautiful day. We had T-bone stakes and potato and cabbage salad
for lunch, and a bottle of fine red wine from Lanzarote. In the
afternoon we started the engine again – until the wind turns or at
least get stronger.
19th day – Sunday 18th
December
The night was calm, in late evening
there were traces of wind from NW, but they soon faded away. So we
motored for the rest of the night and whole day. It was a sunny day
with clear blue sky, like it should be in tropics. We made a stop for
bathing in Atlantic again. There were no ships, no birds, no dolphins
and no whales to be seen, just a flying fish or two. We ate fish
salad (made of fish we caught, the big one, and froze) with freshly
baked bread for lunch and chicken and salad for dinner. In the
evening there was a bit of wind again, but not enough to sail on
sails alone, so we motor-sailed for a while. After midnight we were
motoring again.
20th day - 19th
December
If we hadn't have these couple of days
with no wind, we would be on Antigua tomorrow. So it will probably be
on Thursday. Although these last days were slow and nothing happened,
I rather liked it. Much more than storm four days ago. The day was
cloudy with no wind, but enough sun to make a stop for bathing again.
We had pasta-chicken salad for lunch. We motored until 5 in the
afternoon, then big rainy cumulus clouds came closer from the north
and with them came some rain and the wind. It started moderately, but
soon the wind was blowing stronger and the sailing got fast again, up
to 9 knots.
21th day - 20th
December
Night was stormy and bumpy and it was
not easy to sleep. The morning was the same – wind was strong –
up to 30 knots, there was some rain and waves got bigger to. So it
was same kind of wild sailing we've already got used to by now. I
really thought, we would have more stable weather, with stable wind
around 20 knots from E or NE, waves up to 3m and less rain. But
obviously i had wrong impression how sailing in trade winds should
look like. In the afternoon at least the sun came out, the wind and
waves stayed the same. We ate fish curry with boiled potatoes –
from the fish we caught, the big one, that we froze. We ate from
bowls again, of course. In the evening we had a marvelous sunset and
then some more bumpy and rocky sailing through the night, luckily
without the rain.
22th day – 21th
December
The morning was sunny, but windy and
the waves even got bigger. No one got much sleep in the night, but
since we are only 100 miles away from Antigua, we will get enough
sleep soon. In the night we tried to slow down the sailing, to be
able to get to Jolly Harbor in the morning on Thursday, to avoid
entering the port in the dark. It didn't really happen, there was to
much wind and the ride was even bumpier at lower speed. So we are
expecting to be there between midnight and 3 in the morning. We
changed the route to avoid any reef or rock in wide circle to get
there safe even in the dark. We are all eager to see the land again
and return to civilization and the mood is good and faces happy.
Today we saw more birds, even a frigatebird, which means land is
close. We ate veal stew with pasta, from the bowls again of course.
We are keeping the watch system till the landfall, although we will
probably be all out on the deck the whole evening, not to miss
anything. Champagne for celebration is already getting cold in the
fridge.
23th day – 22st December
The evening and the night were bumpy
and windy, with some rain here and there. Keeping watch was a hard
work. At about 2 in the morning we were approaching Jolly Harbor and
the rain came down with full force. We didn't find good place for
anchoring, so we proceeded into the harbor and tied the boat on the
side of fueling station. We stayed up another hour and have a drink,
and afterwards we went to bed. In the morning we moved the boat to
customs dock and went through all the procedures required for
entering Antigua. And then we had breakfast and pina colada, that
we've been dreaming of the entire journey.