Atlantic ocean crossing: day 15-21 (#18)

During the final evening of our second week at sea we prepared for some heavy wind accompanied with rough seas coming our way. We had completely lowered the mainsail and the gib was unfurled for about 30%.

With only the gib rolled out we could now sail downwind which was so much more comfortable on the waves. Even with only a small part of the gib unfurled we were still going at our average of 6,5 knots, unbelievable. And it was so much more comfortable than the nights before. We learned a lot these past few days.

It was another pitch black night since the moon rose very late and there were clouds.

Day 15 - There were these huge ocean waves, towering high above our boat on all sides, and smashing onto the deck in the back and the sides. Sven got a very salty shower while he was attaching some lines at port side.

What a view at the back of the boat when all we could see was a huge wave chasing us. It was sensational when the waves caught up on us, lifting the entire boat a few meters in the air while rolling underneath us.

There was nothing more for us to do than watch the high seas and sit it out.

I went to bed for a few hours before my first watch but it was almost impossible to sleep with the sound of the pounding waves against the hull and all the screeching and cracking of the interior.

During the first part of my watch the sky was clear and lit up by the millions of stars that were visible. It was as if there was a party going on in the sky.

Day 16 - The sound inside the hulls kept Sven awake as well so we stayed up together during our watches. Time flew by as we had a lot of fun reminiscing about our epic trip to the US the year before.

In the morning we found a flying fish on the trampoline.

The wind decreased a bit during the day so we hoisted the mainsail again with 2 reefs and furled out the full gib.

Sven made a delicious salad for dinner, we still had some fresh fruits and vegetables left.

We passed another sailing boat (wind dancer) at a distance of 4 NM away around 3:20 a.m. The wind had picked up again during the night, I saw gusts of 32 knots TW. And the autopilot failed again a few times, the low/high speed problem still isn’t solved.

We had a little bit of rain during the night

Day 17 - The wind increased some more during the day so we tried a few different sail configurations to find the best setup. We wanted to go as fast as possible in the right direction without being too uncomfortable on the waves.

Due to some very light winds ahead of us we decided to head more South to stay in the wind for longer.

After a few days of waiting for calmer seas I finally decided to wash my hair which was not easy in those conditions. All day long it was a constant struggle to stay upright while doing anything, like for example preparing dinner, brushing my teeth, doing laundry or washing the dishes. Especially taking my lenses in or out was very challenging.

Sven had a craving for spaghetti so I managed to make some. Another struggle but it turned out delicious.

In the afternoon we discovered a little bit of water in the starboard bilge which wasn’t there the day before. We couldn't see where it was coming from so it was definitely something to keep an eye on.

At 9 in the evening the autopilot turned off again and we had to put in the second reef because we couldn’t steer the boat back onto its course. We also smelt something strange and the kids came out of their cabins, panicking because of a fire smell. We checked everything but couldn’t find a problem. After a few moments the smell was gone.

The radar showed a lot of squalls at night, luckily they all seemed to dissolve before we got to them and we only had to endure a few drops of rain.

Day 18 - At 6:00 a.m. we still had gusts up to 34 knots while an hour later the wind almost completely died down to only 12 knots.

We found more flying fish on the deck (5 in total now), it was a bloody mess and the smell was terrible.

It’s so sad to see them lying dead on the deck. But seeing them fly over the water that was amazing, They look like small, shiny, silver birds fluttering over the water and then diving in. It’s not jumping like dolphins but really flying for several meters and they’re even able to make turns in the air. I had never seen it before.

In the morning there was a little bit of rain and a beautiful rainbow. On the chart we saw a cargo ship passing by.

Around noon we finally had a fish on the line but we lost it just before reeling it all the way in.

In the evening the wind picked up a little bit so we put a reef in the mainsail just before sunset since we had the experience that the wind would increase once the sun had set. And it did indeed but it died out again a few hours later. We didn’t make much progress during the first half of the night but around 3:30 a.m. the wind picked up again with gusts up to 27 knots TW. We were happy we didn’t hoist the full main sail as we were thinking about doing an hour earlier. The wind shifted direction a lot. From a TWD of 50 degrees to 125 degrees and back in 30 minutes of time.

Around 4:00 am I heard a slam and then a flapping noise so I figured a line had snapped. I went below to where the sound was coming from only to find a flying fish floundering right in front of the saloon door, a little further and it would be inside. I grabbed some pliers to pick it up and throw it back in the water. It kept on floundering so I had to try several times to get it back in the water. Afterwards I had to rinse the deck to get rid of the scales and dirt before anyone would walk through it in the dark.

Day 19 - In the morning another ship passed by, it wasn’t specified on the chart which kind of ship it was and it was too far away to be able to see them.

At 15:50 pm we received a call on the VHF from a cargo ship that was crossing our path.

We had some rain again and it looked like we had reached the zone with little winds that we had been avoiding for as long as possible the previous days. We took down the mainsail and motor-sailed only with the gib to go downwind.

We noticed it was getting warmer out there, we were slowing reaching the tropical climate.

In the evening there was an extraordinary sunset, never seen it like that before. The sun disappeared behind a large rain cloud but it peeked out underneath the cloud just before it completely set, shining through a curtain of rain.

Day 20 - What a day!!

I woke up around 10:00 am just when Sven wanted to hoist the spinnaker, so I went up to help before having breakfast. Since I was there to help he decided to go up the mast first to inspect where the lost screw came from that we found on the deck a few days earlier. The waves weren’t too high so it was a good moment. Even with these little waves he swung around a lot so I was very happy that he found the hole for the missing screw in the bottom part of the mast, just above the boom. Going up even higher in the mast would be very risky.

After we had that problem tackled, we prepared to hoist the spinnaker. Seems like I wasn’t awake enough yet because I forgot to wrap the clew line around the winch, which caused Evi to burn her fingers when the line shot away. While I tried to help Evi, Sven and Francisco pulled the spinnaker back in. When we tried to hoist it again a moment later, something went wrong again... the line of the sock didn’t slide properly in the pulley which caused the entire rope to go up instead of just one side and Francisco got lifted up in the air a few meters while holding this line. It looked like he was going to fall overboard but he managed to hold on and to land safely back on the deck. Unfortunately we had to take the spinnaker down again because we noticed a rip in the sail. We repaired the sail with some tape and for a third time we tried hoisting the spinnaker. Third time’s a charm.

It was a good sailing day once the spi was up, we made some good progress.

When we tried taking the spinnaker down again before sunset we had trouble again. The lines that are supposed to bring the sock down got stuck. It took us a while but eventually we got him down. Turned out the pulley at the top had broken and was twisted.

Day 21 - After a quiet night and a good night’s rest we started our day by fixing the spinnaker. We unfolded it completely on the deck and took it out of the sock to inspect any damage and to untwist the lines. We had to repair the loophole at the top that got broken the other day. After fixing it we folded everything back together properly and hoisted the spinnaker again. It worked perfectly.

It was a beautifully hot and sunny day. It felt like a summer day in Spain. On moments like that I missed our home, especially our garden and pool. The kids spent some time with their feet in the water. They were of course wearing their life jackets and were secured to the boat. It was a relaxing day. Sven made some delicious soup and bread.

We had passed the half-way point between the Canaries and Martinique. We didn’t really party but just enjoyed the beautiful sunny day. We made popcorn in the afternoon and watched a movie together with the kids.

Taking down the spinnaker in the evening went smooth as well. Afterwards we watched the sunset on the front deck and had a lovely evening. We furled out the gib for the night but also turned on one engine to make some more progress during the night.

The start of this third week had been rough but the wind and sea calmed down during the week and we were up for some champagne sailing in the following days.

Read all about the amazing last days of our ocean crossing next week. It was a calm and sunny final week. The highlights were swimming in the deep blue ocean, our halfway party and catching a tuna.

And of course our arrival in Martinique… Stay tuned!

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