Preparing for the ocean crossing (#15)

We had decided to go for it and cross the Atlantic Ocean. We were tired of the bad weather in Portugal and were longing for some tropical temperatures. Since the recommended time to cross from the Canaries via Cape Verde to the Caribbean is October to March it was time to get prepared. Our plan was to leave mid February, depending on when we found a good weather window of course.

Boat equipment …

The first and one of the most important things for us was to make sure that our solar panels and water maker worked and were fully tested before leaving. While my father was here he did a great job helping Sven connecting the solar panels and battery bank. Sven finished the last bits in the week after so we would have some time to thoroughly test the entire system.

Even though it was cloudy most of the time the battery bank was charging and the inverter worked as it should. At first we charged our batteries at the dock to test the 10kw inverter; it ran all our electrical devices at once off our battery bank. It was a great feeling to be able to be fully self-sufficient. Living from the sun would work even better when sailing in warmer climates soon.

To finish the installation of the water maker we were still waiting for one crucial piece. As soon as we had this delivered, all of our focus went to finishing the water maker. After a few more days of work we finished it. Sven was so excited to test it. During the first test we noticed a leak but it turned out it was because we forgot to open one of the faucets. So after drying up all the water we did a second test and it worked perfectly! Amazing how you can convert salt water into something drinkable.

Did I already tell you we built the water maker ourselves...

We bought all of the pieces for our water maker from all over the world. The high pressure pump came from Italy, straight from the factory. The membrane we picked up in the Netherlands a few months ago. We ordered the low pressure pump on Amazon and the pressure vessel came from a factory in China. All the hoses and connectors were bought at a ship chandlery in France. And for some crucial parts we had to scout the internet until we finally found everything. Sven made the control panel from a piece of

of alu sheet metal and I designed a sticker to finish off the design.

We now have a perfectly working water maker that provides us with approximately 3 to 4 litres of water per minute.

Safety ...

Another very important item on our list was to make sure we were well prepared for any emergency situation during our trip. We wanted to leave confidant and feeling a 100% safe. Or at least 99%, because you never know what might happen. A lot can go wrong during a sailing trip and being far away from land during a crossing makes it even more risky.

In addition to the safety items we already had on board we ordered an extra ‘Irridium Go’ so we would always be able to contact the shore via satellite connection. We also ordered an EPIRB (an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon which is used to alert search and rescue services in the event of an emergency) A flash light of 32000 lumen in case we needed a lot of light during the night.

To feel more safe we bought an extra water pump that pumps 600 litres of water per minute in case we would hit something and have a huge water leak.

Since we had to repair our main halyard already two times because it had shafing damage at the top, we bought a spare line for that.

Medical kit ...

We already had a very extensive maritime first aid kit on board, which was specially put together by an experienced sailor / doctor for long offshore trips. This kit mainly contained medical instruments and bandages and had a list of the medication we would need on board. The list was very extensive, including antibiotics, morphine and anaesthetics for emergency operations. So we went to a local doctor to have the medication prescribed. It was quite a list, even though we already had most of the over-the-counter medication like nose sprays, skin creams and mild pain killers. The pharmacist looked surprised when I handed him my list. I ended up walking out of the pharmacy with a shopping bag full of prescribed medication.

Back on the boat I sorted everything in separated bags according to the doctors list to make sure everyone could find the right medicine in case of an emergency. In addition to all the medical supplies we bought the book “Skipper’s medical emergency book” which clearly describes what to do in any kind of medical emergency. Becoming seriously ill or having an accident on board was one of my biggest concerns so I really felt a lot safer now that we had all these medical instruments and medication on board.

Visit to the Benagil caves ...

In between preparations we also took the time for some relaxing. When the weather allowed it we spent time on the beach and we went to explore the Benagil cave. It’s a must see when you’re in the South of Portugal that you can only reach by boat. There are a lot of tour boats that can take you there, but we decided to go on our own with our dinghy. The first time we tried to go we had to turn back because the waves were too choppy and since it would be a ride of 15 minutes at full speed that would be too uncomfortable. We tried again the next day when the sea state was a bit calmer. The ride there went smooth, we only had to stop a few times to find the exact spot. There was a bit of a swell building by the time we arrived at the cave so we carefully tried to go in which went pretty well. The tide was high so there wasn’t a lot of beach to put our dinghy and there were also quite a lot of rocks. The view inside the cave was magnificent but we wanted to make some pictures from the beach, relax for a while and enjoy the view so we decided to try and put the dinghy on the beach. We rolled up our pants and prepared to jump out as soon as we reached the beach. It was quite a challenge to make sure the dinghy didn’t hit the rocks. While Sven stayed close to the dinghy to make sure it stayed in place, the kids and I discovered the cave and made some beautiful pictures.

The swell kept growing so we decided not to stay too long. We put all our stuff back in the dinghy and each of us grabbed a handle to lead the dinghy in the water during the next wave. So far all went well, the kids jumped in and I waited a bit longer until the dinghy was deep enough to lower the engine. I was waist-high in the water and just as I jumped in another wave hit us, the highest one we had seen so far. It flushed our dinghy… we were all soaking wet, our bags were wet and the dinghy was full of water. Sven was hanging on the side of the dinghy trying to climb in so he was wet as well. He managed to get in and tried to start the engine. It was a nerve wrecking moment when the engine didn’t start the first time. After another try it started and we hurried out of the cave. We were all relieved to be out of the cave and still all inside the dinghy. Luckily it wasn’t too cold that day so we could slowly head back home in the dinghy while having a drink. Once our drinks were finished we headed home full speed because we were all starting to get cold. Back on the boat we took a hot shower and changed clothes. It was a great experience and we definitely want to go back another time, but maybe when it’s a bit warmer. All though, the advantage of going in the winter was that we had the cave all to ourselves and could make some stunning pictures, it was definitely worth the trouble.

Nova ...

Unfortunately these weeks preparing for our ocean crossing were not all fun. We received some bad news and had some hard decisions to make. When taking our dog, Nova, to the vet to make sure she was in good shape for the crossing we were blown away by the devastating news we got there. Nova was diagnosed with Leishmaniasis in the highest degree. Medically spoken there wasn’t much hope that they could cure her and she definitely wouldn’t be able to join us on the crossing. Even if she recovered she wouldn’t be able to travel around the world.

We were completely surprised because she was such a happy and active dog. That’s also the reason why the veterinary believed there was still a chance to successfully treat her. We wanted to do whatever we could to save her even though she wouldn’t be able to stay with us.

So after Nova had received a blood transfusion we started a long and stressful period full of medication, veterinary visits and the hard search for a new and loving family that could take care of her. As the days and weeks went by it looked like she was getting better, her test results were more positive at every veterinary visit. And even though it wasn’t easy we managed to find her a new home in the Netherlands and we also found a foster home in Portugal where she would stay until her transport to the Netherlands at the end of March. By that time we would already be in the Caribbean. It was a hard and emotional goodbye but we were happy to know that she was healing and was on her way to a new home.

Finding crew ...

Our final concern was to find crew members who wanted to join us on our ocean crossing. For us it would be especially helpful to ease the night watches and it was nice to have some extra help around.

We posted an add on findacrew.net and received a lot of positive reactions. Meanwhile we had also contacted an acquaintance of Sven who we thought would be interested. After a few phone calls she decided to do it and she was going to bring her boyfriend along so our crew was complete.

So from there on it was waiting for a good weather window and for the crew to arrive. They were coming from Colombia so with the constantly changing Covid restrictions we had to keep our fingers crossed that they would make it in time to Portugal.

Read all about our final preparations and our departure next week.

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