The idea of crossing an ocean on our own boat came to us already ten years earlier. In 2014 we crossed the Atlantic with the sail training schooner Helena. Having staged ourselves to Cape Verde in the end of 2024, it was time to make the big jump.
| Distance sailed | 3800.5 NM | (90.5%) |
|---|---|---|
| Distance motored | 397.8 NM | (9.5%) |
| Total | 4198.3 NM | |
| Travel days | 91 | (26%) |
| Harbour days | 251 | (73%) |
| Storm days | 1 | (0%) |
After celebrating new year it was time to head west. So in the morning we visited the immigration and harbour police and cleared ourselves out of the country. After that we got a bunch of freshies from the market and prepared the boat for sea.
We’ve spent today sailing in quite turbulent conditions. At night, the curving winds drove us to the calm batch in the lee of Santo Antão. Off watch was roused, and we gybed to get out of there. Then we were back in the acceleration zone, winds gusting up to 33kt and pushing us along. The night was quite fun, fast, downwind sailing. There are lots of shooting stars, and possibly the first glimpse of the Southern Cross.
Seems we have finally reached the trade winds without any interference. Base at 15 gusting to 20 from a stable direction. We are now flying double headsails as the occasional 25 kn gust throws the windvane completely off course when under Parasailor. With double headsail we are about 3 days slower than we would be with Parasailor, but I’ll change that any day for more relaxed watches. We both had really good sleep on our off watches, so now for dinner time we actually have some time to hang out.
Today was the second day in row when we haven’t needed to touch a thing since switching to the double headsail setup. Winds have been blowing quite steadily from the northeast, and the boat sails itself.
The topic on everyones’ lips is the calm that is expected to develop between us and Barbados. Sya ahead of us warned about it, Wenda behind us is for now steering towards the southerly route evaluating along the way if that is necessary. The two Swedish boats that we had a discussion over the VHF with are now doing a “banana curve” towards Barbados to avoid the calm.
Today is another of those easy days offshore: we’re trucking along at a quite steady 5kt without having to do anything else than maintain a lookout. At night, we passed the duo of Swedish boats (Sawubona and Lucky Winny) again and had a short VHF conversation. This time, we could see them in the horizon, bringing the “boats seen” count to four so far.
As the sun was setting we changed to Parasailor and gybed. The night flew by as we glides through the ocean guided by the moonlight, which now extends to also Bergie’s watch. Over the night we got sargasso weed stuck on our hydro and servo rudder. “Release the salad!” echoed in our heads as a reminder of the epic CCCamp2019 trip where we ventured with our previous boat Curiosity, together with Kumikana and Julchen. Curiosity swimming deeper than ever with bilge full of beer and drinks and Kumikana loaded full of food as the official “breakfast mothership”. Then too various seaweeds would tangle themselves to the props of our outboards and periodic “salad removal” breaks were called upon.
The wind started picking up just as we were having dinner. Once the pancakes had been consumed, we put the Parasailor in its sock and bag and hoisted the regular white sails. This was prescient, as it was gusting to 25kt most of the night. We were first on a broad reach and then later wing on wing.
The lighter conditions have us running with Parasailor for now. The first reversed watches took a bit of getting used to, but it is only fair that Bergie gets to enjoy the sunrises too.
In the evening we ran into some lighter winds, making the night a slow but comfortable ride. Sea state had also quieted significantly. At sunrise, a milestone: we reached the halfway point of the trip. 1066NM behind, 1066NM ahead.
At midnight we dropped the Parasailor and continued with wing on wing, main on 1st reef and genoa partially rolled in. The nearly full moon guided our way nearly until sunrise. The moon is so bright that it obfuscates the stars nearly completely. Only the few brightest ones are visible now.
The night went quickly on a fast broad reach, with winds gusting up to 25kt. In the morning, we rolled out the genoa to wing on wing and continued along our course.
In the morning the sleeping off watch was awoken to take down the Parasailor. A series of squalls were approaching and they can bring with them a fair bit of wind. The first came while the parasailor was up and with it, the wind went from 7 to 22 knots in seconds. The rule of thumb is, squall without thunder is up to 25kn and with thunder up to 50kn of wind. We got the parasailor down , with what by now is a good routine and hoisted only the staysail instead. With the following squalls we saw winds up to 28knots.
Due to the close by squalls, we decided to switch for the white sails for the night. What followed was a pretty perfect night sail under the full moon and some puffy clouds.
In the night the squally conditions continued until the early hours of morning. Then finally we settled to clear skies and low winds. With both headsails we had no unnecessary flapping in our sails, so we slowly made our way forward. The same continued till about dinner time when a small winshift gave us the opportunity to raise the mainsail again and be on a starboard tack with true wind angle in 130°.
Finally sailing fast again! In the evening, we set the mainsail into 1st reef, and overnight kept rolling in more and more of the genoa. At sunrise, we swapped it to the staysail and put the main to 2nd reef.
The squally conditions continue. Before squalls we absolutely fly forward and behind them we slow down to a snail pace. With a bigger crew we would probably opt in to more frequent sail changes and so be faster, but as it is just the two of us, we rather go with a conservative sail plan and be ready for the high winds even if we are slow in between.
The night was quite sporty. Between the big seas and the wind varying from 15kt to 35kt, the windvane had a hard time keeping up. This meant we needed to be constantly ready to intervene.
The windy conditions continued, and waves kept building up. We kept sailing on, tending to the windvane whenever one of the breakers pushed us off course.
Today we were finally motivated and awake enough to re-anchor closer to shore. So anchor up and to the midst of all the other boats!
This post will mostly discuss the technical aspects of the crossing, what worked and what didn’t. For the actual story, you can read our blog posts from along the way.
We spent a fun week in Sainte-Anne hanging out with fellow cruisers. Then Karin and Daniel flew in to sail with us. Once groceries delivery had arrived, we hoisted anchor and set sail for an overnighter south.
After our breakfast we hoisted sails and headed out. Destination Tobago Cays and its picture perfect palm beaches. As the squalls are a daily occurrence we left with staysail and first reef.
A perfect day was had in the paradise - swimming with sea turtles, flying kites, the tiki bar, and obviously the huge feast that was the lobster dinner!
After enjoying a lovely day in Port Elisabeth we had a sturdy breakfast and let the mooring ball go. As we were motoring through the mooring field the wind kept picking up. First to 10kn, then to 15 and 20, so main in first reef and staysail went up. From there we started out standard 6 hour watches.
A fun week was had adventuring with and visiting some of our buddy boats. But now it’s starting to be time to move on.
In the drizzling rain we hoisted the anchor. Few moments later, with wind gusting to 20kn we hoisted the main sail in first reef and were on our way.
Today was the time to visit the first new country on this trip: Dominica. We prepared the boat for offshore and hoisted anchor just after sunrise. The fast beam reach out of St. Pierre became a lumbering float-about as soon as we reached the shadow of Mt. Pelée.
We had a fun evening in the Roseau Pottersville anchorage. Catamaran Great Dane invited all boats for some sundowners. Quite a difference to our small boat!
At 11:30 we were finally ready and the anchor was no longer dug deep into muddy ground of Portsmouth bay. We packed the anchor to the anchor locker and hoisted main in first reef and staysail. Then nose towards north and Guadeloupe!
The anchorage just under the fortified cliff of Tete Rouge was a bit rolly, mostly due to the speeding motorboats and ferries. In the morning we started preparing for dinghy deployement in order to have a small land adventure. But as we were clearing the foredeck, we noticed that a lot of the mooring balls next to the town itself were now vacant. And so, anchor up and to the mooring field!
After enjoying the carneval atmosphere in Terre-de-Haut, we let go of our mooring ball after breakfast and took our course towards Guadeloupe. A promise of an anchorage with dead calm waters was appealing to us. So main up in first reef and staysail.
After a night very well slept in the still water, we hoisted the anchor and sailed out of the lagoon.
Breakfast of croissants and pain au chocolate on the aft deck and groceries and stowing everything away later we reversed out of spot in the harbour. A tight manouver that with a bit of setting up went flawlessly. It’s nice to know that we can still make the tight turns with Lille Ø although we havent needed those skills since last year!
After morning coffee we navigated ourselves out of the reef pass and hoisted full sail. Forecast had uncommonly light conditions.
The anchorage was pretty rolly, so we decided to try our luck around the next cape in the morning. We motored the half mile after observing that few boats had left the anchorage making space for us.
We had a nice hike, a swim in among the mangroves, and finally some snorkeling. But as we need to check out of the country tomorrow, we decided to move to the anchorage in front of Saint-Louis.
We woke up with the sun and hoisted the sails after a quick breakfast. The forecast promised variable winds on the beam, so we opted for a mainsail in first reef and genoa that we ended up reefing and unreefing many times.
After exploring the ruins of Fort Shirley, we woke up at night to observe the lunar eclipse. Then in the morning plan was to hoist anchor and head south.
With sore muscles we woke up to a new day. The hike to Boiling Lake was still fresh in our minds as we hoisted the anchor just after eleven. There was no time to rest as a week of southerlies is looming ahead. So we took the little wind that was in the forecast and hoisted full genoa and main. Behind Dominica we were sailing ever so slowly with a bit of see breeze. Just before the cape the wind got so confused that we motored a bit.
Since we were in France, the morning started by rowing to the bakery to get some fresh croissants. Then boat ready, anchor up, and underway.
Today’s big mission was to fill up the diesel tank. We hoisted anchor and motored through the small canal to the harbour basin. The fuel dock was an easy approach with plenty of space to manouver. We filled up 50 liters, which means that since Lanzarote we have used 50 liters of diesel. Not bad for 5 months of cruising!
After a quiet night in the protection of the mangroves, we went ashore to enjoy another pleasant marina shower. Then we left the mooring ball and headed out.
We left well before dawn in the hopes we would arrive before the immigration closes. We knew we were in for a bit of motoring but we were not prepared for the winds ranging between 0 and 32 knots and somehow we had forgotten how much the current running against us is. So we left with what we soon realized to be too late to arrive for immigration or even in daylight.
After morning coffee we assembled the dinghy. Always a bit sporty in the high winds! Then the refreshing 0.7NM upwind row to the customs dock.
The week on the mooring ball came to its end. As we didn’t get the boat quite as ready as we wanted on Friday we moved to anchor. But the reason for the slight delay in preparations was the best. We finally spent time with the crew of Belafonte, who we met for the first time way back in Stavanger.
This morning it was finally time to pack the dinghy and head south. Forecast promised a bit lighter conditions for the next couple of days.
After coffee it was up with the anchor. In Salt Whistle Bay all the good spots are taken by mooring balls, so we went looking for a bit more comfortable anchorage. We motored the 1.2NM to Saline Bay. Here we have more space, less swell but the wind is howling through without obstructions.
After morning coffee and preparing a sourdough, we hoisted anchor and set sail to the next island over. We will eventually need to clear out of St Vincent and the Grenadines here.
We cleared out already on Tuesday, so today we just needed to pack the dinghy and hoist anchor and sails. We opted for main in first reef and genoa partially rolled in. The sail was fast and smooth. The reefs were protecting us from the swell the whole way.
A rarity in the forecast, a couple of days of calm! So to capitalise on that, we decided to sail over to the uninhabited Ronde Island. The anchorage is not particularly well protected, but with the calms, it should offer could snorkeling.
After a couple days on the deserted island, it was time again to seek civilization. We hoisted anchor and headed across to the main island of Grenada on a fast beam reach. Suski scrubbing the bottom clean had a clear effect on the boat speed.
Yesterday we got an big upgrade to our setup. Isosaari now has an electric engine! A ePropulsion Sprit 1.0 Plus. Now we have about 7.5 hour run time at 3 knots of speed. This will give us plenty of opportunities to do some dinghy sightseeing.
Two weeks went by quickly enjoying the sights and the cruiser community of Grenada. Having cleared out the previous evening, we waited a morning squall to pass and then hoisted anchor. The murky waters of Prickly Bay ensured that the chain came onboard with a thick coating of seaweed. So, some scrubbing and under way!
Sea state made the night a difficult one to sleep. The bane of first night on a passage, hunting down warious objects making noice in the cabinets kept us entertained. So Suski stepped into her morning watch with only few blinks of sleep.
Around sunset we got a visitor - a brown noddy flew over, and after a few attempts managed to land on our sprayhood. There it stayed, not particularly interested in our comings and goings. And then left a bit after sunrise.
As the night fell, we got again an extra passanger in the form of a brown noddy. We made good progress in the night, averaging 6.6 knots! The rolly conditions meant that from time to time, the noddy fell off from the sprayhood and needed to catch us again and find its seat.
The saying goes: when the ToDo list for your boat is empty, it is time to sell the boat because you clearly don’t love it anymore. No fear of that for us in the hot climate of Curaçao. In the past five months, Lille Ø has undergone a major transformation. The biggest undertaking we took was to build a hard dodger instead of the sprayhood that was quickly falling apart in the unforgiving bombartment of tropical sun.
The day started with making the boat sailing ready. Even though we had already few days ago started stowing everything to its correct place, there was still a myriad of things to do. After such a long break we were glad of our checklists to support the poor little brain struggling to change from a land lubber back to a sailor.
The pleasant sailing conditions carried on until midnight. At that point, the ominous flashing in the horizon caught up to us, and the thunderstorm delivered a whopping 45kt gust. Thankfully, the genoa had already been rolled away as precaution, and the mainsail was reefed.
As the night came we prepared for increasing winds by putting a second reef in the main. The night flew by with the wind pilot steering us reliably.
The brisk sailing winds of the day picked up to a full gale at night. We dropped the main completely and kept sailing downwind at 6-7 knots pulled just by the staysail. Big seas, but self-steering was able to keep things under control.
In the night we got to enjoy yet another free shower. In the darkness we could see a shape of a rain cloud, so genoa went in and mainsail down just as the downpour began. This time luckily without significant wind. The rain kept pouring for good couple of hours until it subsided to a mere drizzle. The current against made our progress slow, but finally at 7:30 we passed the Boca Grande sea wall! I’m thankful for whoever decided to open a small vessel entrance to it by blowing up a hole to it, as it made our arrival faster.
The first two weeks in Cartagena de Indias have gone quickly. Of course some boat projects, but mainly enjoying the sights and the offerings of a proper big city. Especially the Halloween out in Getsemani was quite memorable!
Our time in Cartagena de Indias was amazing. Last night we had an excellent fairwell dinner at Club Pesca with Graham and Mandy from Mir.
During the evening and night the wind both picked up and veered, so we could sail first on a beam reach, and later on a broad reach. Seas were quite lumpy, but the windvane kept us nicely on the course. There’s some shipping around, mostly from the Panama Canal to Cartagena, but radio traffic was at minimal.
The second wind did indeed come, and we were able to sail with a pleasant light beam reach until just past midnight. Then it was engine on, and nose towards Puerto Obaldia.
This was a lovely week in the beautiful Suledup anchorage. Time was spent dinghy sailing, swimming, and getting to know the nearby Guna village and their culture.
The sea state promised to be the calmest on this week, so we dared the next stretch of the open coast. This time we were not the only ones on the move, as we shared our way with four big catamarans and Plan B. The couple hour motoring was luckily uneventful and the motor of Plan B was delivering propulsion reliably.
Today is the only one this week with seas less than 2m, and so we used the opportunity to motor ahead. Last days have been very dark and overcast, and so our State of Charge had fallen to 30%. Time to make some power!
Almost a week passed in the pleasant anchorage, dinghy sailing and swapping sea stories. But finally today the sea state had settled a bit, and we could move on.
Hoisting the anchor was not the easiest as the anchor was 11 meters deep. After Bergie had caught his breath again, we carefully manouvered through the west entrance and headed towards Banedup under engine. The archipelago in here is wider and there is more reefs protecting us from the swell, so we made decent progress.
Wind is a rare treat here, and one not to be ignored. As a matter of fact, we have sailed more miles in Guna Yala with Isosaari than with Lille Ø.
At dawn it was time to hoist the anchor from 11 meters deep. It is quite the workout. We carefully manouvered past the reefs in first light.
