#2. las palmas to antigua | living in the “bubble”

January 31, 2025 | 15:35 UTC | 12:35 Ship’s Time | 18º 32.7’ N / 055º 28.1’ W | 2658 nm sailed | Living in

Good morning from FALKEN, maybe we can’t say good morning as it is 12.41 ship’s time, but I just woke up after a 5 hr nap. Even team A had an amazing sleep this morning, we had a very tired crew the last hour of their 02-06 watch, and as soon as they went to bed, they all fell asleep instantly and didn’t wake up until 30 min before their watch start at noon.

Sailing day and night require one team to always be up, we nap during the days when we are off, but our bodies have now adjusted to sleep during odd hours, and being awake when you normally are sound asleep.

We are now down to the last few days out here, pretty crazy when you see that we have sailed over 2600 nm, and have less than 400 nm to go. It is easy to flip your mind over to shore life, and start to dream about that good burger or cold drink, family and friends that are in Antigua to greet us, a warm shower and a chance to stretch your legs beyond 65 ft! But we don’t want to burst this bubble, and have to remind ourselves to enjoy this very last moment of the open ocean, because before we know it, we will be back ashore again. After two weeks at sea, it is easy to take the endless blue swells for granted, and the stargazing at night. Last night, we had Big Dipper and the North Star to our Starboard, and Southern Cross to our port, we said that if we would loose all GPS now, if we just keep on this course, we would eventually hit one of the Caribbean islands.

It has been over 10 days since we saw a ship last, and we have not  seen any dolphins since we turned the corner by Cape Verde. I can imagine that when we get closer to land, we will see more wildlife, some land birds coming out to greet us, some ships and maybe even a few sailboats closing in on Antigua?

Another sign of us getting closer to the Caribbean is the intense sun, the cockpit is already starting to heat up at 9 in the morning, but fortunately by mid-afternoon the sails are giving us a nice shade in the cockpit, and the night still have a cools breeze. Lots of sunscreen and longsleeve / buffs / hats to keep the sun off our face!

Thank you all for following our journey, love reading all the comments at dinner time when everyone is awake!
/ Mia