Falken is flying furiously downwind with two reefs in the main and the jib on a pole. We had our first sighting of dolphins who were accompanied by a school of flying trying desperately to escape their demise. Spirits are high and I couldn’t more impressed with what 8 total strangers in the middle of an ocean can accomplish with great leadership. Human spirit at its finest.

Sailing across an ocean normally requires a bit of slaloming; you’re likely to abandon your great circle route searching for more favorable conditions. This specific passage with ADRIENNE from Sint Maarten to the Canaries is no different. This is NOT a route where we simply can follow the great circle route.  While drawing a straight line from Sint Maarten to Gran Canaria we end up with two very different weather patterns …

We continue to look for favorable winds and hope that the low pressure above us will push on and give us a few more knots. After yesterday with clear water and bathing and a job well done with cleaning and washing, we are all longing for more pressure in the sails. We are now trying to steer straight towards the GC and keep the pace of the sailing.

The docks are filled with giants, and we are just passing through. In the beautiful marina of Antigua Yacht Club, you can find some of the biggest super-yachts you have seen. When walking along the dock looking left to right you are surrounded by huge shiny hulls all around you. But when you get a bit further out on the dock the wall is interrupted and if your eyes are starring up on the top decks of the super yacht you might miss us. 

Adrienne II, our trusty Swan 70, is cutting through the Atlantic on a dream passage from Sint Martin to the Canary Islands. Well, cutting through might be a stretch—positioned smack in the middle of the Azores High, the breeze is nonexistent, the waves are barely a ripple, and the current?

I sleep in the warm belly of Adrienne. Water gurggles as it rushes over the hull inches away from my pillow. A soft, familiar rocking motion. All ingredients for a good sleep but I am restless. It’s  been days since we saw a ship. We are definitely out of helicopter range. The vastness of the ocean is hard to fathom.

We’re getting into the groove. It’s our fourth day at sea, and we’re still on our high side, sailing upwind toward the north. By now, we’re all getting used to living in a world that’s constantly tilted. Cooking, cleaning, and even using the bathroom in a space that feels like a ski slope has become part of the adventure. Sailing “the wrong way” across the Atlantic has its challenges….

Sailing under a luminous full moon, ADRIENNE II crossed the Tropic of Cancer, marking another milestone . The crew is finally healthy and complete again after some early bouts of seasickness, and spirits are high as we settle into a steady rhythm at sea. With fair winds of 15-20 knots pushing us forward, the jib is up for the first time, adding to our momentum [Read more…]

The Atlantic crossing of sailing yacht Adrienne started yesterday Feb 9 from the Caribbean island of St. Martin. We left the harbour and passed through the bridge behind a large motor yacht. Our voyage is dramatically different from the motor vessel.. [Read more…]

Today, we cut the lines….time to shove off…….. In only a day-and-a-half since meeting each other, we have developed as strong crew. In that time, already, we’ve grown to share humor, trust and confidence. For some of us, this is the biggest undertaking of our lives, by far.  For others, this is another treasured lap across the… [Read more…]

It is now Wednesday afternoon, February 5th. It feels like a long time ago that we made landfall in Antigua, when we spotted the glow on the horizon early in the morning and eventually saw the island of Antigua peak out of the water.

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.

We have sunrises of lemon yellow, pink fluffy clouds deep golden sunsets and the sea is a dark aquamarine blue rather than grey. The rain squalls with gusty winds seem to be behind us although maybe this is too early to say.

As the saying goes…do something ever day that scares you…..try to imagine……..2 am, pitch black, sustained winds at 25 knots, gusts approaching 40 knots, ocean swell at 3m……there you are at the helm, hand steering this 65’ sailboat safely towards Antigua.    White-knuckled, you wonder, what am I doing here?????  After your watch, your crash into bunk with a great sense of accomplishment. Each time at the helm feeling more confident.

Life onboard has turned into a very nice routine, and we keep the boat clean and tidy, the morning watch vacuums the floors and clean the inside every day, the afternoon team scrubs the cockpit, and Emily (skipper) and I take turn cleaning the heads daily. After dinner, the on-watch take turns to do the dishes and clean up the galley, and you would be surprised how clean the boat is after nearly 2 weeks at sea with 11 people on a 65 feet space.

The word “skipper” can evoke various thoughts and expectations from people who have different levels of sailing experience, particularly offshore sailing experience.  Some people who have experience solely with day charters may consider a skipper’s responsibilities to be limited to showing up on time, getting off the dock, setting the sails, anchoring, playing the music, and getting the party crew back safely at the end of the day. 

This has been a life long dream to sail an ocean. I can’t imagine any better way of fulfilling such a dream as signing onto FALKEN as a working crew member. The boat is safe, fully prepared, rigged, equipped for whatever Mother Nature can throw at us. With Emily and Mia in charge and all of us as willing crew, it is a marvelous experience that I will forever treasure

Our dear Brandon has already introduced all of our crew and he named me Jeannette ‘the Brave” turning fears into memories. And this can’t be more accurate because that is exactly how it feels for me.  I have been wandering quite a long time what offshore sailing is for me, is it my dream or is it a nightmare? Am I made for this or I just want to want this? Can I handle THE ocean?

Once we ‘turned the corner’ and started to head west, we have been in proper trade winds, with winds 20-25 kts, and many squalls around. Not so much rain, but clouds that had brought winds in the 30-35 kts and occasional upper 30. FALKEN has been a rocket ship with two reefs in the main and a partially furled Yankee, surfing down the waves at 12-13 kts at times, with many speed records over 14 kts. I think Vilgot hold the ‘official record’ at 15.3 kts

Well yesterday’s crew delight was a sighting of numerous whales. I happened to be cooking dinner at the time and so my only experience of them was a photograph taken by Kevin. This was probably a good thing because upon seeing both their size and proximity, let’s just say I had a slightly different facial expression to that of the majority.