letting go of the familiar, immersing into a new sailing adventure with many unknowns. for the ones which missed the news: I help my friends, a south african couple, with another crew member, to sail their catamaran from the caribbean across the atlantic to the azores, portugal. how will the 4 of us get along, 2 members for the crossing I have not met yet? how will I cope with being at sea for 3 weeks straight? how will I enjoy sailing a catamaran? how will the down wind sailing be? how will I feel to be on a boat not having the responsibility? I will have the answers to all these questions very soon. but first I need to get to saint martin.
after 13 hours travelling I arrived in saint martin. yes, crazy by plane it takes less than half a day to cross the atlantic. by sailing boat we are looking at roughly 20 days. I am very much looking forward to this experience. I already can not wait to feel the emotions upon landfall in the azores. brian, the captain, was patiently waiting for me at the airport, 3 planes arrived at the same time, which caused delays at the immigration. to my joy and for the authenticity of the beginning of a true sailing adventure, we crossed the street, passed all the taxis, walked down a little dirt road to the water where the dinghy was parked. we were flying across the water and after about 15min we reached sailing vessel (sv) brivans anchorage in marigot bay. here I met vanessa, brians wife and my fellow crew member floriane from france for the first time. I am finally living back on the water. so happy. here a little tour of my home for the coming months:
there are so many new things to learn… so excited! new boat, different equipment… I especially love to drive the dinghy. of course I am back to my exploring mode. I found this gem for a dip…
it was brians birthday the other day. we decided to celebrate. we started the night with this gorgeous sunset… I was the organiser of the night and we went to la maison mère to hear cindel sing and to enjoy florians delicious drinks – the friends I made when I was here the first time. we ate like queens and kings – it was the perfect night out. great ambiance, great company, divine food, amazing background music. late but happy we got back to the boat to enjoy a good night sleep.
on saturday we had a seminar about the transatlantic crossing. information about the weather, currents, preparation, safety, the landing… to my surprise not just our sailing angels tina and werner from sy wind of change rocked up but also the family from sy valinor mo and I met in curaçao. beautiful to see them all again and to catch up on the latest.
to celebrate our reunion we agreed to have coffee on sy wind of change on sunday afternoon. they came to pick me up by dinghy. it was so splendid to be back on their boat – a monohull, the movement on the water feels more familiar than the one of the catamaran. the feeling of adventure. like coming home. mo was dearly missed though. loved the popcorn and alcohol free beer we bought together in the dominican republic. ah, that brought back so many memories. always a pleasure and so much fun to spend time with you two. also very excited to share my next big adventure with you again. so grateful for your support and expertise. a beautiful afternoon ended with another gorgeous sunset on the water…
we are preparing the boat and especially our food supply for the upcoming adventure. estimated day of departure will be sometime in the beginning of may. we are observing and studying the weather closely… in the meantime floriane and I do little jobs on the boat, cook, explore the island, exercise and have fun. more to come shortly.
Fair winds and following seas til we meet again, dear friend! I had lunch at Sweet And Blue the other day and had happy memories of eating there with you and Mo. Sending much love and hugs!!