Upwind to the Carribbean

Teneriffa — Martinique

Here we go: The great pond!

We are a bit nervous and come to the conclusion that we will probably never be ‘quite ready’ for the crossing. At noon on November 24th we decide that we are ‘ready enough’ to set off. Our friends on ‘Daisy’ untie the lines for us at the dock and give us a nice start to our crossing adventure. Charlie, Marcus, Cordelia and Pascal run from the dock to the end of the breakwater of the marina, from where they give us a touching farewell with a foghorn and a long wave.

We sail south of La Gomera in the cover of the island and then there is no more wind in our sails. Our route takes us between the islands under sail, further north of ‘El Hierro’, so we don’t end up in the lull downwind of the island again.

After leaving the Canary Islands behind, we continue to sail southwest with a strong wind from abaft. Thus, first few days of the crossing are fast and efficient and it looks as if the wind will stay that way. We’re looking forward to a short crossing and at this point think, we’ll make it to Martinique in 16 or 17 days. However, during this period a large depression forms off the coast of Florida, north of our route. We didn’t expect that and it’s rather unusual for the crossing in December, when the trade winds are normally pretty stable.

This low pressure system creates interesting conditions on the second part of our passage. The wind starts to weaken and then dies down completely. We motor for about 8 hours in the first lull and then we’re back to sailing, but now with wind from the north-west, i.e. upwind in a light wind. We’re already far enough south that we’re only sailing along the southern edge of the low-pressure system, and yet the passage of the warm front brings very interesting weather. We experience strong turning winds in short sequence and it rains cats and dogs.

After the warm front the wind is rapidly changing in strength and we sail close-hauled upwind north-west for two days, then we tack because the sea state deteriorates quickly as we get closer to the center of the storm.

After another few hours, the wind dies. For two days we languish in the lull and use every gust of wind, no matter how small, to sail. We don’t have enough diesel to easily motor the long remaining distance and calculate the current tank fill level again and again.

As the trade wind slowly sets in again, we calculate that we will arrive in the south of Martinique just after sunset, which we prefer not to do for the rather demanding entrance at ‘Le Marin’. We decide to slow down and sail north along the Martinique coast and then in a second tack head south again until morning. This plan is not bad, unfortunately the weather doesn’t quite cooperate.

In the early evening hours we experience a squall, i.e. a stormy rain shower with winds up to 35 knots. In addition, there is a rain of flying fish as we have never experienced before. The fish fly wildly onto our deck, some on Silvio’s head while helming.

Within minutes the boats smells like a fish cutter; about 80 of the flying fish have thrown themselves onto our deck. Then the wind and rain subside and the spook is over, the wind unfortunately too. We now face a light southerly wind, too light for efficient sailing. This last night is getting on our nerves. Spending the whole night awake with a confused wind just before the finish line pushes us to the limit. In the morning hours the expected north-easterly wind sets in again and so we can sail downwind again for the last few miles. We aim for the southeast tip of Martinique and are more than happy when we enter the bay at ‘Le Marin’ in the morning on the 21st day after departure.

As in the previous passages, the children keep themselves occupied during the crossing with role-playing games, radio plays and our large box of Lego. They are happy when Stefan reads them a picture book – usually the same one three times in a row. The Lego box we take out after a few days into the passage is a mainstay toy until we reach Martinique. Even in an inclined position, everyone is busy building. We use a large silicone pad to make sure, built items don’t fly off the table.

The different moods of the sky and on the water are wonderful, the cloud formations are varied and we try to interpret the current weather conditions based on the clouds.

The mood on Mirabella is usually good, the children only once ask ‘are we there yet?!’ on the crossing. Luckily Cordelia on ‘Daisy’ gave us a little globe. On this we approximately locate our progress with the children.

We need to come up with a watch schedule that is compatible with the sleep rythm of the kids. Andrea takes over the evening hours until Stefan takes the helm at midnight and is replaced by Silvio at 4 a.m. Andrea is behind the wheel at 8 a.m. as the kids get out of bed. We’ll keep this rhythm until Martinique. However, the weather conditions keep us on our toes, so Silvio and Andrea split up to keep half an eye open during Stefan’s shift.

We do a lot of handicrafts during these three weeks, make pompoms, bake cakes and even venture into the water when it’s totally calm. We are happy about every boat that appears on AIS and on the horizon. Route plans, fishing tips or weather forecasts are exchanged by radio. We know that there are many ships on the way but we barely see any and it’s nice to have direct radio contact.

We are in daily contact with André, the previous owner of Mirabella, via our satellite phone. We really appreciate the fact that we can discuss our route planning and weather forecast with him. Fortunately, we can benefit from his many years of experience.

We also know that Mirabella is a reliable and fast ship – when she has wind in her sails. In a lull, all boats are slow.

Once we are moored in the port of ‘Le Marin’, we immediately throw ourselves into the fray. Setting foot on land again after three weeks at sea is quite something. And yet we hop overboard like it was yesterday. The mood is good and the semi-finals of the football world cup start shortly after our arrival. When France wins, the celebratory mood around us matches our good spirits.

We are tired and very happy to have crossed the big pond, even given special conditions and two little girls on board, yup!

Stefan was a very big support. With two small children, the challenge is big, in addition to sailing around the clock, to keep the well-rested children on their toes and to be able to sleep at some point during the day. Thanks to our extended crew, we were able to withdraw and sleep during the day and didn’t have to do all the night shifts ourselves.

We won’t forget the waypoint rum toasts, thanks Stefan!