N15.47.94 W053.44.47

Ten days have passed since we left Cape Verde and began our crossing over the Atlantic Ocean. As expected we are slow, but I am still pretty happy with our progress. We have a steady wind of 20 knots blowing from ENE and it gives us an average speed of 6.5 knots.

Because we are almost running with the wind direct from our stern and we dont have a proper downwind sail, we are flying wing on wing to get a little bit more speed. To sail like this without a boom for the front sail is a bit tricky and you always need someone by the steering wheel ready to take control from the autopilot if the wind or a wave decides to turn the boat. In the beginning this method of sailing caused the front sail to collapse way too often (she goes with a nasty bang) but this is now under control.

I am very happy with the boat, she is very forgiving and she takes good care of all of us. We have managed to keep her in one piece without any dramas except a few small things.

The food supplies are down to basic life support, dont get me wrong we do have A LOT of rice, beans, lentils and peas so we are still getting 3 cooked meals every day. The first seven days of the trip we ate as Roman Emperors 24/7 so it is our own fault that we are running short on the good stuff.

Some of the guys in the crew are really skilled when it comes to cooking and I salute them for all the good meals we have enjoyed so far.

During our 1600 miles on the Atlantic we have seen ONE ship, it was a big Moroccan Cargo on its way to the US. We spotted him a couple of miles off our stern seven days ago so it is safe to say that we are pretty lonely out here.

Lonely is maybe not the right word for it, no other humans is probably a better description. Out here in the big blue we have seen many dolphins and a couple of huge creatures that we think were whales, and we also spotted two sharks just behind us two days ago- so we are not really alone out here.

Our fishing did improve for a while and we have had all different kinds of fish dishes. I think that we have managed to get 4 Dorados during the trip. The guys have made everything from fish soup, sushi, fried rice with fish and also my favorite- fresh Mahi-Mahi on the barbeque.

Our fishing luck came to an end at the same moment we spotted the two sharks that were tailing us two days ago. We could see the infamous shark fins above the water just behind us, and it didnt take long until one of the sharks decided to take our last fishing lure with him. I feel sorry for the shark but in the same time I thank him for giving me my first Shark based fishing story

I am really happy with the crew and the way they keep the boat clean and well organized. I was a bit worried to have so many people onboard on a long journey like this, but after traveling with these guys for over a month I realize that it has nothing to do with the amount of people you have onboard – more what kind of people you have onboard.

Our new water-maker has given us around 800 liters of fresh water which is a real luxury on a trip like this. I am really happy with the machine but at the same time I feel a bit stupid that I didnt go for one with a bigger capacity. It was a huge investment and I thought I was smart going for the smaller one. This one gives us 27 liters an hour and my solar panels dont keep up (I thought they would) so I need to run an engine during the water-maker process. It would have been a lot smarter to pay more for one that gives you the double amount of water per hour less engine hours, less noise + more water.

Anna is suffering from seasickness at the moment and sometimes I feel like I am torturing her by doing this trip. Some days she is perfectly fine and some days she is really sick. You would like to think that after 8 months on the sea we should know why this happens but we dont have a clue what causes it or how to treat it. We have tried it all; pills, bracelets, plasters, homeopathic medicine and much more- please let us know if you have the solution for this not so delicate problem.

See you in Martinique

//Daniel with crew

Eddy says:

Thanks for the messages Dad! Hope everythings good there, and thanks Mum for the Xmas card – we caught a fish so it was a Merry Fishmas had by all. Ill write more from Martinique, which is our destination, but I hope all are well!

Love,
Eddy.

El Marinero Peludo says:
MI AMOR! Muchisimas gracias por los mensajes! Super buen trabajo con su noticias! Espero que todo esta bien, y quiero escuchar todo! Hablamos pronto. Pensando de su abrazos. Espereme un poquito mas!

TTQM en verdad!
Tiernos besos.

xXx

Lisa says:

Ola querido cheri Oliv! Jespre que tu va bien et que tu as eu un joyeux noel et une bonne nouvelle anne! Merci beaucoup pour le message! On va parler bientot! Tu me manques! Gros bisouX!<3

Hey meine liebe Familie und Freunde! Bald sind wir da! Vielen Dank fuer die lieben Mails! Hoffe, ihr hattet einen guten Rutsch und es geht euch allen gut! Mir gehts super, meine Seekrankheit ist durch die Armbnder so gut wie weg und ich kann sogar nhen! Liebste Gruesse aus den weiten Wassern!

// Lisa

Max says:

Hallo liebe Familie und Freunde!
Zuallererst einen dicken Schmatzer an Mama, gut gehts mir!
Martinique, Martinique wir kommen J der Atlantik hat uns auf unserem Weg bis hier wirklich reich beschenkt, grossartige Zeit out hier! Cabo Verde war super und ich freue mich auf alles was kommt!? Es wird langsam schwuel hier auf unserer Barfuss-Route und ich kann die Karibik schon riechenLiebe Gruesse und ein tolles neues Jahr!

// MAX

Davide says:

Ciao a tutti, finalmente siamo vicini alla meta e preto saremo nelle acque cristalline dei Caraibi non vedo lora. Un abbraccio special a mamma Wanda e Ancy che mi seguono costantemente sul tracker. Ciauuu

Davide o Davo come mi chiamano qui in barca a causa dei soliti problemi di pronuncia

Rado says:

Ocen sa nm odhalil v jeho plnej krse, nezamenitelnch farbch a vlnch najrznejsch tvarov. Vlnami aj vetrom nm dal poctit jeho majesttnu silu, ale i stedrost v podobe chutnch rb a mnozstva ocarujcich vhladov na vchod a zpad slnka. Sksenost hodn kazdho momentu!

Vela lsky, zdaru a sily v kazdom okamihu zivota.