Day 4, St Martin to the Azores

1600Z 31MAY23, Day 4, St Martin to the Azores. More of the same with the days starting to blend together.

Current Position: 25 36N / 059 51W
24 hour progress: 120nm, 5.0kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 505nm, approximately 1760nm to the Azores.

We have been gliding along under full sails. We only made minor adjustments to course and point of sail over the past 24hours. We are still sailing a close reach on a starboard tack making a course just north of rhumb line. The winds remain light and the seas flat. We are happy that we continue to make decent speed (for us) in these light winds.

We spotted a light on the horizon to our starboard during the evening watch. It was a sailboat that we quickly passed during Megan's watch. There was no AIS broadcasting from the sailboat and it was sailing with an anchor light on. We could still see his sails at daybreak, though he quickly became a small speck on the horizon. We tried to call him around 7am but there was no answer on the radio. He's just recently fully disappeared behind us so maybe he had a bit more sail up during the daytime. We easily passed him over the night.

All is well on board. No rain at all yesterday and no cells to avoid. The night sky was beautiful with good light from the moon. Then amazing stars that filled in after the moon set. It's so peaceful to sail in these smooth conditions. We are enjoying the relaxed pace and calm ocean. It isn't expected to last, so best to enjoy it while we have it. In between watching movies, listening to music, reading, and playing games, we have been taking on small maintenance tasks.

Sargassum continues to decrease. The fishing line is still out; still no takers. The birds seem to be less and the flying fish a bit more plentiful. One flying fish hit the boat on Megan's night watch, startling her as it banged against the roof. She shined a light on him and saw him flop around a couple of times on deck before re-entering the ocean.

Day 3, St Martin to the Azores

1600Z 30MAY23, Day 3, St Martin to the Azores. We had a quiet and reflective Memorial Day. We are thankful for all those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom.

Current Position: 23 53N / 060 54W
24 hour progress: 130nm, 5.4kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 385nm, approximately 1865nm to the Azores.

We sailed yesterday with 1 reef in the main. Conditions were sometimes a little frustrating as we navigated around rain cells. The cells gather up the wind and sometimes the wind is from a different direction. There was a time or two when the winds dropped around a cell and sails banged around for a bit, but then the winds returned. Sometimes we made a direct course and sometimes we were more northerly.

Early in the night we had a very dark sky and put a second reef in the main while being rained on a bit. It turned out to be a small cell, though one of the first that we actually went through rather than around. The increased winds quickly dissipated, but we kept the 2nd reef in and continued to move well overnight. This morning winds were down and we shook both reefs out. We have been flying along under full sails in flat seas with 10-15kts of breeze. We expect the light winds and calm conditions to continue for a couple more days.

Everyone is adjusting well. Sea legs are established and we are starting to find our rhythms. Appetites are slowly returning and Megan prepared a wonderful dinner that rapidly disappeared. The boys each stood a full watch yesterday. Even so, we are all still a bit tired as we continue to settle in to passage life.

We've had a couple of cargo ships on the AIS but nothing close enough to see. We passed by a bucket, a short length of floating line and a piece of lumber. There are occasionally small bits of sargassum that float by, but it is minimal. The fishing line is out - still no takers despite plenty of verbal pleas from our youngest. We infrequently spot birds and flights of flying fish. The nights are starting to be a bit cooler but the days are still hot with us all hiding from the sun.

Day 2, St Martin to the Azores

1600Z 29MAY23, Day 2, St Martin to the Azores. We are moving along. The winds have lightened a bit and the seas are calmer. It is nice, easy blue sky sailing. We are pretty happy with this comfortable course and speed.

Current Position: 22 01N / 062 01W
24 hour progress: 123nm, 5.1kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 255nm, approximately 1980nm to the Azores. Another 100nm off of the rhumb line. This morning we shook out a reef in the main so are down to 1 reef with around 15kts of wind - sometimes more, sometimes less. Still on a close reach. The course has varied from N to about 030.

Not a whole lot to report. We had a cargo ship pass us at about 3nm. Everything else is pretty quiet and low key. Everyone is sleeping and adjusting. The calm conditions are welcome and has everyone feeling well.

Megan had a caffeine withdrawal headache yesterday that was pretty bad by evening time but she was able to take some ibuprofen and sleep. She was then feeling much better.

Poseidon is also feeling better and moving around. He has been hanging out in the cockpit with us. Inside the boat is rather hot with the hatches closed and most of the sun covers stowed, so it's good for him to get out and feel the cooler air. He still isn't very wise about windward and leeward sides so keeps picking the high side and sliding towards the low side.

The boys are standing a little bit of watch which helps the parents get a bit more sleep. The sea legs are coming along for all.

The fishing line is out. Cedar plug now, squid yesterday - but no bites. The sargassum seems to be largely disappearing so not as much need to clear the hook (or the daggerboard or the Watt&Sea). A few masked boobies and other birds now and again but mostly just lots of blue ocean.

Day 1, St Martin to the Azores

1600Z 28MAY23, Day 1, St Martin to the Azores. After almost a year break from crossing the Atlantic Ocean, it seemed time to do it again. We enjoyed a much more leisurely cruise through the Caribbean this time through, but after a year in the heat it is time to find cooler climes. We are hoping to cruise Northern high latitudes next and decided we would get there via the Azores. With the preparations complete, we set off!

Current Position: 20 05N / 062 35W
24 hour progress: 132nm, 5.5kts avg SOG, approximately 2080nm to Horta. We knocked about 100nm off of the rhumb line course with our NNE course.

It was a tough "see you later" to our wonderful friends on Paikea (www.youngbarnacles.com). We have spent many nights as neighbors between Martinique, Antigua and St Martin. It's been excellent spending time with them again since meeting 5 years ago in Barcelona when we were both new to this family cruising stuff. They are also prepping to cross to the Azores but should be faster then us and still have some tasks remaining before they set off. See you in the Azores!

We had a few hiccups getting underway. Our windlass problems persist, but perhaps we are closer to understanding the root cause of the issue (or maybe we aren't). After a bit of work and another swapped stripper we weighed anchor at around noon local. We crawled out of the bay as we got things sorted and the boat setup. By 12:30 (16:30 UTC) the sails were set and we were sailing.

The weather routing has us going NNE so we decided to leave Anguilla to our starboard and had a downwind sail and some wing on wing time. We were soon clear and set up on a close reach, making 015-020 COG.

There were some morning rain showers as we prepped to get underway, but we haven't gotten any significant rain along our path. We've been sailing with 2 reefs in the main and went to 3 reefs briefly due to some rain on the horizon but we easily avoided it and were back at 2 reefs until sunset when we put a third reef in for the night. The winds have been 15-20kts with a bit more for the first half of the night and we put a reef in the genoa. Speeds slowed overnight (sargassum, current and lower winds all contributed). When the sun rose reefs were shaken out and the daggerboard and Watt&Sea cleared of the sargassum resulting in a welcome boost.

The crew is in good spirits. We are all happy to be on the move - even after a tough goodbye and a rough start to getting underway. Poseidon has been sick and then drooling, but is moving around for water. We all feel a bit sleepy and are trying to relax into the rhythm of the passage.

The fishing line is in, but regularly needs clearing of sargassum so it might not stay out. We saw a good number of birds - boobies and terns - yesterday. We are down to the occasional masked booby now and some flying fish. Otherwise it's blue, sunny and hot.

Day 26, Ascension Island to Grenada - ARRIVAL

1330Z 17JUN22, Day 26, Ascension Island to Grenada. We made it! We flew the last 12 or so hours and we could have gone faster, but we kept things at a nice clip to arrive in the early morning. 

Current Position: 12 03N / 061 45W - tied up in the Port Louis Marina

22.5 hour progress: 132nm, 5.9kts avg SOG, about 1 hour on the engine. 

3264 nautical miles sailed

25 days 22.5 hours (622.5 hours)

5.24 knots average speed over ground

45.9 hours of engine time

2 dorado, caught, landed and eaten

2 ¿amberjack?, (1 medium and 1 small) caught, landed and eaten

6-8 other small fish caught and released back to the sea

Major Casualties: blown asymmetric spinnaker

9693nm sailed between 7 January - 17 June!!!

Yesterday's weather was hazy, but we still managed to get good solar power. We sailed deep down wind on a starboard tack. (Most of our sail to Grenada was on a starboard tack.) By late afternoon the course was a bit high and we wanted to go around the south end of Grenada so we considered our options. We decided to gybe the main sail and leave the genoa poled out on the port side. This increased our speed nicely and was quite comfortable with the calmer seas - rolly, but not too much. 

As we were aiming for a morning arrival, we left the 3 reefs in the main. We could easily have added speed by shaking out some reefs. As the kids did their last watches we gave them night orders not to go too fast. They disobeyed (it's a joke, as they had no way to control speed) as the current picked up adding almost 2kts of boat speed. It must be a law of good ol' Murphy that the easiest time to effortlessly go fast is when you don't need or want to.

By Megan's mid-watch it was approaching time to put a little north back in our westerly course. We decided to wait a bit from the turnover and Megan was going to wake Jon for the maneuver. However, Daxton popped up to see how things were going and Megan quickly recruited his assistance. They gybed the main back across and were able to turn up pretty well soon to a broad reach which kept us moving well towards Grenada, along with the current. 

Jon had the sunrise watch and both kids joined him - just a little excited about our arrival! They were able to secure the pole and turn north around the west side of Grenada while Megan continued to try to get in a little nap. It is quite nice to have the boys help with sails. It makes a difference. 

We sailed north and had morning coffee. Then, when we were a few miles out and were no longer making headway to St George's by sailing close hauled, we secured the genoa and turned on the engine. We headed in and did all the normal boat clean up and preparations to anchor. As the cats were still not sorted we thought we would anchor out to try to figure out what was going on before we headed into the marina. 

As we approached the anchorage we realized there were mooring buoys. We grabbed one and secured ourselves. We were able to find a free internet broadcast and start some research. Jon called the government office that was supposed to do our permit to try to see what was going on. Soon thereafter a dinghy came by from a neighboring boat. They welcomed us and we chatted for a minute. We mentioned our issue with the cats and they said they had the exact same issue (they have 1 cat) and their friend that has 2 cats also had the same issue! They assured us that it would be no problem to enter. They had declared the cat on the paperwork and nobody from customs asked for the permit which would show up later. This was all quite a relief that we weren't the only ones that this happened to and that it wasn't a big deal on check-in. 

With this new knowledge we prepared to come in to the marina. Jon called the marina on the radio and they told us on which side to have fenders and promised to help us to our berth. So after about an hour on the mooring we were on our way into the marina. They guided us to our spot, but we decided it was a bit tight (marinas are tricky for us with no bow thruster and a short rudder, plus we were all tired after our passage!) and we negotiated for an easier spot. We were soon tied up and given a friendly welcome to Grenada. 

Jon was then off for check in arrangements. They were indeed easy and Megan received the pet permits around the same time. We plan to stay in the marina for a week and to get some things done. Then we will cruise Grenada a little bit and finally head down to Trinidad for our boat work. There is a nice restaurant and a pool at the marina. Internet at the boat is a bit spotty, but it is good and fast at the restaurant and pool. 

Thank you for following along. We will largely move posts back to Facebook and Instagram, with more pictures, which can also be viewed through this blog on our social media page. We appreciate all the love and support!

Day 25, Ascension Island to Grenada

1300Z 16JUN22, Day 25, Ascension Island to Grenada. Another good progress day, more or less direct to Grenada, with help from the current. The Strawberry Supermoon continued to keep us company.

Current Position: 11 57N / 059 48W
24 hour progress: 139nm, 5.8kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 3132nm, approximately 116nm to Grenada. We continued sailing deep downwind with the poled out genoa, 3 reefs in the main and a nice push from the current.

Yesterday was largely sunny weather. Most of the rain clouds and storm cells dissipated. The winds largely stabilized around 20kts with only the occasional gusts stronger or holes with lighter winds. We continued to make better than expected progress as the current continued to boost our speeds over ground. As we are pointed nearly directly downwind, it has been very rolly aboard.

The sea is still green. We still haven't caught another fish, just lots of weed. The sargassum weed has diminished (maybe?) so we are trying the fishing line again. We made pizza last night so we are definitely not suffering without fish right now.

We saw some different bird life yesterday. There was a masked booby that was fishing near the boat. Daxton decided that indicated that he should be fishing. He put the line in and got a bite, but no fish. One of these days he will probably hook something big by the boat and lose the whole fishing rig. We also had a noddy hanging out on our solar panels for awhile overnight. As it was just the one, (s)he was quiet, but there was still a mess to clean up this morning.

Spirits aboard are high as we continue to look good for a Friday morning arrival. Still lingering is a pending import permit for the cats which could keep us from being able to check in and be ashore tomorrow. (We have spent the last week trying to complete final coordination for the permit that is only valid for 10 days. We expected this would be relatively simple and straightforward. However, there seems to have been a miscommunication or lost documents and since last night we have been trying to resend large file documents that we sent back in St Helena when we had internet - all in an attempt to avoid this exact situation. Iridium GO! and big emails do not mix or make for happy crew and they take down email, delaying blog posts.) We are trying to temper the mood just in case things don't go smoothly. Fingers crossed we can work it out and be checked in tomorrow and enjoying a meal and a drink ashore.

Day 24, Ascension Island to Grenada

1300Z 15JUN22, Day 24, Ascension Island to Grenada. A solid progress day, direct to Grenada, with a devastating loss of a favorite sail. The Strawberry Supermoon was impressive last night, lighting our way and keeping us company.

Current Position: 11 36N / 057 29W
24 hour progress: 138nm, 5.75kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 2993nm, approximately 252nm to Grenada. We destroyed our asymmetric spinnaker and have been sailing deep downwind with the poled out genoa, 3 reefs in the main and a nice current assist.

The day started off with sunny weather and a few storm clouds. We whisked along nicely with the red, white and blue asymmetric chute flying and enjoyed a quick 33333 celebration as the boat odometer rolled over this milestone. The first cell hit us after the 24 hour log entry was made and suddenly pummeled us with 30+kt winds and 25+kts of apparent wind (wind over the deck and through the sail). We tried to head straight downwind and let out the sheet for the chute, but she ripped in two and shredded. It was a very sad (and likely expensive) moment. At that point we weren't paying much attention to the anemometer anymore, so we don't know what the peak gust registered.

The boys were quick to the cockpit and we all set to work in the freshly pouring rain to secure the sail. Thankfully the luff (the leading edge of the sail that holds the torsion line that goes from the bow to the top of the mast) remained intact. This allowed us to furl in the sail. It was a mess, but it all eventually wrapped in to a coil and we were able to get the full sail back on deck and secured. The sail will likely be repairable, but it will need some time with a good sail loft / sailmaker which should be possible in Trinidad. We aren't sure if we ripped panels or just seams. At any rate it will need new edging and possibly some new panels. It was a sad, sad moment. Spinnakers are made of light weight fabric and if you sail them enough, eventually one will tear (or dramatically disintegrate) and you have a very sad day.

Apparently this was all a sign that the weather was no longer stable enough for the asymmetric anyway and we needed to be on the poled out genoa. This is slower, of course, but very safe and stable in gusting winds.

The rest of the day was filled with sun and occasional storm clouds. The storms cells didn't have any lightning, but they did have a lot of energy. Packing 35-40kt winds for 10-20min as they rolled over us, often with a good shower. Definitely not weather for us and an asymmetric. The rest of the time the winds were largely steady around 20kts, and so they remain.

There was a lot of disappointment throughout the boat as we all knew that we needed to make around a 5.5kt avg to arrive in Grenada Friday morning. The boat goal has been to try to make Friday in time to check in and have a celebratory meal out. Of course, arriving Friday night or Saturday morning would also be totally fine, but we like goals and working together towards them. Being on the genoa in <20kt winds made a 5.5kt avg unlikely and we all knew it. However, we have all been pleasantly surprised that we have beat this target with the help of a good current in our favor! Help from the current has largely eluded us this trip. So while the weather forecast suggested we should have favorable current, we weren't counting on it, as it has very rarely been helpful for us this passage.

In a good news story for the day, Jon worked on the inverter again as the laptop was nearly out of power. He found the problem! Ok, he found *a* problem, it may or may not be *the* (only) problem as these aren't exactly simple systems. After more switch flipping was unsuccessful, off went the box covers and out came the multimeter and then the networking tools. It seems that one of the male terminals on the Ethernet cable connecting the inverter with its remote control panel was not seating securely in the socket on the inverter card and slight movements/vibrations of the cable were resulting in all kinds of random signals. (Who expects that there will be movement and vibrations on a rocking and rolling boat???)

The sea has remained green in color and so far no fish for us. The line is back in as we continue downwind, rolling from side to side. One more fish meal would be nice, but we can figure out two more dinner meals or even three (or more), if need be without going too deep in the cans. Almost there.