Yacht Delivery Blog

The wind slowly eased off during the evening and decided to take a vacation last night around 4 am, with the apparent wind a mere 8 knots and well aft, we fired up the starboard engine and furled away the headsail. Up until then, we'd been cruising comfortably since leaving Cape Verde with a reefed main and full headsail, keeping the apparent wind at a steady 120 degrees. This sweet spot lets us make good progress (around 160 nautical miles a day – yesterday, a very respectable 159!) without putting undue stress on the autopilot, the boat, or the crew. The weather models predict light winds for the next couple of days. No problem – we'll keep chugging along, making easy miles with a combination of diesel and what little wind we can catch. Hopefully, the real wind will pick up again around the weekend. Our course for now is westward, staying north of the rhumb line to Trinidad for another 500 nautical miles. This area has a higher chance of wind, which is exactly what we need. T...

Let's be honest, the middle of the Atlantic isn't exactly a thrill-seeker's paradise. Sure, there's a certain mystique to sailing vast expanses of open ocean, but for a blog post, it can be a bit, well, monotonous. Believe me, I'd much rather be racking my brain for interesting content than living through hair-raising adventures! Calm seas and steady progress are exactly what I like during these passages, even if they don't make for the most exciting storytelling. The middle of the ocean isn't really the place for excitement anyway – better than the edges, at least, where all the rocks are! But hey, that's the beauty of this journey – sometimes, the uneventful stretches are the most valuable. Clocking over 160 nautical miles a day in the right direction with a favorable following wind – that's a success story in itself! It brings peace of mind, a sense of accomplishment, and the knowledge that we're steadily ticking off the miles on our journey. ...

We arrived in Cape Verde pretty excited about its name. Turns out, whoever decided to call it "Green Cape" must have either shared a naming philosophy with Iceland and Greenland, or possessed a truly brilliant sense of humor. Because let's be honest, "Gray Lump Covered in Orange Dust" might be a more accurate, if less inspiring, moniker. In just the short time we were in Cape Verde, the boat got a healthy coating of orange dust. It wasn't the most glamorous makeover.          One thing that did surprise us was the number of yachts in the harbor that looked a bit worse for wear. Sails flapping, masts were broken, and a general air of abandonment hung over some vessels. It was a stark reminder that the Atlantic crossing can turn dreams into nightmares in a hurry. I can only imagine the challenges a serious onboard failure would present here. Spare parts would likely be scarce, and shipping anything in would be a time-consuming and expensive ordeal. Factor in t...

As they say, smooth seas never made a skilled sailor, and our little adventure is certainly providing some valuable lessons in adaptation. The unusable sail was definitely a setback, but true to form, we're already brainstorming solutions. Technology has truly come to the rescue in this case, thanks to Starlink . Not only did it allow us to research the marina, fuel situation, and clearance procedures in Cape Verde, but it also unearthed a glimmer of hope for our oversized sail! We've found a lead on a sailmaker who might be able to help us by cutting it down to size. It's a long shot, but it's a possibility far better than yesterday's outlook. On a slightly more alarming note (at least from this sailor's perspective!), we managed to sail right off the edge of our current chart. The thought of approaching unknown islands and making an unplanned landfall is enough to send shivers down anyone's spine. Yes, sailors of yore did it all the time, but with a signif...

Well, we've finally made that long-awaited turn south! No more heading towards New York for us – smooth sailing (literally) towards the Canaries. Dry feet are definitely back on the agenda, much to the relief of our increasingly damp socks. The northerly wind is picking up just as predicted, clocking in at 15-20 knots. While it pushes us nicely in the right direction, the good kind of push also comes with the not-so-good kind of chill. Yesterday, a realization dawned on us – the engines need a 200-hour service as part of the warranty, and they only had about 25 hours on them at the time. So, here we are, juggling a bit of engine time with sail power. We're alternating between running one engine at a time for 6 hours while using just the headsail. This should get us closer to that magic 200-hour mark. Not the most exciting solution, but hey, preventative maintenance is key, right? Speaking of excitement, yesterday did bring a brush with a navy patrol boat. Thankfully, we didn...