Under da sea

     Darv edited two more great video compilations of the trip! Click HERE and HERE for the link.

     I wasn't the only one keeping records or jurnals on this trip! Darv kept a really detailed and great fishing log. So for all you fishing lovers out there here is the full log.

Our route

     Here is the route that Argo took across the ocean. Each day we would chart our longitude and latitude on a map. We sailed over 3000 nautical miles. On a nice sailing day we would travel between 120- 140 NM. Although there were days with very little wind where we only sailed 50 NM. When we had good wind direction and speed we were averaging 6-7 knots.

Here is the actually map we used to plot our course each day on the ocean. The lower set of coordinates is from this last trip and the upper set is from our previous Atlantic crossing (going the other way of course). 

Here is another map of our progress throughout the trip which is easier to read 

The Best of the Ocean

     So I realize I’ve mentioned more than a few of the challenges of sailing a long passage, but there’s also some amazing highs. Here are some of the highlights the ocean had to offer us.

     There is something both terrifying and exhilarating about being at sea on a sailboat completely at the mercy of the elements. There is an element of pure awe that envelopes you when you think a few pieces of big canvas can drag you across the ocean. It was also refreshing to be “out of the world” for a month. It gives you some time to live more simply and you realize you can live with a lot less. When we finally arrived in Martinique the first things we all did that day was check our emails, facebook, instagram etc. Almost instantly I felt bogged down and slightly overwhelmed. The Internet and all the media communication sites I use can be very convenient and at times addicting, but after a month without any tech communication I realized how inconsequential they are in my true overall happiness.  

Sailing into the horizon 

Always on the lookout 

Captain Chas 

Full power 

Mom on duty 

R&R

Darv loved to dive beside the boat

A lot of canvas 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY-O

The cake 

     The view. You have the same view in all direction for miles and you begin to grasp how vast the ocean is. Almost every sunrise and sunset you are given a spectacular show. I love sunrises for what they promise, the end of darkness (and a long night shift), but I’ll take a beautiful sunset over a sunrise any day. We saw skies that made all the worst parts of sailing worthwhile. 

I loved that we were sailing West so we were always sailing into the sunset 

The looked like it was on fire this particular night 

A typical view from the boat 

     The stars. They were always incredible. Without another light on the ocean I felt like we could see every star in the galaxy. I have never seen the starts seem as bright and infinite as on the sea.  Every night we would lay our heads out and count the shooting stars we saw. Some nights you could even navigate by the stars, although I’m quite happy to have modern navigation on board.

     We spent hundreds of hours floating on the surface of the water, but it’s what’s underneath us that excited us the most. We had some really great sightings on this trip. One night watch Darvil and I heard big swooshes of water and air. We shone the spotlight beside the boat and not ten feet from us was a massive 40 foot whale swimming beside the boat. Another time a  Minke Whale swan around our boat for about an hour diving down and coming back up. We saw many pods of dolphins that would play in the waves beside our boat. Darv swam in the water with them and took pictures. We also passed a group of about 10 pilot whales. Whales are super exciting to see when you're on the ocean, but you also have to be careful because many boats have been damaged hitting whales. 

A big Minke Whale swimming beside the boat 

BIRDS! They are an uncommon site on the ocean

You can't see them very well but there was large pod of pilot whales that we sailed past

Click HERE for a great compilation video Darv made of some of the best videos and pictures from the trip. 

      The SSB. When you are secluded on a boat for month without much contact with the outside world it’s nice to talk to someone other than your crew for a change. The SSB gave us this opportunity. We talked with two other boats twice a day and it was often the highlight of our day. Dad would sit at the navigation station talking over the SSB radio and I would sit on the stairs behind him hanging on every word. On the ocean can go days or weeks without seeing another boat so it’s nice to know you’re not along alone out there. 

Some of the other sailors we talked with over SSB

The glamorous life style: Spoiler Alert

    I may be about to ruin the romance of sailing for some of you. The next few paragraphs might shatter the picturesque illusion of what it looks like to sail across an ocean. These are the things that no one tells you and no one talks about. So forgive me.     

    After about a day on the sea you quickly forget any notion of sailing being an elegant and glamorous lifestyle. Contrary to what you might believe, sailing across the ocean is no holiday. It took us 28 long and often perilous days on the open wilderness of the sea to get to the Caribbean and it will take 24 hours to fly home. There must be some logic sailors are missing…  

     For most of the voyage you are doing everything on a 30 degree angle. And this angle keeps shifting from right to left. Opening the cupboards is basically a safety hazard. As soon as you open a cupboard all the contents begin to spill out or violently fly across the room depending on how badly the boat is rocking. When you sleep you can hear everything in the boat bang from one side to other as you roll in the waves. Earplugs are a must.  

Here's a little video we took to give you an idea of how the boat rocks. Note how much Darv's body moves back and forth. Also note the spoon flying across the table at one point!    

     When you walk across the room you are constantly bracing yourself with one hand holding onto something solid. We like to play a game where you try and walk as far as you can without falling or holding onto anything. An average score is about 10 steps.

     Cooking on a rocking sailboat is a challenge. Thank goodness for gimbaled stoves! When we plate dinner we usually end up taping the plates to the counter top. We learned this trick the hard way after all of our bowls of chicken went flying across the room. 

Darv roped in while cooking 

     You have to deal with tight living quarters with very little privacy. If you are a person who requires a lot of privacy you will have to buy a very big boat! For most of the trip I slept right on the kitchen table settee. The trick to sleeping is to wedge yourself into the smallest space you can find, and then sleep there. This helps to prevent you from rolling around.

Asleep in the galley. Note earplugs 

Me washing some clothes in a bowl 

     I don’t want to go into too much detail about luxurious bathrooms and toilets on sail boats. But just imagine if your bathroom at home was on a 30-degree angle and rocking back and forth. If you picture this, which I’m not encouraging, you might see how this causes some, umm, difficulty.  

     We have a shower on board, but it’s filled with provisions. Showers on long passages take up way too much fresh water. A sailor’s shower looks like baby wipes and a water bottle. 

Mom and I after the 'Argo Spa'. Aka washing your hair 

     Finally there are the night watches. It can be dark, cold and raining outside but you still have to wake up at 2:00am. On our boat we did six-hour watches with two people on each watch. That meant you tried to sleep on deck for 3 hours and the other 3 you were on duty. After about a week your body adjusts to the alteration of your sleep pattern.  

Plenty of Fish in the Sea

     One of the major points of excitement on the trip was fishing. Darv went all out before the trip and outfitted himself with the best equipment to get some action. And it paid off. By the end of the trip we were often catching and releasing the fish. Of the 28 days we spent on the ocean, we ate fish 26 of them. Without catching fish for dinner, we might have been rationing our last canned goods. But as it was we ate really well. Darv was also master chef in the Galley. He brought a toolbox full of spices and wasn’t afraid to use them! After our first disappointing Tuna loss, we were so excited to catch our first fish, a small Dorado. After that the fish kept getting bigger! We ended up naming most of our lures and we had our favorites by the end of the trip. They all found a special spot in our hearts. 

Here they are from left to right: Green Machine, Gorgeous George, Red Baron, Show Girl, Elton John, and Marilyn Monroe. They all look a little worse for wear after all the action they saw. Especially Marilyn, who had a lot of her platinum blond locks bitten off.  

 Here are some pictures of all the delicious fish Darv cooked for us! Mom and I made the rest :)

This is called 'Poke' and we made it with fresh Dorado. It's raw fish with marinate. Man is it ever tasty! 

Darv cooking on the gimballed stove 

FIsh tacos on the sea!

Happiness is ... 

  

     We had two really big  prize catches, a 50 lbs Dorado (Mahi Mahi) and a 70lbs Wahoo. I had no idea how thrilling it would be to catch such enormous fish. My adrenalin was always pumping when we had a fish on the line. I even reeled one in myself! When we got a strong hit on the lure and we knew it was a big fish it was all hands on deck. Darv would masterfully reel in the fish and then as soon as it was close enough to the boat Dad would gaff the fish in the gills and we would pull it into the boat. They would often be flopping around powerfully so I would pour vodka into their gills to calm them down. Mom would be behind the wheel steering us safely. Darv always had to go up on deck to bleed and filet the fish, and often it had to be done in rough seas. I don’t know how he did it, but were thankful he did! Afterwards we would scrub down the deck from all the blood. Soem of the fish we caught while we were motoring and some were caught while under sail. The best speed to catch fish was between 5-7 knots. 

The fish look so beautiful and colourful when they swim in the water!

Dad gaffing the Dorado! He always hooked them on his first try, so we started calling him the Gaff Master 

The big guy is in the boat!

50lbs Dorado 

You can see how they lose their pretty colours very quickly after being caught

Measuring up. 52 inches long 

The fish is almost as big as mom!

The Gaff Master and Darv 

The fish was too big to bleed inside the boat so we had to drag him in the water by a rope 

 Ok,I had to get a picture with it too! (I'm holding up a local newspaper from my hometown. You send them pictures of yourself from your trips around the world holding up the newspaper and they publish them. Were hoping for front page ;) ) 

The Wahoo. Caught with 'Show girl' lure 

Wicked stripes!

70lbs Wahoo 

     The official fish caught by rod and reel: Dorado, Blue Fin Tuna, Bonita, Wahoo and Bill Fish. Fish caught by spear gun: Sheep’s Head, Parrotfish, Grouper, Mullet, Scup, Octopus, Lizard Fish, Red Snapper and Lobster.    

Bleeding a fish 

Trolling all day every day 

Darv's tarp he used to fillet the fish 

Feeding the family 

First time reeling in! 

My first catch! Dorado! 

My biggest catch ever and the Dorado 

After trolling at night for days without catching anything Darv finally caught this .. thing! It was a bit of a mystery fish but we thought it was part of the Bill fish family maybe. Of course he saved his mandibles.  

Mom named it 'Ugly fish' 

We couldn't eat the fish fast enough and without a freezer on the boat and this particular fish was going bad. So darv dragged it over the side of the boat hoping to attract a big fish. About an hour later Dad heard some splashing while he was on shift, when we looked over the side of the boat it was gone and the rope had been chewed right through. We suspect it was a shark, or at least a realllly big fish   

Marilyn Manroe. The platinum blond with red lips 

More beautiful Dorado  

       

Skip Jack Tuna 

The first red meat fish we caught on the trip 

The Skip Jack Tuna flipping his tail fast 

Gorgeous George makes his debut  

Awesome stripes on a smaller Wahoo.  

Darv saved this Wahoo as it had some orange rope (still in Darvs hands) caught in his mouth. We released him after. 

     I’m glad that I took so many pictures of the fish we caught because they were absolutely breathtaking! I never considered fish very beautiful until this trip, now I definitely have a new perspective. 

Some pictures of the fish caught by speargun: 

Atlantic Sheep's Head 

Octopus 

Parrot fish and scup 

Giant Oyster!