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

And so it began

     Day one we set off from Lanzarote with nearly 3000 nautical miles ahead of us, full of excitement and a bit of that “what the heck am I getting myself into” attitude. It was very windy as we left the harbour that afternoon. Everything was going great for about five minutes until we made an accidental jibe and ripped our main sail before we even passed the official starting line. The good news is that for a downwind sailing trip your main sail is not very important. So we hoisted up the Storm Tri sail, which is almost the same as a double reefed main sail and we were ready to take on the Atlantic. 

Leaving port in Lanzarote 

Our first night out dolphins came to greet us 

Our first night on the sea 

     The first week we had good strong winds and we were making good on our course. Darv devised a rope ladder so that he could jump of the boat and swim in the water. Pods of dolphins would often swim and play around the boat and Darv would jump into the water and try and capture them on video. I was a little apprehensive to jump into the ocean and let the boat drag me along but in the end I jumped in too. I have never seen such perfectly clear inky blue water! It was gorgeous, although for the most part I didn’t see any fish when I snorkelled in the middle of the ocean. 

Darv exploring some floating debry out at sea 

The first week, when we still had fresh fruit

The first fish! 

Darv getting dragged 

Snorkelling in the middle of the ocean 

Not letting him go!  

     Mom and I had even made as any pre made dinners as would keep in our fridge, so we didn’t even have to try cooking on a 30-degree angle yet. The moon was full and at night it looked like a great spotlight guiding our way. For the most part the sun was shinning and the crew of Argo was in good spirits. After all why wouldn’t we be, it was only the first week …

Happy sailing wife 

Checking for boats probably! 

That's some serious rigging. Wing on wing action 

A true sailor 

Fresh poke! Nothin' betta 

The spinnaker is full and beautiful 

Follow our progress!

If any one is interested in following our progress across the Atlantic you can do so at this address:

http://www.atlanticodyssey.org/rally-2013-14/track-the-boats/

Just look for the boat "ARGO". This will give you a pinpoint of our location on the Atlantic Ocean using a transponder. 

Argo crew is pumped! 

Argo begins its odyssey

     Its been an enjoyable, informative and busy week on Lanzarote, and now it’s time to set sail tomorrow. We are part of a group called the Atlantic Odyssey, which consists of about 23 boats that will depart the harbor at noon. After about the first day we likely won’t see anyone from the group until we meet in the Caribbean on the island of Martinique though! We expect the trip to take about 21 days and we’ll be stopping at every Holiday Inn along the way (Haha,). 

Boats in the Marina Lanzarote 

Helicopter rescue demonstration 

How many people can you fit in an 8 man life raft? 6. 

Castle by the sea 

     It’s been a bee hive of activity these last few days with all the boats and crew crossing off the finals to-do’s on their lists. I think after about 7 trips to the grocery store we have enough food and provisions aboard. I just hope we have enough chips to last the duration. Darv plans to troll along the way so hopefully we'll have some tasty fish dinner as well! 

Octopus lovin' 

Darv caught it AND cooked it! So delicious! He's the boss at cooking anything from the sea!  

     Dad and Darv are at the skipper’s briefing right now then it’s off to the farewell party and fireworks here at the yacht club. Finally, we'll all take some sea sickness pills and try not to have nightmares tonight! 

   

So long dock days, you've been good to us!   

 

Dad was the first of all the boats to raise the "Atlantic Odyssey" flag, so we won this gem!

   

So long solid ground and cute cafes! 

See you later civilization! See you all in three weeks!

“May we have fair winds and following seas”