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
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
