I’m clean! First shower on board, first shower since Saturday morning, which isn’t too bad. Light trailing winds and moderate seas make showering an easy task. Oh yeah…I pooped for the first time at about 4:30AM, now that was momentous, I was getting backed up. Had success again at 9:30AM today, I’m on a roll…well using one anyway. Okay no more poo talk for the duration of the trip, unless….
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During the day yesterday Dennis and John filled the fuel tank using 15 gallons from the auxiliary jugs we filled in Lanzarote. 15 gallons for more than 30 hours of engine operation is not bad, less than .5 gallons per hour.
The same photo of the diesel jugs I’ve used before.
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In the Afternoon John checked the engine fluid levels, all seemed to be good.
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Jens made Chicken Piccata-ish with baked potatoes and broccoli for dinner. It was quite good, making me think about how much Colleen and Shane love their Chicken Piccata.
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Nothing to report about the overnight, Dennis and Jens saw a ship pass during their first watch, that was about all the excitement.
A cargo ship passing us on the horizon.
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Jen’s made smoked salmon, veggie, cheese frittata for breakfast. I’m gonna have to step into the galley at some point to help Jens out. Keep in mind the galley is a one person at a time size. Dennis and I have been helping with clean-up and when it comes to utilizing all of the food that we prepared at Villa Azul in Lanzarote. We will step up to the plate helping Jens keep us fed.
The food that Dennis and I prepared is all in a cooler lashed to the deck, just forward of the mast. When we packed the cooler everything was frozen solid in vacuum seal bags, hopefully they are still frozen solid, no one has opened the cooler yet, that will probably happen tomorrow.
Cooler filled with the food that we prepared at Villa Azule.
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Light rain and light winds so far today, though…
John just yelled down the companionway that we have some thunder and squalls coming, that should be interesting, hopefully not too interesting. He doesn’t seem concerned, that helps with any anxieties I may claim not to have.
Day 5
Wednesday, February 2, 2022,
23’57.776N 20’49.415W 3:35PM 542 nm made good.
COG (Course Over Ground) 240’m
SOG (Speed Over Ground) 6+kts
With the wind almost directly behind us, we are sailing “wing on wing”. The main sail is out almost to the spreaders to port and the jib is poled out with the whisker pole to starboard. This point of sail will give you both decent speed and a flat ride. You just have to make sure you keep the sails full, the main sail with the boom, if not lashed down properly, in a jibe, could fly across to the opposite side of the boat causing substantial damage to the boat or anyone’s head that happened to be in the way.
A stock image of Wing on Wing sailing.
Later in the day the wind and seas have picked up substantially, 20 knots plus sustained, gusts to 27 knots. Seas my guess are running upwards of 10 feet. We adjusted our course slightly and changed our sail format from wing on wing to a starboard tack with both sails out to port. Switching the main to the trysail, rolling in the jib and pulling up the stay sail.
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Jens cooked some steaks and roasted potatoes for dinner. Did I mention, I need to step up my galley game. Jens is doing too much, he doesn’t seem to mind, but I want to help.
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Winds have calmed down a bit, the forecast looks good, we have decided to leave the small sails, the trysail and stay sail, up to deal with changing them tomorrow morning during daylight. John wants to test the brownies. As a loyal crew member, I didn’t want John to have to try them on his own, so I “volunteered” to join him; I am a real team player. Remembering the “advice” from the shopkeeper in Lanzarote, we cut that in half. John had about a quarter of a brownie and I had about an eighth. It was plenty, that shit was strong, nothing over the top, no sea monster hallucinations or anything like that, just a nice glow.
With our slightly altered minds, we had an uneventful watch. Talking, looking around and eventually I could concentrate enough to read.
If you enjoyed reading this journal, please like and share.
Last night and today have been much less eventful than the previous 24 hours.
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Jens is still hanging in the galley, sandwiches for lunch, roasted potatoes, carrots and soy marinated seared pork medallions for dinner last night, yeah, food wise, we are not suffering.
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During my first watch last night with light wind and flat seas we motor throughout it. The biggest excitement was seeing two fishing boats on the AIS system (Automatic Information System). We could see the lights from one of them, when they came within 1.6 miles of us. I read on my Kindle, looking around, at all of the instruments and the horizon between each chapter. I think John was able to get about 2 hours of sleep, which was great, he has been going strong since long before our departure.
I crashed from 12:45 until 3:45 when I got up to relieve Dennis and Jens for my second watch. When John and I came on deck there was another fishing boat passing 1.2 miles in front of us. Before sunrise, just after 7AM, it was much the same. I read, looked around, John slept, I read some more and looked around.
Even with full foul weather gear I was surprisingly chilled to the bone. I’m sure the temps were in the low fifties, however, being stagnant, just sitting in one place for several hours, the chill creeps in.
At sun up we shook out the reefs in the main, going from double reefed to full main. Avocet is equipped with the ability to put three reefs in the main, making it smaller or larger to adjust for different wind conditions. With a little bit more wind in the air, we also pulled out the jib. There was enough wind to fill the sails, but not enough to power Avocet more than 3 knots, so we kept the motor running, pushing us along at close to 6 knots.
John enjoying his morning coffee.
Dennis arrived on deck at around 8:30AM with coffee for us. After coffee, we deployed the Whisker Pole, a 5” diameter aluminum pole used to keep the clew of the jib, the lower aft point of a sail, where you want it to be. It is attached to the mast on an up-down adjustable car. At the jib clew there are lines used to adjust the clew of the jib, up, down, forward and aft. The idea is to set it in a position, whereas, even with the pitch and yaw of the boat the jib will remain in a position to best capture the wind.
Sunrise with the whisker pole rigged and ready.
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While John, Dennis and I were busy on deck Jens prepared breakfast, scrambled eggs with sauteed green peppers and onions, toast, seared leftover meatballs and some jarred Spanish Verde sauce, along with a hit of guava juice.
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After brushing, flossing and medicating, I hit the V-berth for a needed nap. I woke to the quiet of no engine, the wind had picked up enough for us to be doing better than 5 knots. I also woke to a dressed lunch salad of lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, smoked sockeye salmon, thanks Jens.
A lot has happened since yesterday’s entry. We departed Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain at 3:41PM into 10 foot swells, not breaking, with about 20 knots of wind. Steve and Victor were there to see us off, there was even a band playing on the opposite shore, which I will tell myself that they were there to send us off in style, most likely it was a wedding reception.
A dream boat with a band playing on the patio behind them as we departed Puerta Calero.
Just before departing, I called Colleen and the kids. I was able to talk to them individually, it was great. We talked about how I am quite “nervecited”, It’s a long trip, a lot could go wrong, as well as I will probably have many exciting experiences to share. At the same time, it’s a long trip and I am going to (already do) miss them very much. We also talked about the “nor’easter” that they were dealing with, expected 18 inches of snow. I’m somewhat glad I don’t have to deal with that, at the same time I wish I was there to enjoy the experience of a couple of snow days with them, shoveling, a fire in the fireplace, some great food, a nice bottle (or two) of wine and my pretty awesome family, I’d be digging that too.
Nor’easter that hit the Boston area with upwards of 24″ of snow on January 30, 2022
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After a bit of shaking down, getting acclimated, we were sailing a very respectable average of 6.5 knots. Unfortunately as the day progressed the wind regressed.
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About an hour into the sail John checked on the seals on the starboard midship diesel tank which he had the boat yard in Puerto Calero replace. They were leaking like a sieve, copious amounts of diesel were flowing into the bilge. Below decks smelled like a fuel spill. Not the way I was hoping the trip would start.
The leaking new seals on the fuel tanks.
As usual, John jumped into action doing dealing with initial clean-up, while figuring out the best way to deal with the situation. He found a tube of Flex-Seal (thanks Phil Swift) and with some effort, by globbing a ton of Phil’s black sealant around in the area where the new seals were supposed to be working, he was able to turn the flow into a dribble. Keep in mind we filled the tanks just before departure, so they were full, to the point of expanding, which will hopefully mean that as we use fuel the likelihood of leaking will diminish to nil.
Phil Swift
John and Jens syphoned and sponged out the bilge while Dennis and I sailed the boat.
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It was pushing 8PM when they finished cleaning up the diesel mess, I’m sure it will have to be done again later today, as well as another application of Flex-Seal. That combined with running the engine for a few hours in an effort to empty the tank a bit, will hopefully keep this problem to a minimum and John can address it in Guadeloupe.
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Jens, who had been below breathing the fumes for the past several hours decided it was time for dinner. At this point I would have passed up a few bags of chips and said “have at it guys”. Not Jens, amongst the cloud of diesel mist Jens cooked us meatballs with curry powder, Basmati rice and sliced dressed cucumbers. His effort was very appreciated.
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We started our watch schedule Dennis and Jens went from 8PM to 12PM, John and I from Midnight to 4AM and then back to Dennis and Jens from 4AM to 8AM. I was able to sleep for most of the 4 hour break between watches. I’m sure we will switch watch times tonight and after a while switch watch partners.
With a gentle nudge, Jens wook me up for my watch at 11:55PM. I had set my alarm, which went off at 11:45PM as it was set to. I was just sluggish getting my ass out of my bunk (diesel fumes?), currently, the V-berth that I have been “hot-bunking” with Dennis. Don’t get the wrong idea, Dennis and I are sharing a bunk only when the other has vacated it. I love my little brother, but not like that.
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During the first hour of our watch John decided to start the engine so that we could charge the battery. It started right up and ran perfectly for about 5 minutes before it sputtered to a stop. FUCK!!! It sounded like a fuel issue, with tank seals being replaced, I was thinking what could have possibly gotten into the fuel to cause the engine to stop? Can we drain, clean or replace the filters? I didn’t know. John had just gotten a bunch of work done to the engine at the same Puerto Calero boatyard that did the faulty repairs to the fuel tank. Which made me think, what else did they mess up?
Meanwhile, the GPS display starts flashing on and off. Double FUCK!!!
John and I sat in the cockpit contemplating our options, to start making repairs right then, even though we didn’t know what we were doing, head towards Grand Canary Island and abort our trip or keep going without an engine? Going without an engine would be difficult, not only because of the obvious- during the times that you need to propel the boat through the water without sails, you were out of luck. Also, it’s the main power source for the boat, sure Avocet is equipped with solar panels, a wind vane and even an auxiliary gas powered generator. The wind and solar by themselves don’t produce the energy needed to run all of the boat’s systems. The biggest draws of power being the refrigerator, if needed the water maker and also the much needed and lauded autopilot.
Adding the generator would help, but the generator is not a built in unit, we would have to pull it out of the “pit”, the large stowage area beneath the port cockpit seat. We would have to lash down the generator, pull start it and attach it to the boat’s electrical system. This of course would be a royal pain in the ass, not only could it only be done weather permitting. We would have to run it for about an hour, charge the batteries that power the electrical systems for the boat, we would have to do it twice a day, and to top it all off we would have to stow it back in the pit after each use. Otherwise it would be in the way and there would be a chance of swamping it with seawater.
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While we were sitting there stressed to the gills, John said, “I think I know what it is” and he did. When he was swabbing out the bilge cleaning up he had to shut off the valve leading from the fuel tank to the engine. Remember that he did this. John went below and opened the valve, we were back in business.
As for the GPS display, we don’t know the cause of the blinking, but it seems to only happen right after shutting down the engine. I’m guessing that it’s some sort of change in voltage problem that settles down after a few minutes.
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The rest of the watch was uneventful, serene, there was a beautiful star lit sky somewhat hidden behind the Sahara dust fog.
During the night we could see a distant lighthouse on the east coast of Fuerteventura, another one of the Canary Islands. It may be the last land based light we see until we arrive in the Caribbean.
Fuerteventura Lighthouse.
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At watch change Jens made a pot of coffee for us, he used some of the Guatemalan coffee that Steve brought for us, it was really good. Breakfast was more of Steve’s coffee and a store-bought premade Spanish Omelette, it was also quite good.
Spanish Omlette (Tortilla Esponola)
Hopefully we will settle into some smooth sailing tomorrow.
After another round of Steve’s coffee (this time Guatemalan), on the veranda Dennis and I met with John and Jens at the cafe in the marina. Dennis and I had the assignment of getting bottled water for the trip. Avocet already had, according to John’s notes, more than 180 liters stashed on board. It was determined we should get an additional 160 liters. We went to the little market at the marina, which, not surprisingly, because the Canary Islands are a jumping point for transatlantic crossings, had plenty of large jugs of water. The staff there seemed to think it was totally normal for someone to come in and buy 30 each 6ltr jugs of water, for those of you quick with math, yes, we went with 180 additional liters, instead of the predetermined 160 liters; too much fresh water would not be a problem.
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Earlier in the day Jens returned John’s rental car to the airport, Steve would return ours when he went to the airport for his and Victor’s return flight home to Madrid.
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Back on Avocet, we stashed the water, most of it went under the dropped down salon table.
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James, the mechanic, met with John and went through the autopilot stuff. Things are looking good for an afternoon departure.
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Dennis and I took one of the coolers to Villa Azul and loaded it with the bags of food that we prepared and froze. Fortunately everything was frozen solid, there was some concern, it did take full 2 days for it to all freeze. With the cooler filled, we grabbed our bags, gave the villa a once over and headed to Avocet.
Villa Azule
Steve and Victor came with us, helped load the last of the goods on board.
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In the mayhem of the last minute preparations, Dennis and I forgot to get more ice. We didn’t have much room for more ice, but we did have some and we should have gotten more. We were going to get it when we got the marina, but we figured there would be plenty of time to get it later, at the last minute…we didn’t, we forgot. Jens didn’t say anything, but you could tell he wasn’t too happy with our forgetfulness. He was right though, we should have prioritized the ice.
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Steve and Victor joined us on the trip to the fuel dock. Victor even got to drive the boat, which I think he enjoyed. The plan was to fill the onboard fuel and water tanks as well as all of the auxiliary tanks that are attached to the lifelines along Avocet’s gunwales. The yellow jugs are for diesel, red for gasoline (generator, dinghy outboard) and clear are for water. Once the tanks were full we would depart.
Full diesel containers and one of our three very full external coolers.
Steve and Victor helped us cast off from the dock at 3:41PM. Our sailing trip of an expected 3100 miles and a time frame of 21 to 26 days has begun.
Our staring point, the fuel dock at Puerta Calero Marina.
We had a busy day today, starting on the veranda with some more of the Ethiopian coffee that Steve brought with him.
Ethiopian coffee beans.
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At 10:30AM we headed to Arrecife to find the Customs Office. Someone had told John where to go, so we followed him there. John and Jens in John’s rental, Dennis and I in ours.
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Arrecife police station.
We ended up at the Arrecife Police Station, where no one was of much help. Not much English spoken, along with the typical cop attitude, we were sent in circles. We eventually took it amongst ourselves to go to the marina, which was in close walking distance, to ask around there where we needed to go for customs. First stop was the “Information” kiosk, not much information was found there. On we went, subsequently John asked an obvious boater if they knew where we should go, she directed us to the Marina Office. The people in the office were very helpful, sending us about 5 miles by land or 200 meters by sea, to the shipping port, where the customs office was. John also was able to get the same address from the marina manager in Puerto de Calero, which we were able to put into our phones for GPS directions.
Arrecife Marina
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Eventually we found the right office in the right building, and we got our passports stamped and off we went.
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Dennis and I headed to Avocet to organize whatever we coud. John and Jens went in search of a new third cooler and a gaff for fishing. We planned on meeting at the boat later. I dropped the car off at Villa Azule for Steve and Victor to use and Dennis and I headed to the marina.
Fishing gaff.
We went through a lot of the provisions already on the boat, throwing out some obviously bad items, opened out-of-date products, small black bug riddled pasta and rice, and rancid oil. No real surprise, the boat has been sitting for months.
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John and Jens soon returned with the cooler and gaff. It was decided that John and I would stay on Avocet, cleaning and organizing, while Dennis and Jens would go to the supermarket for provisions.
Lidl supermarket in Puerta de Carmen
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James, one of the mechanics from the marina, with John, changed the filters and went through the operations of the watermaker. It was running late, for James, so John and James agreed to meet in the morning to test and calibrate the operation of the autopilot.
When James left John and I got a lot done- we cleared the decks of all unneeded items. The big plastic jugs filled with diesel from Avocet’s tanks, which had to be emptied before the seals were replaced, needed to be poured back into the tanks. We took the anchor from the bow and put it into the pit along with the gas generator, duffle bags, linens, excess lines, amongst a whole lot of other stuff.
Diesel jugs and one of the three coolers.
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Dennis and Jens filled their car with an absurd amount of food. It took well over an hour to find homes for all the food on Avocet. With every little cubby, hanging net hammocks were filled. It was getting late and we were hungry.
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The Upper Deck closes at 10PM and it was 10PM, fortunately over the 2 weeks that John was in Puerta Calero he had forged a great relationship with the staff there and were well taken care of even though it was past there normal hours. Steve and Victor met us there. We finished our night with some food, beer and talk of tomorrow’s anticipated departure.
The crew with Steve and Victor at The Upper Deck Restaurant.
Our hope is to depart tomorrow afternoon. There are some final systems checks to be done, as well as topping off our tanks, getting bottled water and ice.
Villa Azule, Puerta Calero, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
A lot has gone on over the last 2 days. Right now I am chilling, with a beer, writing outside near the pool at Villa Azule, the house we rented near the Puerta Calero Marina. Here is what’s been going on.
Villa Azule
Puerta Calero Marina
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We arrived in Arrecife on the Island of Lanzarote on Tuesday, we breezed through the COVID check point and collected our rental car, an orange little Nissan. We headed over to the marina in Puerto Calero and to check out Villa Azul, the rental house that Steve found online. And it’s great, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a pool, and most importantly a functioning kitchen with a freezer. The house located a few short blocks up the hill from the marina, with the hotel John is staying at is conveniently right between Villa Azule and the marina.
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Dennis and I had lunch at a restaurant in the marina, met up with John and were surprised to see that Avocet was on the hard. However, it was nothing to worry about because John was just getting some routine work done. The yard had had 4 months to complete, but decided to wait until John was there to get it done. They need some nudging and constant reminders that we planned on leaving in just a couple of days’ time to prioritize the work.
The outstanding items were replacing 2 thru-hull fittings, I believe that they were both for the forward head. The yard was also replacing the depth sounder transducer, on the starboard side’s lowest hull point, just in front of the keel. In addition the yard was dealing with installing a new saltwater faucet, putting new seals on the diesel tank and figuring out the VHF radio issues. The boat’s interior was/is totally pulled apart. There is nothing to be done about that until all of the boat yard projects are complete; which are all scheduled to be done ASAP and with John’s prodding hopefully it will be soon.
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Yesterday Dennis and I cooked, vacuumed sealed and froze a bunch of food. A gallon of Chili, a gallon of Bolognese and a gallon of Moroccan Tagine. As well as a gallon of mashed potatoes, 16 seared and cooked chicken breasts. We roasted, picked the meat from and vacuum sealed 3 chickens. We used the bones, skin and tough bits to make stock, which we used in preparation of some of the other food. We also did the same (cooked, vacuum sealed, froze) with roasted mushrooms and boiled carrots.
Bolognese, Chicken and Tagine
We got about two-thirds of the way through vacuum sealing the food before we smelled something electrical burning. Sure enough it was the newly purchased, specifically for this trip, vacuum sealer, smoke was seeping out of the corners. My fault, I didn’t take into account the voltage difference between American and European circuits. I just bought the cheapest adapter, the one without the built-in transformer to adjust the power. Up in smoke it went. Fortunately, John did have a vacuum sealer, it was a portable battery operated one, it didn’t really have a sealer, the seal was in the form of special heavy duty zip-lock bags. The vacuum part happened when you placed the battery operated pencil sharpener looking device over a designated spot on the zip bag, after filling and zipping, it would hypothetically remove excess air from the bag, it sort-of worked. A lot of effort for the same result of a carefully shut heavy duty Zip-Lock freezer bag.
Up in smoke.
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After a day of shopping, cooking and freezing, which I have to say, was made even more difficult because of the lack of any cooking equipment and a severely inadequate refrigerator. We were chilling food in ice baths in whatever containers we could find including the containers that the meat was bought in; clean ‘em out refill ’em, Dennis’ idea. If we die from botulism it’s his fault.
Dennis, cooking up a storm.
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At 7:30PM I picked up Steve and Victor at the airport. John met us at Villa Azul and we walked down to the marina for dinner at John’s local haunt The Upper Deck, a few beers, Fish’n’Chips and less than 20 Euros each, we were done for the night.
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January 27, 2022
In the Morning Steve made us coffee, he brought some Ethiopian light roast (a personal favorite) with him. We enjoyed it, with it’s slightly sweet chocolatey flavors on the veranda. Thanks Steve.
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I wanted to make Chicken-Coconut soup (recipe below), but I couldn’t find Thai fish sauce at the local supermarket, which is an integral ingredient in the recipe, I wouldn’t make the recipe without it. We looked online and found an Asian grocery store in the islands main city Arrecife. Steve, Dennis, Victor and I went on the mission to find the store and the Thai fish sauce. The store was located on a small thin side street in a rundown area of downtown Arrecife. There was no parking to be found, so Steve dropped Victor and I off while he swung around to pick us up after.
Success, on the first rack, as we entered the market, there it was- Thai fish sauce, even a good brand that I recognized, Squid Brand. Within a couple of minutes we gathered up the fish sauce, coconut milk, Thai red curry paste and ginger. Back to the villa we went so I could make the soup as soon as possible so we could freeze it solid before departure.
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There is a god! Mahou, a Spanish brewery, makes an IPA! We bought an 8 pack of it to see how it is, not only is it good, it’s a session beer at only 4.5% alcohol. Upon further review, reading the can, we discover that it’s made in conjunction with Founders an American brewery known for its session IPA “All Day IPA”, next time at the store we bought 2 more 8 packs. Regular Mahou, Cinco Estrellas, is a good version of the mediocre typical Spanish beer, a small step up from Budweiser, I’ll drink it if that’s what’s available, however, I would rather an American craft IPA any day.
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Just after 1PM, I went back to Arrecife to the Airport to pick up Jens. All went as planned, got him and dropped him back at Hotel Costa Calero the geriatric British retiree hotel that John was also staying at, with a plan to meet up later.
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Back to the store Steve and I went, I forgot the cornstarch, which I use to slightly thicken the chicken coconut soup, 3 stores and one possibility, in Spanish it says “fine corn flour” with the only ingredient being corn, it looks promising.
While we were out, we decided to see if we could find a weed dispensary for some edibles. We were told by the waitress at The Upper Deck that there was one in Puerto Del Carmen, the next town over from where we were staying. With a little help from Google and an employee at a nearby CBD store we found it hidden on a little alleyway, off a side street, very close to the beach. Walking in the front door there was a tiny reception area, where if you wanted to buy something you had to “join the club”, $10, reasonable. Only one of us had to be a member, since Steve lived in Spain and is more likely to return to Lanzarote than I am. He showed his ID, had his photo taken and was given a piece of paper saying that the weed he bought was legal. Once we got past the receptionist we entered the back room, a large dark dingy room, with a short bar on the left, a pool table taking up the back half of the room, black lights, dank stench of weed in the air and two very stoned guys, one working, the other a patron. We asked about edibles, all they had to offer was Brownies and cookies, no gummies. After a few questions about potency we went with brownies, 100mg of THC per brownie, to quote the guy working the counter “a whole one will put you to sleep, half is just right”. My thought is no more than a quarter, we’ll see. Our brownies were bagged up for us and we were on our way.
Back to the villa we go, the plan is to finish the soup, then cook dinner on the outside grill and have a few drinks.
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Well the “cornstarch” wasn’t cornstarch it was some sort of roasted corn flour, I threw it out.
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For dinner we bought some whole Dorado a mild flakey white fleshed fish, small creamy Canary Island Potatoes, the traditional sauce for the potatoes (it’s a spicy smoky red pepper aioli) broccoli, chimichurri ingredients, lemon, salad stuff, cured meats, Manchego and bread.
Dorado on the grill.
The grill was a pain in the ass to get lit. But, after a lot of canoodling, taking the rack out of the oven, using some stones from the yard to prop the rack up for airflow under the coals we were able to get the fire where it needed to be.
Dennis set up the meat cheese and bread for a snack while I grilled the fish and broccoli. We had some drinks and as I expected the fish stuck hard to the grill, made somewhat of a mess and in the end was very delicious. I’m sure if I grilled fish on that same grill a few times I would perfect it.
Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy their meal, it was a nice way to start our time together. It was casual, great conversation, free flowing cold drinks and it wasn’t on the boat.
After a group effort to clean up, we discussed our plans for tomorrow- Customs clearance, get butane for the back-up stove, a gaff hook for fishing, Jens needed to get money exchanged and continue organizing Avocet.
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I’ve been making this soup more than 30 years, it’s one of Colleen’s favorites. The toughest part of the recipe is finding all of the ingredients. The recipe calls for “cooked chicken”, It doesn’t have to be cooked ahead of time. You can poach sliced or diced raw chicken in the simmering soup towards the end of the cooking time. In a pinch you can grab one of those always way over cooked supermarket rotisserie chickens; pick the meat for the soup and use the bones for stock. Any cut up or picked leftover chicken will work. I have also adapted this recipe for beef or vegetarian versions, they are also wonderful.
Chicken – Coconut Soup
Ingredients:
2 TB neutral Oil
2 cups small diced Onion
3 TB minced Lemon Grass*
3 TB minced Ginger
2 TB minced Galangal*
2 TB minced Garlic
2 TB Thai Red Curry Paste*
6 cups Chicken Stock
5 ea julienned Kaffir Lime Leaves*
1 ea small handful Cilantro Stems*
1ea small handful Thai Basil Stems*
4 cans unsweetened Coconut milk
¼ cup Lime Juice
¼ cup Thai Fish Sauce
3 TB Cornstarch
¼ cup Water
4 cups cooked chicken, picked, sliced
or medium diced
Method:
In a large soup pot over medium heat, sweat the first eight ingredients until translucent, about 8 minutes.
Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, and then turn down to simmer.
Using cheesecloth or a coffee filter, make a sachet with the lime leaves and the herb stems. Add the sachet to the simmering liquid, lightly simmer for 10 minutes.
Add coconut milk, lime juice and Thai fish sauce.
Bring back to a simmer, in a small bowl whisk together the cornstarch and water, making a slurry. Stir the slurry into the simmering soup, simmer for 5 minutes to slightly thicken the soup. Mix in the cooked chicken. Remove and discard the sachet.
*= Optional ingredient, the more of these ingredients you use the more depth of flavor your soup will have.
Garnish the soup with thin sliced scallions, cilantro leaves and rough chopped Thai basil. Optional garnishes are cooked mushrooms or halved cherry tomatoes.
Dennis and I are on the second leg of our trip from Madrid to Lanzarote, it’s a very full flight.
What a cluster fuck getting out of Boston was. Both Dennis and I arrived at Logan Airport early; Dennis via a bus out of Portland, Maine. I was lucky enough to have my wife Colleen and our son Shane drop me off. It was really special, Shane was obviously anxious about my leaving on this adventure. He followed me into the Airport, waited with me for a while until it was time for him and Colleen to leave, they had to pick our daughter Cate up at dance and bring her to gymnastics. I really appreciated the extra time with him, he may actually end up okay.
Shane and Cate on our friends boat Glory.
Back to the cluster fuck, Dennis showed up right after Shane and Colleen left. We went up to the Iberia departures counter and presented our passports to the attendant, who was going through the process of checking us and our bags in when she asked us “When are you returning to the United States?” Our response was truthful- we didn’t exactly know. We explained that we were sailing from Lanzarote to Guadeloupe and our exact day was not known, we knew approximately when we would return, just not the exact day. This put a stop to our check in process. The first attendant handed our information off to her, unbeknownst to us at the time, supervisor. A short-round-bitchy faced-beastly wench, I am not going to be nice when describing her, she seemed to not be paying attention to anything else but her cell phone.
She asked us if we had any proof of our planned return to the United States. I produced our Capitan’s Letter, a letter written by the captain of a yacht describing the planned itinerary of a vessel for this exact reason. I have used such letters in the past, specifically in Bermuda, twice, where the customs officials knew exactly what the letter was, and it quickly fulfilled their requirements. Well, the beast, an airline employee, not a customs official, said that she couldn’t accept the letter as proof of departure and that we had to buy return tickets if we were going to be allowed to get on our planned flight to Spain. Just like that, no help or understanding in trying to help us out. She just went back to banging her Knockwurst fingers on her cell phone.
Mary’s fingers
She was just ignoring us, that was not going to work. After a bit more ka-bitching, Dennis reminded her of what he thought her role as a customer service professional was. While I was just fuming, I don’t think I could have said much at the time, though I did ask her if she was doing something to help us on her phone or if she was purposely ignoring us; she grunted. Dennis told her that we were trying to figure it out calmly and that she should be helping us. After asking to talk to her supervisor, with no luck, she said she was the supervisor, which she may have been. But what she really was, was a stubby, overzealous queen wannabe with a Napoleon complex, on a power trip. Dennis asked for and got her name. She told us, spelling it out: “Mary Pama”. Yes, she pronounced it Mary Palmer, I hope her 4 sisters were more palm worthy than she was. (I said that I wasn’t going to be nice, she really infuriated us). We also asked for the phone number for customer service, and we were dismissively told to “look on the website”.
We stood in front of the check-in kiosk. Dennis phoned the customer service number, went through the prompts and eventually got through to a representative who only spoke broken English, tried to explain the situation. He was asked for our confirmation code, after about 6 attempts in English and Spanish he put Dennis on hold, and subsequently hung up on him.
Meanwhile, Mary-the-Beast-Pama, asked if we had a Sea Log or a Crew Identification Card. So her chunky little digits were, in her own special way, looking into how to help us out. However, Sea Logs and Crew Identification Cards are for paid crews on ships, not things that an unpaid crew member on a private yacht would have. I explained this to her while Dennis tried to get through to the customer service number without being hung up on again. It didn’t work, he was hung up on again, even quicker this time.
In a moment of desperation I asked Mary-the-Beast-Pama if we bought return tickets from Guadeloupe would she let us board, and surprisingly, she said yes. While Dennis started making his third try at customer service, I used my handy Expedia app and bought 2 tickets from Guadeloupe to Boston on February 26, a somewhat arbitrary day, we will probably be in Guadeloupe by then, but, you never know. I bought tickets that I can cancel within 24 hours or we can change fights if we decide to. I figured- get through customs in Spain and just cancel the tickets, no one would be the wiser. Mary-the-Beast-Pama can go fuck herself.
Once I showed Mary-the-Beast-Pama the proof of purchase for the tickets on my phone she let us check-in. All this because the dimwitted 5X5 didn’t have any common sense. What is the point of having someone buy a ticket from a different country than the one that you are entering, the proof should have been for as she originally asked- when are you leaving Spain, not when are we leaving Guadalupe. Her lack of real logic was dumbfounding. The Captain’s Letter was our proof, she claimed that she wouldn’t allow it, however in a way, I guess she did.
~
So we got through, and had a few Maine Beer Co. Lunch IPA’s at the airport lounge before boarding. Dennis had the pleasure of handing his ticket to Mary-the-Beast-Pama his boarding pass. It was an uneventful flight to Madrid, when we went through Customs, where there are real customs agents, we explained to the agent what we were doing, within a minute he was waving us though, welcoming us to Spain.
It was too much unnecessary stress caused by someone who’s only responsibility should have only been to very nicely direct us to the proper official for any clarification on our planned trip. Even better would have been, to address any customs issues when we purchased one-way tickets.
Our brother Steve met us at the Madrid Airport for coffee during our layover. During which time I went back on the Expedia app and canceled our return flights.
Often times the best solutions are the easiest ones.
For the best reading experience, read the chapters in order.
This is a short chapter about our planning to get to the starting point of our trip across the Atlantic, Puerta Calero, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain.
Sunday, January 2, 2022
Dennis and I booked our flights to Lanzarote. We will fly out of Boston on Monday, January 24 at 9PM, arriving in Lanzarote on Tuesday the 25th at 1:05PM with a short layover in Madrid. The plan is to meet up with John, who will arrive in Lanzarote on the 20th and do whatever needs doing to ready Avocet for departure. Avocet is on the hard awaiting John’s arrival. He has an insurance survey scheduled, he wants to test out the autopilot and the watermaker, I’m not sure if they are new, re-built or he just wants to test them after sitting on the hard for a few months. We also will use the time to provision the boat.
Saturday, January 8, 2022
Our Brother Steve and his son Victor are meeting us in Lanzarote. Steve and Victor live in Madrid and are making the trip to see us off. Because of COVID, I haven’t seen Victor in almost 3 years. Steve, I saw in October for the unfortunate occasion of our father’s funeral. Steve booked us a 3 bedroom villa in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, a short walk from the marina where Avocet will be moored. Steve and Victor will be arriving on Wednesday the 26th and departing the following Sunday. So, we should be able to help provision AVOCET and have some quality family time.
Dennis, Steve and I, in Boston
Sunday, January 9, 2022
I am having my daughter, Caitlin, set up a Zoom meeting for tonight to go through any questions, concerns and expectations that we may have for our upcoming trip. I hope to get a grip on what we need to pack, answer questions on expected weather, ascertain what gear and safety equipment we may need as well as get John’s opinion on whether or not I should buy an In-Reach personal SOS communication device.
Monday, January 10, 2022
Dennis, John and I had a ZOOM meeting last night and reviewed the trip. It was a productive meeting, we talked about provisioning, gear, packing and other expectations. John informed us that he has tested positive for COVID. Jens did not take part in the Zoom meeting, John said he was unsure of his status, and he wanted to be sure that Dennis and I were okay with just the three of us doing the crossing. We are.
Update: John texted that Jens is a go, which is great.
2 weeks until our flights to the Canary Islands. The countdown has begun.
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
I am thinking about using the trip as an excuse to get a small laptop. I can use it to write this journal as well as storing movies and music for the trip. I first thought that I would look into a Chromebook, but my son Shane shut me down on that- “they suck, they are like a large tablet with a keyboard”. I thought, well that seems like exactly what I want. After a bit more thought, I do want something with a Windows operating system, not google OS. So the search begins.
12 days until departure.
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Less than a week until we head out. I am now writing this on my new Lenovo 14” laptop. I’ve downloaded a couple of movies and plan on doing a few more. Music will follow.
I started a list of stuff to bring with me, it’s not too bad, about 70 items, including everything from socks, underwear, foul weather gear, Man Overboard (MOB) device, toiletries, medications, passport, towel, sunblock to proof of vaccination. It all has to fit into a medium sized duffle bag and a large-ish waterproof backpack, I think it will.
I also bought a vacuum sealer. The first couple of days in Lanzarote we are planning on making and freezing as much food as possible. A vacuum sealer will be great, we make, chill, bag, vacuum seal and freeze the food. The sealed bags will take up a lot less space than foil pans, and, unlike the foil pans they won’t leak all over the cooler as they slowly thaw; hopefully this plan works out.
Yesterday I took a Personal Float Plan that Chip Gavin, a longtime sailor friend, sent me to use as a template, and I made it my own. I also sent it to Dennis to do the same. It was a great help, all that information in one easy to read and understand place. Thanks Chip, it was extremely helpful. I printed a copy and emailed Colleen a copy of mine.
6 days until departure and counting.
Thursday, January 20, 2022
John is in Lanzarote, I saw a Facebook post that he has already befriended a couple from another boat. It looks like they are going to delay their departure a couple of days so that we can sail in tandem.
I rented a car that I will pick up at the airport in Lanzarote on Tuesday afternoon and Steve will return it on Sunday morning.
4 days until departure.
Monday, January 24, 2022
The day is here. I’m meeting Dennis at the airport at around 7PM for our 9PM flight.
I’m almost packed, I still have to put my clothes together and put them into my, not so fancy, new, quite large L.L. Bean duffle bag that I bought yesterday. The medium one I was planning on using may have worked, but it would be like putting 50 lbs of stuff into a 30lb bag.
Hopefully the day goes without a hitch. I spent way too much time last night getting the needed COVID QR code from the airline. Just a couple of words on Iberia Airlines’ website, it sucks. There is no excuse for how bad it is. This is not a new revelation, I have been traveling to Spain regularly for 30 years, my brother Steve and his family live there and we have been fortunate enough to have visited him often. Their website is very difficult to manage, I was allowed to go on their site to pick my seats, and do an online check in. After spending 20 minutes filling out all of the forms, passport info etc, you are then told that you have to check in at the airport. This pisses me off, not only because of time lost, but, I paid extra to be able to choose my seats ahead of time. In addition to that, some of the online forms, though translated to English, the drop down multiple choice answers were in Spanish. Fortunately, after many years of DuoLingo, I could muddle through with my rudimentary Spanish.
This is the first chapter in a multi-part blog about me fulfilling one of my life’s ambitions- sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.
I wrote this journal as things unfolded, I started writing at home soon after Captain John’s initial email. I continued writing throughout the planning, while on planes, at the house we rented in Lanzarote, daily on Avocet as we sailed across the Atlantic, in Guadeloupe, and finally at back at home again. I wrote this because I wanted an unedited fresh as-it-happened memory of one of my life long ambitions- to sail an ocean. Read along, I hope you enjoy reading about my experience, parts of which are thrilling, some are boring, many are exhausting and a couple of them are even a bit scary.
Any of several large shorebirds belonging to the genus Recurvirostra, family Recurvirostridae. Avocets have boldly contrasting plumage, long bluish legs, and a long black bill upturned at the tip.
The four species of avocets are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin recurvus, ‘curved backwards’ and rostrum, ‘bill’. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian word avosetta.
John Slingerland’s Avocet is a 1988 Oyster 41 Sailing Yacht-
According to the Oyster Yachts website there were 27 of these Stephen Jones designed yachts made from 1980 through 1987. Which is not quite accurate, the placard on Avocet claims that she was built in 1988, a year after the production dates stated on their website. The placard also states that Avocet is hull #23 (of 27), built by Landamores Yacht Builders in Norfolk, England.
Saturday, January 1, 2022
Last week I got an unexpected email from John Slingerland, owner and captain of the sailing vessel Avocet, a 1988 Oyster 41, “I may have a spot open departing Canaries 1/15 to Guadeloupe”. Which I responded- “I will run it by the boss, get a feel for how she feels about it. I will try to get back to you tomorrow”. I did talk to Colleen and kids about it, and they felt, as I did, the timing was perfect. EVOO one of our restaurants was, due to COVID, still closed, we were well staffed and there was nothing too important that I would miss at home. I didn’t have too much going on, I could make this work. I was very excited and hopeful to get the opportunity to cross the Atlantic, WHOOP, WHOOP!
Fuck yeah, I was available! Crossing the Atlantic has always been a dream of mine. I would even call it- as my wife Colleen gives me a “what the fuck are you talking about” eye roll- a “bucket list” item. I, like every other sailor, has dreamed of crossing an ocean.
A couple of days later I received another email from John- “In regard to the January 15 planned departure, one of the other planned crew had to bow out, and another is only 50/50, and in a watch and see mode. All understandable, all COVID related issues. This is a tidal wave that is lifting (or sinking) all boats in hopefully only the short term”.
I thought- Sucks for them, great for me!
With the all of the previously planned crew bowing out, John needed to shore up his crew for the longest leg of his “North Atlantic – Western Mediterranean circumnavigation”. He reached out to Jens Bergen, a longtime Avocet crew member, who had already done several of the other “circumnavigation” legs with John. He also asked me to see if my brother Dennis was available; which I did. Jens was in as long as we left after January 24. Dennis, after work and family consultations, was also available. I am elated to not only do this trip, but to have the opportunity to do it with my brother and long-time sailing partner Dennis will make this trip even more special.
Before we got to 4 committed crew members, John had floated the idea of going with 3, we were all so amped about crossing the Atlantic that we readily and ignorantly agreed, if that was the case, to go with it.
Now with the crew set, we now had just over three weeks to mentally and physically prepare for the trip.
~
John is in the process of bringing Avocet back to the U.S. after a stint of sailing and exploring the northern Mediterranean; Portugal, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Albania, Italy and Spain were some of his ports-of-call. Avocet spent a year “on the hard” in Montenegro due to COVID-19. As soon as the travel restrictions were lifted John spent the summer and fall re-fitting Avocet. And with the help of various crew, including his wife Marcia and Jens Bergen, he began the trip from Montenegro back to his home port in Boothbay, Maine. He made stops in Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca and Gibraltar before, in October, Avocet made it to Lanzarote, where she is once again “on the hard” getting a few minor repairs and an insurance survey.
~
I have sailed with John before, a delivery from Blue Hill, Maine, to Beverly, Massachusetts, in 2015. The Marblehead – Halifax Ocean Race in 2017, as well as the first and probably shortest leg of his trip to the Mediterranean in 2017 from Beverly, Massachusetts to Newport, Rhode Island. I have found John to be a very knowledgeable, passionate sailor, a solid captain, an affable watch companion and an inspiration to my sailing aspirations.
In my opinion Avocet is a gem, she is well laid out- with wide teak decks, a solidly built typical ’80s racer/cruiser hull design- wide beam, small transom, shortish waterline and a low free-board. Below decks she is all class, teak everywhere, a sea-berth, handholds where they are needed, 2 heads, ample storage and a feeling of seaworthiness. All in all, Avocet was made to do exactly what John was using here for- long distance ocean passages, with some coastal cruising to quiet anchorages or to hip lively marinas.
~
When John sent out emails looking for crew for all of the different legs of his Mediterranean excursion, I tried to join in. Unfortunately, for my sailing life, I was way too busy with the other aspects of my non-sailing life to be able to figure out how I could get some time onboard during the first half of the trip from Maine to the Mediterranean. I did get myself on as part of the crew for the last leg of his trip from Bermuda to Maine. That trip is still scheduled for May, 2022; hopefully I will still be able to make that happen.
~
When I got John’s email, because of COVID 19, my current work situation is very different than it was 3 years ago when John was initially looking for crew members. I, with the help of my wife and business partner, Colleen, own and operate 3 restaurants, Which due to the pandemic we have temporarily closed one of them and drastically changed how we do business in the other 2. These actions, though they suck in many ways, have given me more free time than I have ever had as a working adult, and it’s blissful; I hope to never go back to 70 hour work weeks again. In my free(r) time I have not only spent more time with my wonderful family, which I would never give back, we have had a great couple of years. I also have upped my sailing, this past summer I sailed quite a bit on my friends’ and neighbors’- Tom and Mary Mitri’s boat, Glory, a 1988 Mason 44, which like Avocet, is a well built, ocean capable, late 1980’s boat. We sailed around Buzzards bay a few times and did a delivery up to Camden, Maine. I also Sailed on Alliance, a J-122 out of Newport, Rhode Island, doing several practice sails as well as the Stamford-Vineyard race, a 240 mile race from Stamford Connecticut to Martha’s Vineyard and back. So, John’s email came at the right time, I can take the time off. Colleen, knowing my love of sailing and my ocean crossing dreams, quickly gave me her blessings to do it. Keep in mind she and our kids will lovingly give me shit for abandoning them for a month for the rest of my life; I’m thinking it will be worth it.
I’m sure by now you know that EVOO has closed. Last June, after 26 years we decided it was time step back and take advantage of our health and good fortunes by spending more time with our friends and family; I hope they feel the same way as we do. With EVOO closed I find myself in a great place with less stress and more time to do the things that I have dreamed about doing.
Colleen and I enjoying a bit of our new found free-time.
EVOO had been a passion for me, I truly loved creating local-seasonal menus, the camaraderie and the rush of working a busy line shift. I am going to miss so many wonderful aspects of EVOO, especially the people, we were blessed with extraordinary co-workers and loyal guests, many of which have become good friends. That said, now several months after closing, I don’t in any way want to go back to long hours, working most nights, weekends and many holidays. Nor do I wish to have the daily stresses of running a chef-driven farm-to-table restaurant back in my life.
Randy and I on EVOO’s last day
Colleen and I still own and operate our pizza place Za in our hometown of Arlington, MA, which recently celebrated 20 years of being in business. Being less than two miles from home it’s a super easy commute, quite often done by bike. The staff, many of whom have been with us for more than a decade, not only do they make my new less stressful, less-hours job easy, they make it a pleasure to be there.
Za Arlington
With some of that extra time I find myself with a desire to continue to write about the things I enjoy. Most of my previous posts have been about EVOO. I now want to branch out and write about some of my other passions, such as the time spent with friends and family, the places I am fortunate enough to visit and sailing adventures may end up being subjects of future posts. I will also continue to write about food and the happenings at Za with an occasional recipe thrown in.
Speaking of sailing adventures, with my next blog I am going to introduce it’s new direction by sharing a multi-part post chronicling a sailing passage across the Atlantic Ocean which I took part in back in 2022. I documented our trip as it unfolded, writing details daily. I didn’t know if I would ever be able to partake in such an ambitious trip again and I wanted to have a keepsake, so I wrote about it. Follow the story and see how we delt with getting to the starting point in the Canary Islands while dealing in a newly post COVID world, provisioning the boat and overcoming a myriad of challenges along the way; ending in Guadeloupe 24 days after we initially set sail.
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