We reach an important milestone

We have a special crossing to Saint-Martin, reach an important milestone and wonder if we will manage to complete an extensive list of two A4 pages of boat jobs before our next guests arrive!

Angelique has graced the Netherlands with her presence once again, and that can only mean one thing for us: there is a marathon of intensive boat jobs waiting. Imagine: no less than two A4 pages filled to the edge with boat jobs itching to be crossed out before our next visitors. We do not do these boat jobs in the British Virgin Islands, but in Saint Martin and are all in preparation for when we are going to make the crossing to Panama, to eventually go through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean. While we analyse the wind forecasts for the next ten days, hoping for a miraculous change, it is not forthcoming. There are no significant changes in sight. So, without further delay we decide not to wait any longer. On Tuesday, May 23, we will lift the anchor and set course to Saint-Martin. A well -known passage for us of 130nm that we will take about 24 hours.

It was a special crossing that tested our patience, and none of us could really sleep. The wind came and went, sometimes strong and sometimes gentle, teasing us with its unpredictability. Thunderstorms raged around us and the wind direction kept shifting, making it more challenging to navigate to our final destination. Throughout the journey we were constantly on the move, always on our feet. We hoist the sails, reef them, adjust their position or lower them completely and start the engine. Then, just when we thought we had it all figured out, the wind shifted again and we had to hoist everything back up and adjust to the ever-changing conditions. It felt like a never-ending dance with the elements, where the elements had all the moves and we were desperately trying to keep up. Sometimes we continued on the engine to keep us somewhat on course. As the rain poured down all around us and thunder continued to roar in the distance, flashes of lightning lit up the night sky, creating a beautiful spectacle that most closely resembled a brawl between Zeus and Poseidon. However, life on a boat makes us less enthusiastic about thunder than when we lived on land. The fragility of a sailboat, with its masts outstretched upwards, has a greater chance of being struck by lightning and this is always present in our minds. It has taught us to have more respect for the power of nature.

The sun appeared slowly on the horizon, and there we were, all with small eyes, lost in our own thoughts. Just when we got lost in the beautiful colors of the sunrise, a sudden movement of the jib brought us back to reality – something had to be changed in the course. Ah, the sunrise and sunset, they continue to fascinate us. It is nice how something like that can still be so fascinating, even after you have seen hundreds. We eat some yogurt and a drink a strong cup of coffee! We all needed that. With a little renewed energy, the fish rod is cast. We are now sailing straight to Saint Martin, which we will see looming on the horizon in about three o’clock. The fish rod starts rattling, we have bite! Jeroen runs across the deck to the rod, after about 20 minutes the fish appeared as a victor and slipped out of our grip. The next fish that bit our bait was less lucky, a tasty tuna. We all look forward to eating, it was a while since we had caught tuna. When the wind changed direction again and threatened us to take our final goal, we decided to turn on the engine for the last part of the journey.

During this passage, we also reach an extraordinary milestone. It has been eleven months since we started our sailing trip around the world from the British Virgin Islands. Our very first passage led us to Sint-Maarten and this was then quite tough with strong wind and large waves. During these incredible eleven months, we navigated from the British Virgin Islands, sailing to the south to Grenada, then we set course back to the north to the Bahamas, to finally return to our starting point for a joyful first family visit. And now, eleven months later, we follow the same route again, we complete the famous passage and we pass the milestone of 5,000 nautical miles. According to the nautical rules, we can now have a swallow tattoo. Shall they get there? We all think about it. We are proud of this achievement and when we look back we are so much more confident than when we started our adventure and our confidence in the boat and each other has meanwhile grown into a very special bond that we will cherish for a lifetime.

Arriving in Marigot Bay we sailed directly to the gas station and have filled our diesel tank and water tank. Since our water maker does not work, we will have to do very economically with water for the time being. After refuelling we found a nice place to anchor in the bay, so that we were assured that night of a peaceful night’s sleep. We all looked forward to our feast of fresh tuna, with potatoes and a vegetable mix. We knew that, after we had surrendered to the delicious meal, we would go to bed on time. We all sleep for 10 hours! The next morning, we decided to rent a car for an hour to pick up our boxes with things from the Netherlands and to pick up the boat stickers that imagen graphics had made for us. The car was fully loaded with our precious charge when we drove back to our Dinghy, enthusiastic to start unpacking. We carefully loaded all the boxes in the dinghy and clambered on board ourselves. Slowly we sail to our boat. Exampling everything felt like Christmas morning, and although our birthdays were already over, there were still small presents tucked away for us, along with the long-awaited Starlink equipment. We had been very looking forward to this, but were disappointed when we discovered that Starlink had considerably increased its monthly costs, from 100 euros to 235 euros per month, and even 285 euros when making a crossing. Despite the excellent performance during our six-day trial period, we decided for our stay in the Caribbean to settle for our one data SIM card, which only costs us 45 euros per month.

When we have unpacked the boxes and everything has a place, we walk through the list of boat jobs. Although our crossing to the Pacific will only be in more than half a year, we must also take into account the location where we are. Here in the Caribbean there are many boat stores where parts can be ordered, and if we are lucky, the parts are in stock. Due to the salty water, everything wears out faster and equipment and equipment need maintenance more often. There is also something breaking on a boat every week, sometimes every day. It can be something small such as a fan or something big like our water maker. There are so many technical gadgets on our boat and they all need their own specific attention. In between our visits, the three of us will work hard to do as many boat jobs as possible. We will ensure that the boat is in the best possible state when we start our crossing to Panama. We still have 3.5 weeks before our next guests arrive in Martinique. This may sound like a long time, but we have to take into account that parts may not be in stock and should be ordered. I can promise you that 3.5 weeks is a very tight time frame. So, no time to lose for us! We have received an e-mail stating that our new water maker is still in Puerto Rico and will arrive later in the week. We divided the tasks among each other, we perform some tasks independently and others require teamwork. We have achieved a lot throughout the week. The generator and the diesel engine have had maintenance, with new filters being placed, replacing the oil and checking and replacing the impellers. Jeroen, conceived, successfully designed and installed a larger and improved salt water supply system for our, future, two water makers, air conditioning, diesel engine and generator, complete with brand new pipes and valves. In the meantime, the riggers checked the tension of our reinforcements, as needed after we had renewed them six months ago. Cracks are created in the Fiberglass around the backstag supports, to strengthen this, they will make larger rear plates for us. The cracks were created by the movement in the Arche on which our solar panels are mounted and where our dinghy hangs during longer passages. We have made a new entrance door, thoroughly cleaned the teak floor in the boat and re -oiled its natural color and we have repainted the Amel logos on the side of the boat. What a different face!

When we receive two e-mails, our excitement reaches new heights. One of them brings the news that we have been looking forward to for a long time: our spare autopilot finally arrived after a four -month waiting. The other e-mail informs us about the arrival of our new water maker. Without wasting for a moment, we hurry to pick up both packages. The water maker’s installation process will take a little more than a week. Always exciting moments, will everything go as we hope. We feel a sense of satisfaction if we can finally cross the first boat jobs on our long task list. It is a great feeling to see progress and keep working hard together to ensure that our boat is in top condition for our upcoming adventures.