Nu är det mer än ett år sedan som Xavante gick i mål i Fort Myers, Florida och där har hon legat still sen dess. Men nu är det dags för nya äventyr, i slutet av april så bär det av igen. Xavante är anmäld till ARC Europe som ska ta oss tillbaka hem. Första stopp ifrån Florida blir Bermuda, från Bermuda seglar man vidare till Azorerna. På Azorerna kan man välja ifall man vill gå upp mot England eller ner till Portugal och vi kommer segla till Plymouth, England. Man kan säga att självaste racet är slut på Azorerna för därifrån "gör man lite som man vill".

Sen är det tänkt att Xavante ska ända till Sverige, vart exakt är inte bestämt men vi beräknar vara i Sverige i mitten/slutet av juli.

Kapten för hela turen är som förra gången Bengt, sen är det lite på & avhopp under resans gång. Bloggen tänkte vi hålla igång så gott som det går, snart kommer ytterligare inlägg med mer information och kanske lite bilder ifrån förberedelserna i Florida!

We have reached our final destination. The goal is achieved! At 11pm local time the 26^th of January we arrived in Cape Coral Yacht Club. It has been an amazing journey and we will write a short summary below, but let us first tell you about our dramatic last days of sailing.

The plan was for us to go thru the canals from Fort Lauderdale down to Miami. However 20 miles down the canal we came to a fixed bridge that we couldn’t get under. Our mast is approximately 70 feet and the bridge was only 65. Our only option was to turn back and go by the coast instead. The weather forecast was unfortunately proven wrong.  As soon as we reached open water we realized that the sea was going to be rough and the winds strong. We decided to skip Miami and go directly to Key Largo. The estimated arrival time would be in the morning. Sadly, we sailed against the current, the speed was 7 knots while the speed over ground only reached 3.5 knots…  As we approached the Key’s we realized that the channels into the islands was to shallow or had fixed bridges between them that we couldn’t get under. Because of the rough sea and the big swells we didn’t even want to give it a go. So, again we decided to keep going, this time straight to Fort Myers, Cape Coral. According our calculations we would have about two more nights to go. Those two nights turned to be a lot of trouble and drama…

This is the course of events the night between the 24^th and the 25^th of January….:

02.00 – Malin and Elina on night watch. The wind is increasing and they decide to reef the genoa. Elina takes the wheel and Malin takes the winch. Nothing happens. They give it another go, but the sail is stuck. Bengt wakes up and tries to help Malin to pull the genoa furl. Still nothing happens and Bengt decides to go up on deck to figure out the problem. He discovered that the furl not longer on the reel. As Malin and Bengt join together the genoa furl with another rope,  Elina yells “I cannot steer the boat, the rudder is stuck!”

02.40 – The genoa problem seems to be solved but now we have encountered a much bigger problem.

03.00 – The wind force is 25 knots but the speed over ground is only 3.5 knots. We must be stuck in something… Using a spotlight we can see a thick rope going from the rudder down. It is most likely a fishing buoy or a lobster pot.

03.30 - Bengt tries to get hold of the rope when sitting on the transom, the swells and waves makes it really difficult since they’re hitting the boat and Bengt really hard. When trying to catch the rope without success he also got stung by a jellyfish… At the same time Ove and Malin tries to furl in the genoa and after a couple of attempts it works, they furl in the mainsail in as well.

04.00 – We are still stuck and water is coming in, the waves are breaking over the stern. Elina sits behind the wheel and tries to keep the rudder straight, by doing that we could prevent further damage on the rudder. Bengt and Ove get inside the boat to check if there’s any water coming in to the engine. They discovered that there were lots coming in and that something had to be done immediately. So, Bengt and Ove starts to pump out water and Malin calls for assistance on the VHF. “Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan…”

04.30 – Malin has reported our position and explained our situation for the coast guard. Because of the bad reception and the sounds from the engine, bilge pumps and the swells she was unable to complete the call. Instead she starts pumping out water from the stern cabins, the flooring is now floating. And the situation is gradually becoming worse.  Worst case scenario would be the water to destroy the electrical equipment. That would shut down all electrical devices on board (GPS, lights, VHF, navigation lights etc.)

Elina is still behind the wheel while the rest of the crew desperately tries to prevent the water level from rising any higher. While a thunderstorm is approaching we continue until 06.00.

06.00 – Elina leaves the wheel and joins the other in the hopeless struggle of pumping out salt water. Malin makes another distress call and this time The U.S Coast Guard inform us that assistance will come within an hour.

07.00-  We hear a helicopter. Soon we can also see a U.S Coast Guard boat coming up to us. Seven men jumps in their rib and starts circulating Xavante. They find the rope and after a few attempts the get hold of it and can successfully cut us free. Two Coast guards got on board and filled out a report. Malin and Elina continued pumping water…

09.00 – We are finally free and we are not taking in any more water since we are moving forward. The crew gathered on deck to summarize the night’s drama. Even though it was traumatic and really serious situation our teamwork was good and no one was panicking.

Now we can continue up to Fort Myers, still with a buoy and a rope around the rudder…

Malin and Elina fall into bed after nine hours of struggling. Meantime, another problem arises, a squall hit us. The wind turned and all the sudden we had strong headwinds that reached 40 knots. It started raining heavily and the temperature dropped 10 degrees. We didn’t really feel that Florida had given us a warm welcoming, rather the opposite.

The next night it was really cold and we had to beat to windward. All of us had caps, gloves, and lots of clothes to keep warm, it felt like we were sailing in Sweden, not in Florida, “the Sunshine State”?

26^th of January

In the morning we reached the Sanibel bridge and barely got under it. There seems to be no end to the drama…

With only one hour left we motored thru the shallow canals and of course our keel got stuck in the sand banks just as we were about to enter the yacht club. It was rather ironical to actually see the slip but dredging there slowly thru the sandy bottom.

Anyway, despite all the drama we are finally here, safe but a bit worn-out. It felt like the ground was moving under us as we stepped ashore, we have truly developed sea-legs. The goal has been achieved and the captain will together with the crew write a summary within the next days. It will be uploaded on the blog shortly. That will be the last post on the blog and it will put an end to this adventure.

Bye for now…we are going to get some rest.

 

On our way to Miami thru the canals, had to turn around just after this,



During the terrible night, Malin and Elina pumping out water..



07.00 when coast guard came to assist us..



Just after that a squall approached,,



Bengt got soaked...



The night after that was freezing.. It looks like this picture is taken out side Sweden in late november.



cold..



Going on night watch or skiing?








Bengt Malin and Elina, early morning outside Cape Coral



Bengt, Malin and Ove



Sanibel Bridge, it was very close that we didn't get under this one..



Celebrating our arrival!



Ove



Xavantes new home!

Yesterday morning we reached Fort Lauderdale. We checked in to a hotel and waited for Xavante to arrive. Meanwhile we went on a watertaxi around the canals to see the billion dollar houses and the “Venice of America”. It was fun and we stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the way.

Anders, Michael and Bill, (the gentlemen who sailed Xavante across), got quiet rough winds at some points and there were some seasickness, but over all everything went well and they arrived to the marina about 11.30 pm yesterday night. They motored in the canal about 40 miles which took a while since they had to wait for all the bridges to open. We would really want to send them a special thank you for their kindness. They are welcome to come and join Xavante on further sailings whenever they want.

Right now Bengt, Anders, Bill and Michael are trying to get a cruising permit for the United States and deal with the customs. It doesn’t seem to be so complicated, on their way here they didn’t get stopped or anything even though the Swedish flag was up so we hope and believe that the “check in” will run smoothly and that no problems will occur.

We haven’t really figured out our further plans yet, we will probably sail south to Miami tomorrow, maybe we will motor down in the canals or sail outside the coast. Everything is a bit floating (sailor’s joke).


Dinner at the Bahamas before take off.
From left; Bill, Michael, Ove, Malin, Elina, Anders and Bengt




Bengt and Ove in the WaterTaxi




He has two superyachts, just in case.....



The White House of Florida, privately owned mansion.




One day, no land in sight. The next day, skyscrapes and mansions. This really is a journey of contrasts.

After four nights and five days of sailing we are finally at the Bahamas, in a small marina in Freeport at Grand Bahamas Island. The atmosphere and the surroundings are much like in the US, it is really apparent that we are close to their border and that this is a popular destination for Americans. Since we couldn’t solve our problem with the B2 visa we now have another plan to get ourselves and Xavante into the states. The waiting time for getting an appointment on the American embassy was three months, and we felt that we couldn’t wait so long. After lots of calls to different coast guards in Miami, Key West and Fort Myers we now have a plan, we are letting some friends of ours with green cards sail the boat from Freeport to Fort Lauderdale. So on Wednesday the 20^th of January they will arrive in Freeport and take Xavante across Thursday morning. We, “the original Xavante crew”, will spend one night at a hotel and then take a commercial flight to Fort Lauderdale and meet up with Xavante there. Obviously these regulations has made this trip a bit more complicated than we expected, however the rules must be obeyed despite how silly they seem. In Fort Lauderdale we will continue our sailing and hope to reach Fort Myers approximately three weeks from now, around the 5-7^th of February.

Anyhow, the last couple of days sailing was great. We had some bad weather in the beginning. Heavy rain and strong winds. However, the weather got better and we had some fantastic days of nice winds and sun. We did some fishing and got really lucky! One big Dorado and one Tuna fish! Malin and Elina cooked an explicit dinner.

Finally, all we do know is to wait for the new captain with crew to arrive in Freeport.  Meanwhile, we will clean the boat and make her ready to take on a new crew. We will also try to find some cheap flight tickets to take us across. Hopefully, we will be in the United States next time we update the blog again…





When we left Dominican Republic everything was soaked...




Ove



Our tuna!



tuna sashimi for lunch!



Bengt, with a new hairstyle, swimming



Malin & Elina surfing after the boat



Ove almost got flushed on to the boat



Bengt the slayer



We had grilled tuna with ovenbaked potatoes and a garlic sauce for dinner! Yummy!

Well, we are not in the Bahamas. Already from the first day we had strong winds are the sea was very rough. We also received information about a storm that was coming in from north.  So, after three nights and four days of rough sailing and some seasickness we decided to go in to a marina in the Dominican Republic. By doing that we would also be protected from the incoming storm.

It turned out to be a rather weird place. Next to the marina there is an amusement park called Ocean World and in the center there is a huge complex with a casino, a restaurant and a disco. In other words, nothing like the places we have been to before in the Caribbean. The most peculiar thing with this place is that it is practically empty. There are about seven boats in the whole marina, other than that there are no people. Apparently, the Dominican Republic is very dependent on their tourism and due to the economical crisis they suffer severely.

Even though our journey in the paradise continues a major problem has occurred. There are some specific rules about entering the United States form a private yacht. The crews most go through interviews at an American embassy and apply for a B2 visa. However, since we are Swedish citizens we are low prioritized in getting visa appointments at the American embassies in other countries. We have been in contact with the embassy in Nassau at the Bahamas and here at the Dominican Republic, despondently the waiting time just to get an appointment is over three months. In other words, we are not welcome in the United States without a B2 visa, and there are no where we can get one in this part of the world. This was unexpected and totally changes our plans.

After doing some research and been in contact with the U.S. customs we now know that the only option left for us is to take a flight to Fort Myers and arrange for an American citizen to sail the boat to Cape Coral Yacht club where we will be waiting. It sounds ridiculous but apparently, that’s the rules.  

Another option is for us to fly home and leave the boat in Cuba or the Bahamas, get an American B2 visa in Sweden and then fly back to sail the boat to Florida. Still we are not sure about how to handle the situation, but as soon as we reach a decision, we’ll let you know.

While we have been waiting for answers from the American embassy on the Dominican Republic and Nassau, the Bahamas, we have enjoyed some hours by the pool and yesterday we flew with a helicopter around the island. The helicopter ride was extraordinary! Neither Ove, Malin nor Elina had never been in a helicopter before and it was an amazing experience.   It was truly a thrill of a lifetime!

To sum up, we are struggling with a major visa problem that might change the original plan completely. At the moment our journey seems to end in a marina somewhere close to the American border. And poor Xavante has to enter her new home without us but with an American crew from a yacht delivery company… 




Ove hiding from the sun.




Bengt is tired after three rough days on the sea...



Ocean World Marina, almost empty



Entering the helicopter


















The Ocean World Marina



Xavante from above!

The 3^rd of January we left St Martin and sailed for approximately twenty hours to reach Tortola, an island on the British side of the Virgin Islands. The sailing was extremely slow due to no winds.  We hoisted the gennaker quite early to gain some more speed. After sunset we started the engine since the there were no winds, what so ever.

Our search for electronic charts over south Florida and the Bahamas was still unsuccessful so we went to yet another marine store. We finally got lucky! The guy in the shop helped us order the specific items that we needed and today they arrived with FedEx. This means that we are ready to explore the Bahamas, and that’s where we are heading tomorrow morning.

As you know our spinnaker broke on the crossing and in St Lucia a sail maker repaired it. However we needed to straighten the sail out and put it back into its sock before we could use it again. We also did the same thing with the gennaker since it was a mess as well.

Now we are looking forward to continued nice sailing (hopefully more gennaker practice)... And we hope that the Bahamas will live up to its expectations. Everyone we have met so far tells us that it's a paradise.




Sorting the spinnaker out




Our beutiful gennaker, working as it should!




The captain is tired, letting his crew to take him to the next destination.



Malin and Ove at Tortola




Elina and a rooster at Tortola. We tried to catch it for dinner, but he was to quick. He could have been a cheap and tasty...

Hasse and Anders from Midnight Sun took their dinghy into the marina and saw the damage the swell had caused. The restaurants were flooded and everything was a mess. So, after a few hours outside Gustavia on St Barts we came to the conclusion that we would be better off going straight to St Martin instead. We decided to go to Simpsons Bay, on the Dutch side. There are mostly yachts here and some of them are truly amazing. We daily see super yachts with both Jacuzzi and helicopters on deck. The boats, owned by ridiculously rich people, have a crew of about 10-15 people on board. Their job is to keep the yacht spotless and sparkling clean and also make sure that the people on board are satisfied on their vacation. It is a bit different from the sailing world. Apparently it is in the yacht business you’ll find the money…

New Years Eve! In the day we went for a long walk trying to find a nice restaurant to make dinner reservations. Sadly, most restaurants were fully booked and couldn’t fit a company of 8 people. We ended up on a restaurant close to our dock. It wasn’t fancy but seemed nice. However, it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment since the service was very poor and the food pretty blend. Our next stop was a bar with live music, were we celebrated with champagne at midnight. In search for more party and action we went to yet another bar, “The Red Piano”. We stayed there until we retreated back to the boats early in the morning.

Hope you’re New year celebrations was good, miss you loads! 

Today when Malin and Elina went to do some more provisioning they barely meet anyone. Everything was closed and people were sleeping, or hiding away from the sun. This is a very calm and quiet day on St Martin…

We have a new food system on the boat. Since Malin and Elina are poor students and wish to continue sailing after we reach Florida, they don’t have the economy to eat out every night. So, we have come up with a schedule. The girls cook dinner for six nights and Ove and Bengt buy them dinner the seventh.  So far this is working very well and they seem to enjoy the food. Atleast we haven’t got any complaints yet…

Elina and Malins specialties:

Pasta and tomato sauce

Korvstroganoff

Soup and pancakes

Tacos

Pasta Carbonara

Mushroom and bacon pasta

Chili con carne

Frutti di mare Pasta

Chicken curry with rice

Onion omelet with spam

(A special thank to Bernard for doing the provisioning for the crossing, we are still eating Tulip ham and the onions you bought in Las Palmas!)

You are more than welcome to send us more good recipes! We are running out of ideas…

Our next stop will probably be Virgin Island where we hope to find an electronic chart for Bahamas and south of Florida and American Visas.

But you never know, we might end up somewhere else, sailing is a flexible lifestyle. J

That’s all for now!

Elina and Malin taking a nap in the ocean



Midnight Sun, our Swedish friends




Bengt is getting a haircut from our Dutch neighbour.




Xavante from above, New years eve!



New Years Eve dinner




Bengt is a happy sailor!




Midnight! Fireworks and champange. Bengt looks really drunk, but he is actually just reaching for another glass...





Malin, Hasse and Elina! Blonds have more fun! For sure!




 

After three amazing days outside the northern coast of Antigua we are now anchored up outside Barbuda. From here we will take the dinghy to the shore, visit the customs and check out. The days spent on Great Bird Island were wonderful. On Christmas Day we had a barbeque on the beach. Since this is the day everyone else celebrates Christmas the bay and the beach was empty. Sitting on a lonely beach on the 25^th of December was yet another surreal feeling. The surroundings here look like pictures from postcards. It is that fantastic.

Our next destination will probably be St Barths, however we have heard that boats have been evacuated from their marina in Gustavia due to strong winds and backwashes.

St Barths was Sweden’s only colony for many years and still there are some streets named “Drottinggatan” and “Storgatan”. Today it is a popular yacht destination and has been called the Riviera of the Caribbean. We have been talking about celebrating New Years Eve there together with the crew on Midnight Sun. But, due to the winds we might have to reconsider. Nevertheless, we hope to find a berth in a nice marina for New Year’s. An idyllic Christmas was great, but on New Year’s we would fancy some party…

The closest island to St Barths is only a few miles away, St Martin. According to John, the skipper on Midnight Sun, the Dutch side of St Martin is supposed to be very pleasant. This might be another alternative. Nothing is certain yet, but we do have some options.

We all hope that you had a great Christmas back home with lots of good food, snow and well-deserved presents. Are you still eating from the Christmas ham?

What are your plans for New Year’s?

Love from the Xavante crew!


Barbuda, an Island north of Antigua. are we stuck in a swimming pool?



English Harbour, Antigua. This is not our boats. Their dighy is the size of our boat... and they have a jacuzzi on deck...



Christmas Eve in paradise



Christmas Day, barbeque on the beach.



Yet another barbeque...



We love lonely beaches!

Imagine spending Christmas anchored up outside a reef with turquoise water, a light warm breeze and a million stars in the sky. Still, with some help from our new Swedish friends from Midnight Sun, we enjoyed a typical Swedish Christmas dinner, with ham, smoked salmon, meatballs, “janssons frestelse”, herring, potatoes, beetroot salad etc. A Christmas Eve spent in paradise that we will always remember.

Last time we updated the blog we were at Dominica. We stayed there for one more night and left early in the morning next day. We sailed up to some small islands called Les Saintes, did some fantastic snorkeling. Later that night after Malin and Elina had cooked soup and pancakes for dinner we left and sailed up to Antigua. We arrived in English Harbour at sunrise the 23^rd. English Harbour and Nelson Dockyard is a beautiful historic marina with mostly Englishmen as visitors and now it was crowded and fully booked since it’s a popular place to spend Christmas. Our plan was to stay in the marina for one night, do some shopping and refill the fuel and water. Early next morning we left together with the Swedish boat Midnight Sun and followed up to this beautiful place that we are now. John, the skipper guided us in difficult water between reefs and shallow waters. Without his help we wouldn’t have found this beautiful place.

Today on Christmas Day Bengt got the nicest present he could ever wish for. Turns out our Swedish friends from Gothenburg are technical professionals and helped him out with the Fisher Panda. It has been problems running it for several years and in Las Palmas he paid lots of money to get it fixed, but in the end it still didn’t start. Now, with a simple procedure it runs perfectly. Thank you Anders, Hasse and John!  

We are staying anchored up here for one more night and tonight we are planning to take our dinghies to the beach for a barbeque. Tomorrow we will continue our sailing and probably head to St Barts.

Merry Christmas everyone, we have heard that there’s lots of snow in Sweden and we are happy that you got a white Christmas.

Puss&Kram



Sunset at Dominica



Malin, Elina and Alexis who took them to a beatiful waterfall





A small part of the christmas dinner



John, Ove, Camilla and Hasse

Two days ago part three of our journey began! The crew from now on will be Bengt, Ove, Malin and Elina and all of us will sail together up to Florida! We reckon that it will take us about 30 days to reach our final goal, Fort Myers.

The last week that we have spent in Saint Lucia has been amazing in many ways. We have met a lot of new friends that were hard to leave. However, we know that we will keep in touch and see them soon again. Even though leaving friends behind is hard we all look forward to sail again and it felt very good to leave the marina Saturday morning.

Here in the Caribbean everything is on “island time”. This basically means that ten minutes might as well take one hour. Our experience therefore is that it is too late to go and eat on a restaurant when you are already hungry, it is better to go there one and a half hour before you expect the hunger to strike you.  In the beginning this was a bit frustrating but all you can do is to follow their advice: “Ya man, chillax! You are on island time now baby!”

So, let us tell you all about our week in Saint Lucia! One day we rented a car, all six of us, it was before Per and Bernard had flown home. Driving on the left side of the road in Saint Lucia is not very easy, since the locals drive like fools, the roads are extremely narrow and the hills are really steep.  But thanks to Bernard who drove the car all day, we managed without any problems. Our first stop was a small town called Soufriere there we had some lunch and took a quick look at the city. From there we went to see some waterfalls which unfortunately were a disappointment, just lots of tourists and one waterfall which wasn’t very scenic. We finished up our day by going to a beautiful beach and everyone enjoyed a swim in the ocean after a whole day spent in the car.  In addition to our car adventure we have been busy working on the boat, visting ARC parties and snorkeling at Pigeon Islands, a national park that you could reach with your dinghy. As well as spending time at the nearest beach listening steel drums and eating barbeque.

The last night before we had decided to leave Saint Lucia Malin and Elina went to a local street party. These street parties are called “Jump ups” and they happen every Friday. This means that every Friday there is a massive street party in every town. Malin and Elina went to a town close to the marina called Gros Islet.  Local food, lots of Rum punch, loud music and people in party mood. We had a great time!

Us leaving Saint Lucia also meant that our ARC event is finished. Everything has been fantastically organized; the parties have been amazing, the seminars useful and informative and the ARC staff really friendly. Crossing the Atlantic as participants of the ARC is something we can truly recommend. It is a wonderful way of meeting new people, making your crossing safer and learns a lot from others.

So, we left Saint Lucia for Martinique and we spent the night anchored up in a lonely bay. Elina and Malin did some snorkeling and then we had dinner in the sunset. In the morning Bengt and Ove heaved up anchor and set course for Dominica where we are now. Our sailing today was perfect, sunny and good winds! Now we are in a bay called Prince Rupert’s Bay tied to a mooring buoy and we might stay here for two nights!

We know that we haven’t updated the blog so frequently but we will get better! Sometimes it’s hard to both have dinner in the sunset, snorkeling AND update the blog ;)

Sorry for not uploading any pictures, but we are having some problem with the Wi-Fi. We will give you photos as soon as possible.

We have finally arrived in Saint Lucia. The 10^th of December at .00 local time we crossed the finish line and had successfully completed our first Atlantic crossing. This has truly been an amazing adventure! At the arrival we were warmly welcomed by both friends that we made in Las Palmas and the ARC staff. Stepping of the boat for the first time in 19 days was the one of the weirdest moments. To see civilization, meet people and feel steady ground was a bit too overwhealming and we had to take a moment just to take a deep breath and let it all sink in.

After some phone calls to family members telling them we are safe we went to the bar to get the beer that we had been looking forward to for so long. It tasted fantastic!

Even though the crossing went well it was really rough at times. As we reported once the winds were really strong and the waves were at some points between 5- 7 meters high. Some equipment on the boat did obviously break. The spinnaker broke, but it is hopefully fixable. One of the last days something with the steering happened. Suddenly the steering did not go as smoothly as before, due to damage in the propeller shaft. We will try to fix that as well here in Saint Lucia. We also had other minor incidents such as broken stanchions etc. However, overall and compared to other boats we seemed to be blessed from serious damage.

Here in Saint Lucia the atmosphere is great, everyone are really relived and happy. Everyday a new boat arrives there is a new welcome party. The last couple of days we have been exploring the Marina but on Monday Bengt rented a car to take us around the Island. The scenery is supposed to be extraordinary and we will also try to find the waterfall and the hot springs that Saint Lucia is famous for.

It feels amazing that we actually crossed the Atlantic. None of us are professionals, but we did make it across without too many complications. And we are all really proud.

We will keep in touch.

A gourgeus night at the Atlantic 



First time we see land for 19 days...



On the finish line!



On the finish line!



A really happy, tired and proud crew!



Malin and Elina attending one of the welcome parties.

According to the GPS, we only have 20 hours left until we reach Rodney Bay. In other words, we will arrive on Thursday. It is an almost surreal feeling to imagine spotting land after 16 days of open water. The same calls for the feeling of steady ground beneath our feet.

Both the crew and the boat are in great need of a rehab. For us it will be wonderful just to have a still and quiet dinner, have a proper shower, a cold beer in the sun.

The food is becoming an issue, yesterday we had Ravioli which made Malin and Elina to food strike.  The cooking creativity is not on top, since all we have left is tinned food.  A majority of the crew hope that there is a McDonalds somewhere in Saint Lucia, a Big Mac would be nice. Others long for fresh food, vegetables and fruit.

It will also be nice to take a walk, to actually move around and stretch your legs. On the boat the only two body positions are sitting up or lying down since standing up right is a balancing act that we mostly wish to avoid. 
 

The skipper is planning a little arrival show as we cross the finish line. The complete crew will be standing on deck dressed in our Team Xavante t-shirts singing “Sankta Lucia” loudly and Bernard will play the dragspel. He has been practicing these past days. We will see about that…

So, the next time you will hear from us we will have reached our goal.

Liten rolig detalj är att den 10 december då vi beräknar att komma I mål, är ingen mindre än den väldigt patriarkiska Nobeldagen, till lika Malins namnsdag. Hurra!

We are at this point about 730 nautical miles from Saint Lucia and the countdown has begun!

Yesterday we tried to hoist the spinnaker again; the weather was quite calm and we wanted to practice our spinnaker skills. Unfortunately, a couple of minutes later the top port side of the spinnaker got stuck in the top spreader and was torn apart. Bengt, Per and Elina ran up on deck trying to save the spinnaker from getting into the water.

The same night we had a really good meal, Bengt and Ove cooked “pyttipanna” with eggs and beetroots and everyone had forgot about the spinnaker, but sadly there were more complications to come… On Elina’s and Bernard’s night watch the wind increased dramatically and the wind strength was at some points about 35-40 knots. It rained heavily and our speed was 6 knots with only three square meters of mainsail. The hard winds continued the whole night and as we reached the morning the pole accidentally jibed and the boom bracket broke. Luckily, Bengt had spare parts and was able to fix it.

According to the weather forecast the strong winds will continue and there are also warnings concerning thunderstorms and isolated showers. At this point we have shortened the sails and are on the right course to Saint Lucia. We will hopefully cross the finish line in about 5- 6 days.

The Basil plant is still alive, barely. It is heading towards a certain death. The number of leaves that are still green and vital is constantly decreasing.

Thank you for all your comments and Malin sends a special thought to Bertil Palmcrona! Miss you a lot!
Over and out, for now.

 
Bengts lifejacket accidentally inflated, ( so did Pers )



Spinnaker-mess...



Per on his night watch, maybe we should be worried?



Sunrise the morning after a windy night..



Everyone got soaked except Per, notice that our swedish flag tried to take off during the windy night.

Today is our 10^th day on the Atlantic crossing. Our estimated time of arrival will be the 10^th of December if the winds will maintain as before. Our average speed is 7, 3 knots and the wind strength varies between 16-25 knots (8-13 m/s). We are all longing to feel steady ground because this constant rolling that we have experienced the last ten days is frustrating and getting on our nerves.

Since we are out of fresh food we have to be more creative chefs. Yesterday we caught our second fish, a big one, approximately 8-10 kg. Ove and Per cooked it Thai-style and we all gathered for dinner in the saloon while the autopilot managed the steering.

Moreover, we have received a satellite picture (google earth) from Pers wife where we clearly can see our position. However, we believe that we have lost some ground the last two days due to unfortunate winds. We have been forced to go way too much south than we wished for in order to avoid close down winds. We are doing fine only using our mainsail and the genoa but earlier today we tried hoisting the spinnaker but it didn’t work out to well, finding a good balance in these rolling waves turned out to be more difficult than we thought. Therefore we took it down again, safety is key. We will try to set the spinnaker again when the wind and the waves calm down.

Malin and Elina are taking part in the basil challenge. The rules are simple, keep a basil plant alive when crossing the Atlantic, unfortunately the basil isn’t feeling so well. It will probably die within the next two or three days.

 

Per and Bengt is trying to set spinnaker..



Big fish, dinner for at least two days!



Malin is learning to steer, or posing to make the picture look good?

The departure day was amazing. All pontoons was filled of live music, excited crew members and reporters. The atmosphere was extraordinary! After the start signal we only saw other yaths during the first coulpe of hours, later they all disappeared in different directions. We did waste some time the first day by going too much south east, however now we are back on track and are catching up on the other boats. The first day we were also accompanied by some dolphins.

It has taken us a couple of days to adapt to our new floating home. Doing the dishes, cooking, using the bathroom and reading a book is much harder here sine everything constantly is rocking.

An hour ago we passed a German boat and chatted with them through the VHF- radio. They were also doing fine and we wished them good luck. Nevertheless, we have received information about one abandoned boat and a few more that has been forced to turn back due to complications such as loss of rodder, injured crew and rigging issues. Luckily, we have only been struggling with some minor problems, nothing too serious.  

Anyhow, we are having a wonderful time on Xavante. The crew is getting along very well, and have developed a well working schedule for night watches and cooking.

Basically, so far so good!

Over and out.  Wish us luck.



30 minutes before departure, the Xavante crew is ready!



People from Las Palmas came to see the start


Bengt is finally shaving!

Today is the last day before the start of the Atlantic Rally, ARC 2009. It feels quite surreal that we are actually leaving tomorrow, however we are all very excited! Last night there was a farewell party for all ARC participants, everyone gathered up at the local club, Sotavento. It was great fun and we have made lots of new friends that we are looking forward to see on the other side.

Today we have a lot on the agenda. Bernard and Ove are currently unpacking and storing all of the fruits and vegetables that got delivered this morning. Per and Bengt are soon heading to the final seminar, and perhaps the most important one, “Skipper’s briefing”. They will receive an updated weather forecast and information about how the start will be organized.  Elina and Malin will prepare and cook food for the first three days.

Later on we will have a crew meeting when Bengt, the skipper, will go through safety rules as well as the emergency equipment.

We are not too sure if we will be able to update the blog frequently as we are crossing, but the pictures we take will be uploaded as soon as we reach Rodney Bay, St Lucia. However, hopefully we will have opportunity to give you some summaries as we get along.

Cross your fingers cause we are crossing the Atlantic!

Bengt is up in the mast



Farewell party