Sailing Positive Waves

midway between the Bahamas and Bermuda Crossing the Atlantic Ocean from west to east can be divided into three parts: Bahamas to Bermuda, Bermuda to the Azores, and the Azores to mainland Europe. Our first two passages—Bahamas to Bermuda, then Bermuda to the Azores—haven’t been our best. Day 1 (or 2) of Bahamas to Bermuda. Feeling icky and trying to be as comfortable as possible. Freja's perspective. A day of respite--no wind, so motoring, but also calm and a nice sunset dinner in the cockpit. It was really nice to take a break. Clapping games in the cockpit on a calm day. Objectively speaking, they were tough passages. It was windy—sustained winds at over 30 knots for days, and the seas were big. The wind was forward of the beam from the Bahamas to Bermuda, so we were constantly heeled over 15-20 degrees and everything was salty. Our bodies were tired and ached. The winds were mainly from behind for the second third of our passage from Bermuda to the Azores, but we had days of ...

Our four week stop in Bermuda had a little of everything. We kicked back and played tourist with my dad and his partner, Jeane, for a week—visiting caves, beaches, shops, and sampling food at different restaurants. We hauled the boat out of the water and spent a week and a half in the boatyard getting a new paint job. And we spent a lot of time hunkered down on the boat while it rained. And rained. And rained some more. We were guests at a family’s house for dinner one night, a much-needed break from boatyard life, and guests at a swanky beachside country club for an afternoon. The first job when we arrived in Bermuda: wash all the salty, damp, dirty clothes and linens. Over the course of a month, I interacted with a lot of people and everyone had questions for me. Most yachties stop in Bermuda for less than a week—just a brief respite in the west -> east Atlantic crossing—and it seemed like many local residents hadn’t had the chance to really chat with this migratory group of human...