On this page we will share updates daily about our progress and the situation onboard. They will be posted when time allows.

Four months have passed since we made our landfall in the Caribbean on December 19th after crossing the Atlantic Ocean from east to west through the trade winds. More than ten months have passed since we left Sweden on June 11. With our heads full of memories, we feel ready to set sail again toward the ocean.

From Saint Martin, our plan was to head toward Bermuda, make a stop for some days before proceeding toward the Azores. We kept monitoring the weather twice daily since we got Lovisa back in the water and ready to go. The weather in the area of Bermuda has been unusually unstable. The cold fronts that are quite characteristic in the beginning of spring and that kept bringing strong winds and high seas between Saint Martin and Bermuda early April left the space to unusual thunderstorms. In the meantime direct routes towards the Azores opened. And so we decided to adjust our plan and head straight towards the Azores. The good thing is that Lovisa already knows that route. It will be her second Atlantic passage from west to east. She made her first one with her previous owners Ann Christin and Anders in 2012 on their way home towards Sweden after sailing Lovisa around the world. They left Saint Barthélemy on 20th April and reached Horta on 7th of May. They sailed the 2309 Nm that separates Saint Barthélemy from Horta in just 17 days and 9 hours. 5,5 knots average. That was a very fast passage.

Here is what we are taking with us for this passage.

Food: We are carrying same quantity of meals as for the crossing from Canary Islands to Bequia. At that time, the quantity was calculated for three persons and with that quantity the two of us managed to stay three weeks in the Grenadines relying mostly on our food onboard without having to touch our reserves. Going with same quantity should be largely sufficient until the Azores.

We will also try to catch some fishes on the way. We bought two new jigs to have in case we loose some. We have been quite lucky since the Canary Islands so we hope the luck will continue.

Water: We are leaving with full tank of water (200L) produced with watermaker and we carry an emergency reserve of 22 sealed 1,5L mineral water bottles.

Fuel: We are leaving with nearly full tank of diesel, about 120L and we have 155L of diesel in jerrycans stored on deck. So in total we have 275L of diesel that corresponds to nearly 6 days running on engine with motor consuming 2L/h at 1800 rpm. This corresponds roughly to 720 Nm if we are able to do 5 knots at that 1800 rpm.

The distances for a direct passage and its duration are as per below.

Distance from Saint Martin to Horta (Azores): 2230 Nm, approximately 18 days at 5 knots. We expect it will take a bit longer.

Our actual position on Marinetraffic and Vesselfinder will stop updating shortly after the coasts of Saint Martin and Anguilla will be out of sight. However we will transmit our position via Satellite with our Iridium GO every 4 hours and it will appear on our PredictWind tracker.

We chose Friday 1st of May as departure day towards a new chapter in this adventure.

Wish us fair winds !

Day 1

We lifted the anchor at 08:00 on May 1st.

Day 2

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Update May 2 at 08:00 GMT-4
Position N19.8296, W62.3003
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 116Nm.
Distance to Horta : 2083Nm.

Sailing broad reach in winds varying between 3,5 and 6m/s since we left Marigot and waves are not more than 1 to 1,5m high. These conditions make life onboard very comfortable. Much more so than during the previous crossing from Mindelo. The windvane is streering since we exit Anguilla Chanel. It is doing a good job but we often need to remove the sargasso that gets stuck on the little rudder. It still takes some time to get used to the idea that we will not see land for a while but we are very excited to be on our way. The hills of Saint Martin disappeared quite fast beyond the horizon yesterday, now it is just sea all around. We have several sailboats visible on the AIS but only one visually. We spent our first night under a clear sky and full moon so it was very bright out there. We got only 2 light squalls.
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Day 3

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Update May 3 at 08:00 GMT-4
Position N21.6733, W61.7007
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 116Nm.
Distance to Horta : 1987Nm.

After a wonderful sunny day pushed by a light breeze we sailed most of the night under the rain with 2 reefs in the mainsail and 2 in the genoa,, sailing close reach. Winds were blowing between 3 and 12 m/s. Not quite as the weather forecast said. The good thing is that we could check our sailing gears are nearly water tight ! Now the dark clouds are behind us and we have clear sky again and winds betweeen 5 and 6m/s. The sea is a little bit more bumpy than yesterday but still manageable.

This morning we had 4 sailboats in sight. A couple passed just 100m from us. 

No fish on the hook but several kilos of sargasso ... that we don't eat. 

To be fixed: the autopilot doesn't want to engage probably because of a loose clutchable. The windvane is steering. 
Magical moment: lying in the shade of the bimini mid day in perfect temperaturend casually checking the wind vane from time to time - it was doing a great job on its own. The interior of the boat was too hot for a rest and we take the opportunity to rest when we can.
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Day 4

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Update May 4 at 08:00 GMT-4
Position N23.4264, W61.0339
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 111Nm.
Distance to Horta : 1893Nm.

Great sailing day and peaceful sailing night under lighter winds varying from 3 to 5 m/s. The sea is almost flat, no wave to slow us down or make the sails flapping and we are very happy about that. With higher waves it would have been a problem for the sails to stay in place and for our sleep. However, we hope the wind will increase a little bit soon so we can make more distance.
The issue with the autopilot was just a loose cable so we are again free to alternate between autopilot and windvane. 
We have several boats on the AIS. Only one that we can actually see right behind us.
Days are still warm but nights are getting colder. Now having to wear our sailing gears by night and soon a real cover will be needed in the bed. 

Magical moments: Fantastic pre-grilled chicken (vacuum stored) with sallad and goat cheese for lunch. Lovely moonrise and later brightly lit seas by the full moon and no clouds. Lovisa is in good shape and we are also more rested than usual because we could take short naps during our night shifts.
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Day 5

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Update May 5 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position N25.0256, W59.9056
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 114Nm.
Distance to Horta : 1787Nm.

We had another very nice sailing day in fair winds. The sea was flat enough so we could dress the table in the cockpit for lunch while sailing 5 knots. We increased our course by a few degrees yesterday morning and kept it all day. The full truth is that all boats around us changed their course first so we did too. Then we downloaded the new forecast and understood why we needed to change course. It is interesting to see that in the end all crews come to the same conclusion and it is not necessarily the route suggested by weather routing sofware.
We are sailing with full main and full genoa in 4 to 6 m/s wind coming from the side and only small waves.
More sargasso on the hook but no fish yet. A lot of sunshine and moonshine.

The front deck of Lovisa has become a saline and thatalt tastes really good.e know it because we use a bit of seawater to cook pasta. Still a couple of boats in sight and on AIS. We also keep contact with iridum with friends ahead of us and behind and we enjoy reading their updates.
Magical moments : first shower in the cockpit since departure for both of us
Happy to be out there.
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Day 6

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Update May 6 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position N26.4758, W58.8408
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 105Nm.
Distance to Horta : 1690Nm.

We sailed most of the day downwind with winds around 7m/s. The wind decreased during the afternoon so we took down both mainsail and genoa and hoisted the gennaker. We took it down just before sunset and during the night we sailed with genoa on port side and jib on starbord as we used to do on the way to Bequia. It was a slow night in very light winds.
Now things are getting a bit more tricky. According to the current forecast the wind ahead of us is expected to drop completely and we will end up in a huge area with no wind at all. We have 6 days of diesel if we run the engine at 1800 rpm, nearly twice if we run at 1200 rpm.
We need to keep 2 days for the approach of the Azores in case the high pressure of the same name decides to park itself right over the archipelago. The rest needs to be used wisely. We need to find the shortest route to an area where the wind is blowing, but that is tricky because the forecast keeps changing. For sure, to see the ocean look like a mirror will be a unique experience. We have just changed course to 60 degrees to build more distance from big cumulonimbus clouds that could potentially bring thunders. We saw some lightning at a very far distance this night from that direction.
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Day 7

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Update May 7 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position N27.8688, W57.8749
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 98Nm (without taking into account the detour we made)
Distance to Horta : 1601Nm.

Since we left Saint Martin we have been monitoring closely the forecast for APE index that representents the energy in the air. The greater the number the higher likelyhood of lightnings. We were expecting higher CAPE when sailing throughhe cold front that was generated by the low pressure further north and we also expected higher CAPE behind us. From our position by night we could see the sky lighting up far away in front of us and far behind us. We went through several squalls on our route but none of them had very strong winds, max 10m/s.

Today it is Emilien's birthday. It doesn't happen very often to celebrate birthday in the middle of the ocean. Unless we catch a fish, we will open one of the special cans we bought at the supermarket, confit de canard.
Now sailing close haul in a nice breeze that doesn't show on our forecast. Birthday gift ? We have 2 boats on AIS, sometimes a third one appears.
During Emilien's night watch as we were going 5 knots, something fell on the sprayhood. The first thought on that instant was : we broke something ! Then that something fell on deck and started to jump around... another flying fish willing to join the crew!
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Day 8

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Update May 8 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position N28.8564 W56.3691
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 100Nm.
Distance to Horta : 1501Nm.

Yesterday was a fantastic sailing day despite a forecast that was giving weak winds. The wind died suddenly early in the evening so we started the engine. The area without wind formed right over us. According to the weather forecast there will be no steady wind in this area or in the surroundings prior to the begining of next week. So there is nowhere nearby we could gain to head to in the hope to catch wind earlier. For the moment we run on engine and hope to get some wind here and there from time to time. We got to talk a bit over the VHF with some other boats in the surrounding including our friends on SY Marey that started to appear from time to time on the AIS since a couple of days. The view of the flat sea is stunning. No fish yesterday but a lot of sargasso so we celebrated the birthday with magret de canard served with potatoes and green beans.

Magical moments: full day of sailing in the breeze under sunshine. The plancton illuminating the water like little stars in the sea. Sunrise over glassy water.
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Day 9

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Update May 9 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position N30.0857 W55.3009
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 93Nm.
Distance to Horta : 1416Nm.

We spent the entire day yesterday on engine on calm water with a little bit of swell that makes the boat roll. We run the engine on low rev to consume less diesel but we see the level going down. Wind speed is about 2 m/s at highest and the perspective forward does not look bright yet. In theory 2 m/s is sufficient to move the boat but practically it is not enough to build sufficient pressure in our sails for these not to flap when the boat rolls. On the long run that will damage the sails a create a bigger problem. Patience ... a lot of patience.
As we motor slowly we see sadly a lot of plastic trash floating. We also spotted 2 drifting buoys. We didn't dare to approach in case they had some line connected that could get entangled in the propeller.
Magical moments: stopping the engine after several hours running to enjoy the calm, the complete silence. Take a bath in the magestic blue of the ocean at 5000 m depth. Spotting the fin of what was probably a dolphin. It disappeared quickly bit gives hope to see more dolphins going forward
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Day 10

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Update May 10 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position N31.3480 W54.7706
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 81Nm.
Distance to Horta : 1357Nm.

Another day on engine at low rev. We made a 2.5 hour stop yesterday morning to relax a bit under the sun without the sound of the engine in background. And we thought it was good to give the engine a rest and look that everything was ok with it. We took a bath again and took that opportunity to dive and scrap a bit the surface of the blades of the propeller because the paint that is on it is flaking away and make the surface uneven. We have also filled up the diesel tank. During that time the current pushed us in the right direction at 0.6 knot.
In the evening we noted that one of the 3 auxiliary batteries was getting warmer than normal. We suspected something was wrong because we had a higher charging current than normal. We made another stop by night to shutdown the power in the boat and isolate that battery. We left it to cool down so we can make some checks on it later.
All good onboard but impatient to get wind blowing again. Maria finished listening to a French book round one and is about to restart it to understand more and more every time.
Magical moment: eating chocolate cake that Maria baked the day before. We ate it together with the last orange we had and a cup of tea. It is getting cool enough now to enjoy warm tea.

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Day 11

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Update May 11 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position: N31.9928 W53.3864
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 81 Nm
Distance to Horta: 1275 Nm

After a bit more than 2 days on engine, the wind picked up so we could hoist the sails and stop the engine. We sailed the day with gennaker and the night with 2 front sails, genoa on port side and jib on starbord until sunrise when the wind dropped again so we had to get back to motoring. 
When we crossed from Mindelo to Bequia we didn't even download the weather forecast every day because there were no variations. It was just a lot of wind from northeast and east. This passage is very different, we need to spend a lot of time to study each forecast, released twice daily, to decide which course to follow until the next forecast. Now it seems like we need a little bit more of patience and run the engine through a small area with no wind. We see that good winds will arrive from the west later today. We could also simply wait for the wind instead of running the engine but we need to move forward because of risk of lightning in this area in the coming 2 days. Ahead of us we see 2 high pressure systems that will push us toward the Azores. It looks like there is a front zone between them that we might have to go through.
Fishing: still keep trying to fish something else than sargasso.
Battery overheating: the battery test says the battery that is overheating has 36% of health so not completely dead but close.
Magical moments: feeling the light breeze on the chin after 2 days with no wind at all. Enjoy the silence after the engine is off.
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Day 12

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Update May 12 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position: N33.0228 W52.0463
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 92 Nm
Distance to Horta: 1188 Nm

We spent the whole day waiting for a little bit of wind. We sailed every light breeze we could feel, but we had to go again quite a lot on engine too.
The wind really picked up only early this morning, much later than we expected, and with a completely different angle. But it did, and it is fantastic.

The engine can now take a break after this no-wind area.

Our job for today will be to find a route through the different weather systems that are moving ahead of us. We also need to get out of the area where we are now that is at risk for lightnings tomorrow. Luckily we have very good speed between 6 and 7,5 knots with the genoa only in winds between 8 and 12 m/s so we do not think this will be a problem. After this frustrating period just waiting for wind, the moral onboard is very high again. Enjoying every second.
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Day 13

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Update May 13 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position: N33.9736 W50.6723
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 90 Nm
Distance to Horta: 1102 Nm

It was a fast day followed by a slow night. The advantage with these slow nights is the good sleep they provide.

We have now an interesting day ahead of us with a front passage and a high pressure system that will bring winds against us. After that, it seems we will have a period of calm prior to being able to set course towards Horta.

It has been mostly cloudy with light rain from time to time. Not the right weather to keep the batteries charged with the solar panels.
The temperature keeps dropping as we are progressing north and someone onboard has started to wear a hat at night. We are talking about 22–24 degrees...

All good onboard. Lovisa is such a great boat to sail with. We are so grateful for how she treats us and keeps us safe out here.
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Day 14

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Update May 14 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position: N34.6499 W48.4327
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 119 Nm.
Distance to Horta: 982 Nm.

Three digits to Horta!

We sailed through the night with 2 reefs in the mainsail and 2 in the genoa and left the windvane steering the boat close haul in 8-10 m/s wind.

Lovisa made her way very bravely through the waves and surprisingly we both managed to sleep very well. The steady wind has lifted bigger waves that makes the boat land hard into the waves from time to time.

Moving inside the boat is something that also needs preparation and a bit of acrobatic skills. Going on deck is not even a plan.

The wind dropped a bit from 8 to 6 m/s and in not more than just 1 minute the wind made a 70 degree turn and consequently the boat turned 70 degrees to starboard.

It was so fast that we thought that there was something wrong with the windvane but not at all. The hour that followed was very wet. We received a lot of rain while the wind continued to turn slowly against us.

Winds are expected to start decreasing later this morning until late afternoon when an area with no wind should build up.

According to weather forecast several low pressure systems will cross the Atlantic. These should bring us nice downwind sailing right toward the Azores.

No boat on AIS but we know there should be one on a route parallel to ours as we have been sailing close to each other for a few days.

The crew is happy. All good on board.
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Day 15

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Update May 15 at 09:00 GMT-3
Position: N35.7179 W47.2220
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 87 Nm (small distance because we have been tacking our way forward. 87 Nm is only the direct route between our reports).
Distance to Horta: 906 Nm.

Today's update got delayed by a non working toilet electric pump. No flushing water, the impeller is gone. We don't have a spare one but we have a complete pump so we mounted it. Now the water rushes in the toilet, fantastic.

We spent most of the day yesterday heeled on starboard side going up and down the waves. That was tiring.
We were expecting the wind to vanish during the night and run on engine but it kept blowing almost all night. Still sailing close hauled through 5 m/s winds that are slowly turning towards south.

We are preparing our plan for the coming depressions, especially the second one that will hit us next week. It will pass close to us and will send us a lot of wind, strong gusts and high waves. It is not really possible to avoid but we plan to stay as south as possible.
On the positive side, it will be downwind sailing which gives less stress on the boat. It feels nice to be getting closer to Horta. Two weeks done and about one week left.
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Day 16

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Update May 16 at 10:00 GMT-2
Position: N35.7698 W44.6948
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 123 Nm.
Distance to Horta: 786 Nm.

Great sailing day under the sun and great sailing night under the stars.
We sailed with the current with us most of the day probably between 1 and 1.5 knots.
We are on a commercial route and we see shipping vessels quite often but no sailing boat anymore. Instead we have the company of the Portuguese man o’ war on their route to somewhere we don't know. Look at leg 11 for a picture of one.
We spent most of the day sleeping and looking at the weather forecast to decide which way to go through the depression that we will get on Tuesday.

Maria baked chocolate dessert to keep us energized.
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Day 17

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Update May 17 at 10:00 GMT-2
Position: N35.4269 W42.2837
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 120 Nm.
Distance to Horta: 680 Nm.

Another great sailing day and night at good speed in 6 m/s wind coming from starboard.

We took the opportunity of calmer sea yesterday morning to fuel 40L of diesel from our jerry cans.

The wind increased just before sunset from 6 to 9 m/s. Just when we were done putting a reef in the mainsail we got the visit of a group of dolphins that came to play in front of the boat. A true magic moment.

We have been waiting to see them again for a long time. Apart from the dolphin we swam with in Deshaies, the other few dolphins we have seen in the Caribbeans were not very social, but these were so playful.

We continue our route eastward. We expect to turn toward Horta on Tuesday for a possible arrival in Horta on Saturday.
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Day 18

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Update May 18 at 10:00 GMT-2
Position: N35.6076 W40.5584
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 85 Nm.
Distance to Horta: 597 Nm.

After we passed a weather front yesterday, the wind just vanished as forecasted and we continued our way on engine.
Running on engine was the opportunity to fill up the batteries, run the watermaker to fill up the water tank, and to enjoy a warm shower.
Yesterday we got the visit of another group of dolphins while we were on deck. We think it was a humpback whale.
We have a few hours more to go on engine today before we start to feel the wind of the depression that is coming on us so we can get back to sailing.

Even though we tried to stay further south from that depression we cannot avoid it and we expect strong winds and strong gusts for about 24 hours, starting this evening. Fortunately this is downwind.
We will have to pass through another front with slight risk of lightnings. We expect significant increase in wave height but not breaking waves. These will reduce slower than the wind and we will have to deal with them also during the following days.

The boat is ready and so are we.
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Day 19

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Update May 19 at 10:00 GMT-2
Position: N35.2770 W38.0984
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 122 Nm.
Distance to Horta: 493 Nm.

After a day without wind, a light breeze picked up yesterday late morning as forecasted and we got back to sailing. At around 1300 we started to see a double halo around the sun. We now understand it is an indicator of a warm front incoming. Rain showers ahead of the front reached us at 1600 with steady winds around 8m/s. The sky opened behind us a couple of hours later and left the sunlight to create a magnificent and vivid double rainbow. Wind condition and consequently sea state worsened in the evening as per forecast until we met the cold front at 0030. The front appeared on the radar as a long and thin stripe of rain that passed over us. At front passage, the wind changed direction quickly from south to south west and the wind speed picked up to 19m/s before falling back again between 12 and 14 m/s. It remained like that the rest of the night. There was no lightning and there is no more risk of lightning sailing forward as it seems. We are sailing with genoa only with 2 reefs. We left the steering to the windvane that is doing an amazing job. The party is not over and we have to go through a period of stronger wind the entire afternoon with winds expected to reach 15 to 20 m/s. 

The sun is shining today and it is so much fun to ride the waves in these conditions, perhaps the most fun in this whole passage so far and Lovisa is behaving so well.

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Day 20

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Update May 20 at 10:00 GMT-2
Position: N35.8184 W35.7703
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 119 Nm.
Distance to Horta: 376 Nm.
We got exactly what was on the menu.

Average winds during most of the day about 14 m/s, gusts up to 20 m/s and waves providing an amazing panoramic view of the ocean from above. Several waves smashed onto the boat but none of them was breaking so they were not threatening.

French sailors would use the term "baston", which originally means fight, when talking about sailing in such conditions.
Even in these conditions we got the visit of dolphins twice. Nothing can stop them from playing with boats.
The worst of the depression is gone and we are now back to a more enjoyable sailing with winds about 10 m/s.
We are on 60 degree course right toward Horta. We still expect to arrive in Horta on Saturday.

As the weather forecast looks like now we should have 2 days of nice sailing ahead of us. Then on Friday a big area without wind is expected to pop out around the Azores so we may need to proceed on engine for a day until Horta.

Lovisa is fine, the crew as well although we feel the lack of sleep accumulated during the last days. The time when we sailed with light clothing during daytime is gone. It is 19 degrees and it feels very cold.
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Day 21

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Update May 21 at 10:00 GMT-2
Position: N36.7867 W33.4260
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 128 Nm.
Distance to Horta: 248 Nm.

It is very grey outside but we have good winds to push us forward and close the gap to Faial.
We spent the whole day yesterday sailing on the remainings of the depression. Waves height has been decreasing slowly all day long and wind blowing around 9 m/s. A bit rolly though.

In the evening we got another dolphin show as we were raising the mainsail. They stayed with us for 20 minutes and were back shortly this morning.

We start to see more and more sailing boats on the AIS, some also in visual. It is the sign that the Azores are getting closer.
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Day 22

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Update May 22 at 10:00 GMT-2
Position: N37.6267 W31.1297
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 121 Nm.
Distance to Horta: 127 Nm.

It is all about dolphins now. We have stopped counting how many groups we met yesterday. When we are inside the boat they are still at the front playing. And now we also know that they are even there during the night. They appear then as illuminated dolphin-shaped projectiles, because of the fluorescent algae, swimmimg full speed towards the boat, changing direction in a second. Then a white splash as they jump. It is actually easier to see their movement inside the water at night than in day time. When do they ever sleep? And when do we ever sleep one may wonder.

We started the engine yesterday evening at around 2200 when the wind dropped, and we will probably need to run it until we reach Horta. The alternative would be to wait for the winds that will come on Sunday. When we were in the middle of this passage trying to find our way, it was no matter if the passage would take 2, 3 or 4 weeks. But the proximity of land gives another dimension to time and suddenly, 1 day matters. Now we are eager to make landfall earlier if we can. Without internet out here we have not received any news from what is happening in the world and now all of a sudden we'll be exposed to a fury of images and news of all kind and it feels a bit stressful to think about this.
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Day 23

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Update May 23 at 11:00 GMT-1
Position N38.4202 W28.8942
Distance sailed during the last 24 hours: 116Nm.
Distance to Horta : 11Nm.

Last message prior to arrival. We made a stop yesterday afternoon to refuel 40L of diesel from our jerry cans. It was also good for us to have an hour without the sound of the engine. At 5.00 GMT-1 this morning we noted that the bilge pump was draining water regularly. The water was warm so it had something to do with the engine. The reason we found was a water leak from the raw water pump of the engine. The raw water flowing through the pump is cold but it was dripping along the engine that is very hot. It is probably just the packbox that needs to be replaced but the leak was getting more and more important so we decided not to risk anything and made another stop to install the spare refurbished pump that we have. That pump is ok when the engine runs but we discovered that it is leaking when we stop. This is a bit frustrating but at least we can continue and we will have to take care of both pumps when we arrive in Horta. While we changed the pump, there was a beautiful sunrise over the Azores archipelago ahead. Spotting land after more than three weeks at sea was a very nice feeling although not as sensational as it felt for previous passages. Interesting. Something for us to reflect upon later. We had breakfast with the rest of the bread Maria baked yesterday.

The sun is shining, water is disturbed only by a small swell, a very light air is blowing. A beautiful day to make arrival in the Azores.
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Recap from Horta

Four days passed since our arrival in Horta after 22 days at sea, our longest passage so far. Although still tired (and a bit cold), we are happy and proud to say “we made it !”.

Crossing the Atlantic from west to east is known to be a more challenging task compared with crossing the other way through the trade winds. From Mindelo to Bequia, the trade winds ensured us constant strong winds from east with very little variation on direction. We sailed straight toward the final destination adapting the settings of the sails when needed. We downloaded the weather forecast daily at the beginning and more sporadically after a few days because there were not much changes to analyze. It was just strong or stronger winds from east and we didn’t encounter any calms. On arrival, the diesel tank was just as full as when we left. For us, this passage from west to east was indeed more challenging in terms of routing. We sailed through many different weather systems and encountered winds from all directions, and sometimes extended periods of calms. We downloaded the weather forecast twice daily and spent a significant portion of every day to analyze them and decide which route to follow until next forecast. The diesel level was also a concern and we had to monitor our consumption closely through the calms. On the other hand, although the routing was more complicated, some wind conditions provided very relaxing life onboard where we could walk in the boat without holding on to anything, eat by the table and sleep in silence. 

Variations through this passage made it very fun. we enjoyed very good sailing conditions during the first week of our passage during which we ran the engine only very little. The second week at sea started instead with a frustrating long period without wind at all during which we progressed on engine at low rev to reduce our diesel consumption. Feeling the wind pick-up after some days felt like true a liberation. Finally we could raise the sails again, and stop the engine. The beginning of our third week at sea was all about the preparation for the low pressure weather system to come. We were already located far north at the end of the second week when all weather forecast models started to converge and confirm the development of a low pressure just above our latitude. A depression generally means, depending on how far from the center one is sailing, a lot of wind, big waves and possibly heavy rain and lightnings. Continuing on the fastest route to Horta would have placed us very close to the center of this depression. We didn’t feel comfortable with the conditions expected on the direct route and decided to set our a course a bit south east, thus reaching the outskirt of the depression with winds around 14 m/s and gusts reaching 20 m/s that we could handle confidently with Lovisa. The depression left a big hole without wind behind leaving us in another calm going on engine until Horta under a magnificent sun and in the company of dolphins. They were the major entertainment during this trip and we never tire of watching them. We also enjoyed the company of fellow sailors most of the way, some just as a dot on the AIS, some visually a few hundred meters away, some via VHF and other via satellite phone. 

  It has been very interesting to compare experiences with other sailors here in Horta, each one coming with a unique story. But, as everyone at some point during their passage got caught in a calm, we all share at least one common experience : swimming in the deep blue water of the Atlantic far from any land.

Summary of the passage in numbers

We left Marigot on 1st May at 08:00 GMT-4 and reached Horta on 23rd May at 15:15 GMT-1 (16:15 local time GMT +0) so we made this passage in 22 days, 4 hours and 15 minutes.

Total distance sailed, calculated as the sum of the distances we reported every day until arrival in Horta, is 2351 Nm. This gives an average speed of 4,4 knots. The actual distance we sailed was much longer because we didn’t sail straight between each report.

Total diesel consumed to go through the no wind area: approximately 190 liters.
79 hours at 1200 rpm (actual consumption estimated 1,1L/h)
56 hours at 1700 rpm (actual consumption estimated 1,8L/h)

Total water produced with watermaker: 15 hours / 450 liters considering theoretical expected production 30L/h. Considering actual efficiency 26L/h we measured in Philipsburg, total water produced is more likely around 390 liters. We left Marigot and reached Horta with water tank full so 390 liters is also our total water consumption during this passage.

Windvane in charge of steering: 60% of the time (estimated)
Autopilot in charge of steering: 40% of the time
Hand steering; <1%