49 Days and 5600 miles
Greetings from California! This post will be a quick recap of our recent crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, plus some perspective and “in retrospect” musings as I continue to process the major accomplishment that my crew and I achieved. The initial fatigue has started to wane, so it might be a good time to capture some of the feelings looking back.
Many of you followed along in real time as we sailed from Cape Town on September 9 and arriving in Grenada on the evening of October 27th 2022. If you didn’t and would like to read the updates we were posting along the way, you can see them at https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-Sage/.
The one problem with posting from out at sea was that we couldn’t post any pictures of the great things that we were up to. But that’s OK, because the primary thing we could take pictures of was the ocean, and that’s not really a very interesting picture, trust me. But we did take pictures, and I’ll put some of them up here for you to see. The stops along the way, St. Helena and Fernando de Naronha, were both super interesting in their own way, and very different to each other. The final leg, the longest one, proved to be challenging in it’s own way, with the last few days being full of squalls and variable wind dictating a conservative sail plan that meant slow sailing between windy bits.. Arriving at night wasn’t preferred because we didn’t get to see the island in daylight to understand it’s beauty and geography as we approached, but with sailing you get there when you get there. So we pulled into Grenada late on Thursday 27th November, docking first at the “Superyacht Dock” for the night so we could get some sleep. In the morning we would check in with customs and immigration and get assigned a slip inside the marina. We were right next to Liberty, a 72 ft catamaran that was built at Two Oceans marine in Cape Town, the same factory that builds the Balance 442.
Sage at the superyacht dock, next to Liberty, and 72 foot Catamaran from Two Oceans
Once settled in our med moor on J dock inside the marina we commenced to clean the boat. A passage, even one as relaxed as ours, is hard on a boat. Of course we also took some time to explore, and eat some great meals before the crew all had to go on to the next parts of their lives. Mark left on Tuesday November 1, and Emmy moved up to Shaun’s house while preparing to head off to her next job in the BVI. So before I headed back to California for a visit, I had the boat to myself for a few days and I worked really hard to prepare it for our new cruising life when Liz and I return. Laundry, cleaning and wiping all surfaces, noting things for the Balance Warranty Team, and getting all of the cabinets and lockers clean and organized.
I’ll post some more about the passage itself, and the plan for the future as it develops. For now I’m visiting friends in California and getting boat parts and stuff to take back. To be honest, I can’t wait.