La Contenta - Day 23: On the happy boat La Contenta

Day 23: On the happy boat La Contenta   We crossed the finish line at 21.00 hours 24 minutes and 29 seconds lastnight.   We had been escorted on our last 40 miles by a fleet of squalls, severalrainbows and a full moon.   As we entered the marina the other boats horns started to sound and we knewwe had (finally) made it.  We were greeted by our friends on Nisidi, OceanBlue and Flabrach who joined us on the boat for an impromptu party.  Calplayed the guitar and we proudly sang our boat song.  We sat up until thewee hours drinking the rum we had been given and reliving some of the memoriesof our days at sea.  I would like to thank LC for looking after us, Davefor his skippering, Cal for his music and Ewen for his humour and cooking. MCfor her never. read more...

La Contenta - Day 22: The final countdown8 knots.

Day 22: The final countdown We are almost there!We should reach land within the next 24 hours.After being becalmed for all of those days we are now flying along in strong winds, large seas and squalls.We are well reefed down with our current wind speed at 28 knots and 5 meter swells. Its a wild night.We have had some hideous squalls with the wind increasing to 44 knots. I hold Ewen partly responsible as he did say at the beginning of our crossing that he wanted ‘The full Atlantic experience!’ Land is looking a welcome option.Especially since we are now out of tea bags. To balance the the moon is almost full and lighting up the sky and the ocean.Its brightness is obliterating the stars but casting its liquid silver on the sea.It’s truly beautiful. We have put together some of our. read more...

La Contenta - Day 21: Wonderful tonight

Day 21: Wonderful tonight   We are speeding along.  Its 01.30 am, the moon is bright and casting asilver patina on the water that glistens and moves in harmony with the movementof the sea.  The waves are large and ‘up our chuff’ and LC is just ridingover them with ease.  We are twissle rigged and reefed in.  The windis 25 knots with occasional higher gusts and we are averaging 7 knots. It’s wonderful tonight.   Last night we crossed one of my thresholds with under 500 miles togo.  Today we crossed another. We could now motor all the way to SaintLucia and not run out of diesel.  This is a real plus to know that that isan option if needed.   Tomorrow we should pass my next milestone of200 miles to go when we are then in helicopter. read more...

La Contenta - Day 20: I would sail 500 miles, and I would sail 500 more

Day 20: I would sail 500 miles, and I would sail 500 more   We have had a really good 24 hours sailing and sometime over the course oftonight we will pass the threshold that sees us with less than 500 miles untilwe reach landfall in Saint Lucia.  This feels good.  We have hadanother shift in our perception when a 500 mile sail seems short.  We havesailed 2250 miles so far, and based on some of Dave's calculations our log maybe reading 10% lower than it should, so we may have sailed 2500 (which to behonest with our track makes more sense!).   Ewen and I had fun this morning.  We have been having ‘balancechallenges’.  The challenge involves standing upright (on two feet) andstaying standing up for as long as possible.  This sounds simple.  Addto. read more...

La Contenta - Day 19: The wind is sixteen going on seventeen

Day 19: The wind is sixteen going on seventeen  Let’s start at the very beginning.  We are still moving. Yesterday when our winds were very light Ewen inspirationally and bravely saidthat when the wind was a consistent 15 knots he would sing us a song from theSound of Music.  Today we have eagerly watched the wind speed creep slowlyup and around tea time the elusive threshold of 15 knots was reached andexceeded.  As the wind speed hovered between 16 and 17 knots he broke intosong;   ‘The wind is sixteen going on seventeen Quite a steady breeze Then it drops by over ten knots This wind is a great big tease’   We did laugh! This song will never quite be the same again and will alwaystransport us back to a sunny afternoon in the Atlantic ocean.   We. read more...