Disa - Nothing... Nada... Zero... Zilch

Zero wind - Mother Nature’s sting in the tail at the end of our Atlantic crossing.Having sailed two thousand nautical miles, and with only two hundred to go, the ocean has turned as calm as a mill pond.There is not a breath of wind to fill our sails and we’re bobbing along on a glassy sea.Sailors of long ago would have had to ration their food and water and pray for wind.Fortunately for us, our 1988 Perkins engine is a real beauty!Thanks to Henri Amel’s foresight, our fuel tank holds eight hundred and twenty litres of diesel.If the wind doesn’t return, we can chug along all the way to Grenada.We’ll be taking our time - our engine is an old lady and if we treat her kindly she purrs her gratitude.With a bit of luck we’ll arrive just before the cut-off time tomorrow.Meanwhile, there is no. read more...

Disa - Christmas is coming...

Christmas is coming… and so is SV Disa.Grenada is in our sights and we can almost hear those steel bands beating out a Caribbean rhythm.We’re getting into the festive spirit on board, singing along to Christmas tunes.We have a small string of Christmas lights in the cockpit and we have been enjoying some festive fare at mealtimes.We celebrated a late American Thanksgiving with New England Clam Chowder and Andy’s amazing pumpkin pie.One thing is for sure - we have eaten well on this crossing!Thanksgiving and Christmas make us think about our families back home.We have a lot to be thankful for.We miss our loved ones immensely and wish they were all sailing on this boat with us, sharing the experience.For Darrol and I, sailing across the Atlantic was a dream that seemed almost. read more...

Disa - Pole Dancing at Sea

You may remember that on the first leg of the voyage our port whisker pole developed a ninety degree bend and became unusable.Like all the old Amel boats, we have whisker poles on both port and starboard sides.Each pole is made up of two sections - a shorter, narrower pole against the mast, joined to a longer, wider pole by an elbow.Both port and starboard poles are set up together, making the boat look a bit like a crop spraying aircraft coming in to land.These poles, sticking out both sides of the boat, enable us to pole out the genoa sail for downwind sailing - creating large areas of sail to catch the wind coming from directly behind the boat.Since we are using the Trade Winds to cross the Atlantic, most of our sailing is downwind, so our whisker poles are very important.In Cape. read more...

Disa - Best Sushi Ever!

Yesterday was a good day.Nothing broke.We were in celebratory mood as it was Darrol’s birthday, AND we passed the halfway mark from Cape Verde to Grenada.The first boat in the rally has already finished, and we are very envious of the fact that they are no longer rolling around every minute of every day.But our time will come!Luckily we have lots of great food on board.We are enjoying fresh loaves daily, banana and walnut bread, and chocolate/coffee/whiskey birthday cake.Andy and K made the most amazing sushi from one of the fish that Darrol caught.It was truly an incredible experience to be eating restaurant-quality sushi in the middle of the Atlantic, from a fish that had been caught 24 hours earlier.We celebrated passing halfway with perfect Pina Coladas made by K who is from Puerto. read more...

Disa - Dorado for Dinner!

In the last two days we have dodged five squalls and had one blow right over us today.It was our first experience of heavy rain.For a few minutes there was lots of noise and lots of wind.The wind and waves are unsettled, with the squalls bringing big shifts in wind direction.But our trusty SV Disa has held a steady (if rather slow) course and kept us safe.During the course of this passage we have become much more aware of how the constant movement and rolling of the boat causes even the tightest-fitting things to work loose.Screws and fittings always choose the worst possible moment to escape from their fixtures.Today, as we furled the sails and turned on the engine, with the squall fast approaching on our tail, a strategic hose sprang loose.We were immediately alerted by an unusual. read more...