The final countdown (It’s a wrap .... only 100 more to eat ;-) )

This is my 5th Transatlantic crossing and my longest one, ending tomorrow by sunrise in Rodney Bay after 19 1/2 days of great sailing with 6 awesome crewmates and a marvelous;) skipper.

There is a lot of chitchat going on during watches which kept me from sleeping at times but made me smile very often.

Everybody new to sailing made big progress and skills get polished. In my watch group people like to ride the squalls and surf the waves. The girls longing to arrive and join the party.

Words to listen to: chop shop, bare off, keep it down, push ;)

Words of wisdom: stay on course, TGV, 150 wind angle, faster!

Looking forward to my first rum!

Love corinne

Oh well, what a journey! I will arrive back home and try to tell everyone about what we’ve been through. About all the flying fish, our mayday meals, fishing and my company. How we woke up every three hours to do our night watch, with the same company, nearly the same conditions but never a similar watch as the ones before. It’s going to be hard explaining because they will never understand unless they sailed across the Atlantic. Just to explain how blue the water is will be a difficult task. I have never been away for so long, seen so little, yet experienced so much.

Ebba

I was in my cabin last night when I heard Thalita shout “LAST 24 HOURS!!!”. It is a bittersweet feeling, arriving. The sailing has been so much fun and not at all what I expected. Everyday has been different, and challenging in its own way. We are living in our own world out here. The spirit onboard has been fantastic, it is motivating, helpful and easy going. We are laughing through our watches, no matter if there is a squall, 3 am or in the middle of the day. One memorable moment were when Tara and I caught a beautiful dorado. We had put in hours trying to figure out how the rod was working and all of a sudden we had something on the hook. Another memory is when the first flying fish hit us. I was sitting at the stern and had to kick it off the boat since Ebba (who was helming) was barefoot. I never would have thought that the flying fish would actually hit the cockpit. When I arrive back in Sweden I am looking forward to buying a pair of red pants, which, in Sweden, is a symbol for having sailed across the Atlantic. Now I am looking forward to arrive in Rodney Bay and having a cold beer as well as wearing red pants. :)

Sophia

I know I want to learn much more about sailing, that’s for sure. To charter a boat and doing my own trip together with my boyfriend somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea will be the next step after running through a skill and drill course, hopefully with Thalita again, an awesome and patient instructor and skipper. My expectations of the Atlantic Crossing were fully filled, knowing it wouldn’t be easy during the hole trip. 8 different individuals and characters for quite a long time on a small vessel. But I’m lucky being a member of an awesome crew, most of the time being in a very good mood. So I had a great time. We’ve been very lucky with weather, wind and waves. The most I enjoyed to ride the big atlantic waves coming from astern and giving you a feeling of sitting on a roller coaster. Well, I’m leaving Hatha Maris with mixed feelings, but I’m looking forward to have something sparkling to drink with taste and some nice massages, and to get in contact with my beloved at home.

Karin

It was a nice adventure. If you wish to get a hands on training on riffing and fast sails set up - this is the place. Although we might have less squalls than “usual” crossing, there is still much more than during the regular costal ride. In addition, it is a good meditation challenge for the social activity and stability as you are sharing silence and noise together with the space, food and water. I loved it, thanks for your company and a great chance to be a part of ARC 2019 SecondStarSailing family.

Yulia

It was a nice adventure.I loved the refreshing squalls and I liked the atmosphere on board, it was mostly friendly and patiently with each other. Our watch crew with our records and the fun I will miss. Still I’m looking forward to not get attacked anymore by fish’s and having a shower and could sleep more than 4 hours uninterrupted.

Mirjam

The final stretch! It’s a happy, sad and proud moment as our journey together comes to an end. The crossing was filled with a range of emotions, a lot of laughs, a few frustrations and exhaustion from our 3 hour watches and close confines. We’ve been blessed with unprecedented weather as I’m told - with majority days filled with glorious sunshine and moderate wind and sea state. Evenings filled with brilliant star filled skies and the past few nights beaming with dramatic moonlight. We’ve encountered very few squalls so our crossing has been with relative ease. Everyone has been so fantastic. We are all very different: through backgrounds, culture and personalities which I really think made this experience particularly special. Personal highlights of the crossing: first time fishing and catching a beautiful Dorado with Sophia (and squealing like a schoolgirl while reeling it in), morning sunrise breakfasts together with my watch plus my additional breakfasts with Corinne’s watch as well ;-) , stern sessions with the Sweeds, working the bow with Thalita and SoSo, flying the Genneker (ease, Tara ease), flying fish smack downs, exploring the constellations with Yulia, the helmster, our movie night on deck complete with popcorn, being an honorary participant of the Swedish Advent calendar opening, cooking casinos in the galley, singing and dancing during our halfway party, Thalita’s sweet St.Nicolas surprise and Swiss dinner and basically all our dinners together with the full crew I found so special. Thank you ladies for the cherished memories we’ve shared together.

Tara

done the Atlantic a few times now in different positions. Every journey was completely different and a challenge on its own. Beeing the skipper for the first time is another great experience.not knowing the crew ahead, their actual sailing skills and characters is a little bit scary but i was so lucky to have such an awesome crew, from all kind of levels. We started as a crazy bunch of women with a dream and became a great, still crazy bunch of women, team.  As i mentioned before its all about the people and food. 

None of us will ever forget this life time experience and words like the following will always throw back memories; deeper, push harder, down, do not gybe, hamster helming, are we there yet, hows the pin, 265, Puerto Rico - computer says nööu, go west, ... remember i always sleep with one eye open!

Thalita