#18 ATLANTIC CROSSING

It's warm and windy, the sun is shining and with the tradewinds from behind LIV is sailing quite fast as somebody says what we all want to hear: “Land Ho!”Finally! Everybody wants to look through the binocular and see the paradise: the green hills and white beaches of Martinique. We always imagined our arrival to be more ore less like this. But as winds and weather changed only hours before our arrival it was clear it'll be different. The wind increased and turned to northern directions so we had to tack for the last miles. A lot of squalls brought as rain and the waves got higher. The green hills on the horizon were hidden in the dust even though we were quite close. It wasn't as epic as we imagined our arrival to be, but still: we just crossed the fu**ing Atlantic Ocean!

After 27 days with nothing else than water around us we finally reached our paradise, that's the day we always thought about and worked for during the last year.
The weeks between Tenerife and Martinique were mostly smooth and easy. In the first week we sailed directly to the south until we reached the Cape Verde Islands, trying to find the tradewinds. Until we finally found them south of this Archipelago we had some windless days. A big “ThankYou” to our friend Nici who checked and analyzed the weather for us and told us were to go. We all started sailing together in the same sailing club, right now his sailing project is having a rest at the Faröer Islands.
With the tradewinds in our back we sailed directly to the west, LIV is getting faster and faster. The winds are good and stable and our new Parasailor is the perfect sail for this kind of sailing. We don't need to trim its 78 sqm for weeks and make 140 miles everyday.

The weather is good, the days fly by and we forget the time. We spent our time playing cards (a bavarian game called “Sheaphead”), reading the fantastic stories of Patrick O'Brian and many others, fishing, bathing, we think about the future and enjoy every sunset, we discuss our dreams, do sports and bear Simons jokes. We have massage sessions, solve a riddle everyday and enjoy the best food a crew ever had during a crossing. And our best and most important companion: a lot of good music! Thanks Paula that you didn't complain even after so many HipHop Sessions!

During the first week we had to go through some lessons on how to proper store groceries. So all of our broccoli and cauliflower had to go overboard. Gonna eat some more can food the last days then...
Days are smoothly passing by only interrupted by some high- and lowlights: Stefan aka MC Schade aka Nikolaus drops some serious rhymes, a really clear sky full of stars and intense sparkling plancton behind speeding dolphins, day-bright moonnights, a bonito hooked on our fishing rod, a real big whale behind us, the radar breaking of its pole, a blocked toilet, magnificent sunsets and a new epsiode of “rotten groceries – right storage for dummies”.

The water is getting warmer day by day. At 28° Celsius its a pleasure being pulled after the boat. (The source of our temperature-sensor is by the way still a mystery to us). The only bigger accident happened two days before the arrival. Jens fires the ace of hearts into the water and we have to enjoy the last days cardgamefree after 485 games of “Schafkopf”. Luckily only for two days – and also most of the can food stayed at the end where it belongs - in its cans. Only two to three times we had some of them and noodles with pesto even just once! We were mostly dining like kings! Nevertheless we can not wait to enjoy the fresh foods of the caribbean islands! Let's go!