Atlantic Odyssey 2: Day 20

In Martinique

SATTWA and SUNRISE arrived in Le Marin. PENNY LANE ETA at 1800UTC Wednesday

Crews of THEMI, ROXY, LAHAINA, DOUDOU and the TOURIST OFFICE welcome SATTWA to Martinique

View all the arrival pictures on Facebook (no need to login)

In Antigua!

Due to engine failure, NAVIGO headed to Antigua where a spare part has been shipped.

“We arrived in Antigua on the 26th at 11:30UTC or 7:30 local time.   Some of the crew will be joining the rally for the party on the 31st however without the boat. All the best for the rest of the fleet, looking forward to hearing all the stories and telling our own!”

At sea

FINALLY MY DARLING

Finally My Darling is expected to leave Tenerife on Wednesday around 1200 UTC.

Almost 3 weeks to the day since they tore their mainsail, a new asail is now rigged

“Almost three weeks to the day, and our beautiful new mainsail is rigged and ready. The crew are so happy to finally be on our way and we look forward to catching up with the crews around the Caribbean.

Full update on the blog here “

PENNY LANE

Transatlantic Traveller – by Adam

Adam & Rainbow

I first met Pete, Anna and Sam in Gibraltar dock walking for work. When I approached Pete he immediately knew who I was thanks to his kind neighbour Joe. We spoke briefly and later I received a text message with news of a passage to La Palma on their boat Penny Lane. The journey was very enjoyable with a pod of dolphins joining us for a visit every day. Before we reached the Canaries both Pete and Anna announced I could join them across the Atlantic to Martinique to my delight.

Crossing the Atlantic is a big journey so it’s essential to have a nice crew with Pete the extremely relaxed skipper who knows when to make the important calls – basically what he says goes. Anna the safety guru who says ”tropical squall!” at every grey cloud in sight but to be fair we need at least one person to emphasize the safety side of things. Oscar the funny lad who forgets the word ”the” in all sentences. Sam the happy 10 year old who has the talent of winding up his cousin Oscar at his expense with his seasickness coinciding with the drying up of the dishes.

Time is something we have to spare here so we have been filling our time with exercising on the back deck like a couple of fish sliding back and forth in some attempt of keeping fit and tiring ourselves out. Well apparently The Beatles were bigger than Jesus and in the last few days we have decided that we could do a better job so we will be releasing our new improved music video of the song Penny Lane soon. During the trip I have read my first book in years and started playing the ukulele. Yesterday we had a nice break for a refreshing swim in the warm waters while the wind and waves had eased.

I have a big love for the water, starting sailing at approximately the age of eight and have not stopped watersports ever since. A lot of people think about going to space which is a big focus of all mankind, but in reality most will probably never experience it. In the sea there are many things we do not know and many people have a big phobia about going out of their depth let alone going out of sight of land, so for me the sea is my space. I often go up to the bow, put in my earphones with a few good songs and just have a look around in hope to see something like a whale or flying fish. It is really amazing when the swell is so big that when you are at the bottom of the wave, bow close to the water with the horizon out of sight when, suddenly the boat catches the next wave shooting forward, lifting the bow high and I can see for miles around into the vast amount of sea… Just sea.

The food is really good on the boat as we are only beginning to get into the canned food. I have been eating better than I ever would, with food I have never eaten before such as beer bread which is amazing, and an excellent smelling curry being prepared as I type.

Night shifts consist of 3 hours watching out for a change in wind or any approaching boats. On a clear night the shifts are extremely impressive, the lack of cities or any real civilisation means the sky is clear of any light pollution providing an amazing view of the stars. Lately I have not been watching the stars as often mostly due to the fact that the quality of movies on the boat is very high thanks to Oscar.

There have been many funny experiences while on passage to Martinique, including the absolutely hilarious gasp and facial expression by Oscar as a wave came crashing into the side of the hull sending a big amount of spray over the two of us. The flying fish are really beautiful and I think they like me too as one flew past my face into the cockpit in search of a kiss but, maybe next time. Thanks for the breakfast anyway! We have had a few bites from dorados with some coming right up to the boat just to say hi and then leaving again, unfortunately we have only managed to land one but it was delicious. When most people look at a rain cloud they would normally think negatively but not us we see it as a perfect opportunity for a wash. Bear Grylls you have nothing on us!

I would definitely recommend participating in a crossing.

Hope you enjoy my view of crossing the Atlantic.

Adam Mc Donnell​