Atlantic crossing day 1

At 10:30 on 15 January 2026, we weigh anchor and set sail for the Caribbean. What an adventure! Yuhuu, we have started! The last time before the planned departure is a bit tense and it feels good to be underway now. Our crew is in a good mood. Steward arrived from England three days ago with lots of luggage and important things like Branston pickles and cheese 🙂 And of course a new propeller. Steward's British sense of humour is already a lot of fun and he played Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" on the morning of departure. Jannik arrived the day before yesterday on the ferry from Sal. At 5.00 am he made his way through the fishing harbour with his large kite luggage, he couldn't be missed and was taken to the Biosphera on the small wooden boat by Buda and his boys. What a service!

The police didn't want to let us go straight away and made us wait an hour, but by now we were well into "no stress" and an hour's delay in departure didn't make much difference over a distance of 2,200nm, about 4,000 kilometres. The farewell breakfast consisted of katchupa in the harbour hut, then we boarded the boat and were on our way. Suddenly everything happened very quickly and we could no longer see land. We set off with only a genoa and a wind of around 25 knots from behind, heading south-west. This way, we hope to avoid the lee of the islands of Santiago and Fogo and not get caught up in the Cape effects, where the wind tends to pick up by several knots. The genoa alone is pushing us along at around 8 knots. The mood is relaxed. We feel well prepared and Stewart's playlist provides the right background music.

Yesterday we spent the whole day shopping for food, stowing it away and pre-cooking it. Shopping in Cape Verde is not that easy. Almost everything has to be imported, not everything is always available and it is also quite expensive. Once again, we had really great support from the locals. We got fresh fruit and vegetables in the import shop and the trader got us everything that grows on the island and then took us back to our shuttle boat, to Buda. Now the fruit and vegetables hang in the net, neatly separated. Not everything is allowed to be stored together, otherwise it will go bad sooner. We then got everything else in the supermarket. However, we had to leave the flour in the first supermarket as the moths were already coming towards us. Jannik was already cooking his delicious leek and mince soup and I was preparing a boeuf bourguignon. So we're all set for the next few days and feel well prepared.

We had done all the essential repairs and maintenance work beforehand: covered the dingy, changed the water filter, replaced the sheets, repaired the gelcoat, checked the oil and cooling water on the engine, protected the sails with Gorilla tape (brought from England) and, above all, cleaned the deck. It looked scary. A mighty wind had been blowing for the last few days, sending all the sand from the Sahara onto the Cape Verde Islands. Our airways had also suffered badly, a nasty cough was spreading and the boat was covered in a fine layer of reddish sand. We didn't install the new propeller "never change a running system! Too much could have happened, so we all felt better not to risk it just before the Atlantic crossing.

Before the arrival of our fellow sailors, we spent another two days on land and visited the wonderful hinterland of Santiago. A nice hotel in the middle of the mountains, the Picos, offered fantastic views of the valleys. At least on the first day, because even here the view was limited by the desert sand. However, we didn't think it was that bad, as we actually just wanted to relax and have a proper shower, do our hair 😊 and touch the trees and earth. Unfortunately, we had to cut this trip short a day earlier than we had intended because I lost a tooth crown! I couldn't have sailed across the Atlantic like that. So it was off to the dentist. The owner of the hotel recommended a wonderful practice in Praia, which was also open on Saturdays. And what can I say, we not only found a dentist, but also a friend. He couldn't do much more for us on Saturday, but I got an early appointment on Monday. He asked us if we had any plans for Sunday and if we knew Santa Cruz, his home town. We didn't and we also had time. At 10.00 a.m. we were sitting in Elder's car. A great day. Santa Cruz is the agricultural centre of the island. Everything from sugar cane, bananas, papaya and beans that is important for daily survival grows here. Elder shows us everything and we learn a lot about the country and its people. Then we visit his mum! What a treasure she is, she bakes couscous cake for us and I learn how to do it. In the end, she gave us a huge bag of papayas and bananas for the crossing. The dental crown was also fitted and repaired excellently on Monday! Thank you Elder from the Clinica Arte Dentária.

Full of all the wonderful impressions of Cape Verde, we are now sailing towards an indefinite future. What a gift life has given us. We want to continue to report here and tell you how we are doing on the crossing. Feel free to ask what interests you!