The Atlantic (2,124nm) – post III

The third entry from our Atlantic crossing series is also a guest contribution from the infamous Ballin “Squid Legs” Smith (early in the crossing he joked ‘just call me Squid Legs’, so we did…), who undoubtably wins the Least Stressed Sailor award for the trip. Ballin’s past experience as a barman / cabana boy made his transition to Serenity First’s cabin boy a straightforward process, and he kept a meticulous diary that he has submitted for his post, which we have reproduced in full below after the group’s responses to Ballin’s question.

“What will you miss most about the passage?”

Ballin: Alec and Laura are amazing friends, and I’ve had the opportunity to live with both of them in the past – first at our university together and then about five years ago with Katherine in Oakland. Being on this passage reminded me how much I’ve missed not only living with them, but also just how much fun it is to live with best friends. College was a great time, and obviously the lack of responsibility and alcohol helped, but I think the close-knit friendships are what made it truly memorable. The collective antics and jokes and stories and shared misery that come with living with friends aren’t attainable with the neighbors down the block or the friends living in a different state. Back to the passage: was it comfortable living with three dirty and stinky people in a floating apartment only slightly larger than many peoples’ bedroom? No, certainly not, but jeez I’ll miss it.

Parker / Laura: I will always look very fondly back on the camaraderie of the passage. I loved the interesting and varied conversations we’d get into on night watches or sitting around the cockpit on an idle afternoon. I learned so much about Ballin, Katherine and even Alec that might never have come up otherwise. Then, everyone had good days and bad days, and we worked hard to help pick each other up in the tough times. When things broke, we only had ourselves, our knowledge amassed to date, and our intuition to go on to fix them. There was no opportunity to google things or watch you tube videos, we just had to work it out as a team. It was really special how close that brought us together.

Katherine: I’ll probably miss being around Alec and Parker. Sure, it was close quarters, but I was startled at how little I was bothered by that reality. Usually, the Atlantic is what separates all of us, so it was pretty awesome to walk 5 paces and literally run into an Alec or a Parker. We get very few chances to be around the two of them for more than a week per year, so it is little sad saying goodbye with the knowledge that when we stepped off the boat, we returned to that annual frequency.

Alec: Taking the opportunity to reunite the friendship within our fabulous foursome as a given, I’m keen to repress those sort of feelings and instead devote some space to a more recent relationship. Flying fish were one of the sights I was not expecting on the crossing, more specifically the volume of fish we encountered and their aerial agility that often allowed them to soar over 100m at a time. Staring at the ocean at any time of day for more than five minutes was guaranteed to provide multiple sightings and their constant companionship was a useful counterbalance when spirits were low or the size of the ocean was getting oppressive and whilst I’m sure we will continue to encounter them at times, I’m going to miss their constant presence and connection to the life under the waves.

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Cabin Boy’s Log

Week 1

22nd Nov – This is our first night of the passage. We left at noon after some last minute boat jobs and a shower. The French arc left Mindelo a little before us, so there were a ton of boats initially on the horizon, but by night time we lost most of them. We were scarily close to a collision with another sailboat on Katherine’s watch; hopefully my first solo watch goes better. Drinks for the cocktail hour – 1 beer for Alec

23rd Nov – It was a rough night’s sleep with large waves and rolling seas, but it was fun to see a tiny squid on the deck when the light came up. We had our first activity of the trip with a lip sync battle. No one slept well, so there were a lot of naps. Katherine got sick at dinner, I’m not feeling particularly well myself. Drinks for the cocktail hour – 1 beer for Alec

24th Nov – I felt bad this morning because I woke up Alec up with some of my 90’s music. We had some issues with the Hydrovane, but we think we’ve got it all sorted. We’re starting to feel a little better with the sea sickness. We made leather friendship bracelets and had a full day of sailing with just the Genoa. Drinks for the cocktail hour – beers (everyone except Katherine was feeling up for it!)

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25th Nov – We started the day with a bunch of Hydrovane issues. The clamps to change the direction of the Hydrovane have stripped, so we had to replace them with regular washers; not ideal, but no big deal. This was our first day of fishing now that we’ve got some space in the fridge – no luck. Lunch consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches, needed to start using up that butter. We also decided to shift watches to start at 8pm, because people were going to sleep at 8 anyways. We’re going into the night goose winging. Drinks for the cocktail hour – G&Ts

26th Nov – During the night, Alec had a bird land on deck. He didn’t realize what it was until he touched it. I had a perfect night watch though. Didn’t need to touch a single thing – that Hydrovane is awesome. We did some boat jobs during the day, the biggest of which was finding and stopping the leak. Drinks for the cocktail hour – celebratory beers

27th Nov – We continued with some boat jobs left over from yesterday. I silenced the dining table (still a hundred more boat noises to go). We also reworked preventer and Spinnaker lines to reduce chafe and make them easier to operate from within the cockpit. Katherine helped Parker repair a little tear in the Genoa. Drinks for the cocktail hour – G&Ts

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28th Nov – We watched Aladdin in the morning and saw a whale today. After lunch we messed around with the Spinnaker pole set up to find some efficiencies with put up and put down; no real luck. Katherine and I made veg stew. Drinks for the cocktail hour – beer

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Week 2

29th Nov – We spotted another whale today; it may be tailing us. A few dolphins joined us as well. Today was a big day for the voyage because we got to the halfway point of the passage, which we celebrated with dunking our heads in the ocean then taking a shot as a tribute to Neptune with the phrase, “From the sea we began, to the sea we return.” Hopefully that isn’t prophetic. Today was also a great day for fishing. Two bites got away, including what we think is a swordfish. We also caught a large Dorado, but morale was low for another round so we cut it loose. We also caught and ate what we think is a sea bass. Drinks for the cocktail hour – G&T, 1 wine

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30th Nov – Crew morale was low today. We had rough seas, a lack of wind, and everything seemed to fall in the sink (including 1kg of flour, a box of screws, and a half-chopped onion). We did a rumour box, with all kinds of salacious details coming out. Drinks for the cocktail hour – beer

1st Dec – Energized by our successful day of fishing a few days back, Parker and Alec made a lure out of a full flying fish. Although we nearly caught a tuna and could see it’s fin in the water a few times as it circled the lure, we were ultimately unlucky for the day. We also kicked off December with watching Love Actually and started our advent calendars. I made artichoke dip and pasta for dinner. Drinks for the cocktail hour – rum drinks

2nd Dec – We kicked off the day with Avocado toast for breakfast for everyone. Katherine and I napped a lot. We also did wellness activities, which was pretty funny; for Pickle’s activity that involved punching. Drinks for the cocktail hour – beer

3rd Dec – There were incredible stars during my watch. We seem to have entered an oceanic forest with seaweed all over the place. We got some on the propeller, but were able to get it off by turning it on and pushing hard in reverse. Planning to go on the autopilot tonight given the inconsistent waves and seaweeded Hydrovane. Drinks for the cocktail hour – G&Ts, one diet coke

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4th Dec – We brought out the Spinnaker today and made excellent time. Otherwise lazy day. Drinks for the cocktail hour – beer

5th Dec – Crew morale was great up until now. We made great time all day until the evening when the wind shifted and then died. Getting to Martinique tomorrow in time to get in the Marina may not be possible. We’re now planning to motor through most of the night. Drinks for the cocktail hour – wine

6th Dec – We’ve finally arrived in Martinique. When we woke up in the morning we had made good time at night and the wind carried us with speed to the marina. Despite waiting a while to get to our spot after arriving at the marina, we made it in. A big celebration tonight, particularly with the giant Lorraine beer pitcher. Drinks for the cocktail hour – beer, lots of beer!

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