Ever since Captain got our satellite broadband back up and running again, I have been delighted to see so many WhatsApp messages of support and encouragement from friends and family. It seems that in this COVID environment, many of you are living very similarly to us - isolated at home with your family. Socialising only in the virtual world. The only obvious difference being that we are removed by hundreds of miles of water. So today’s blog will be used to answer your top five burning questions:
1) Tanya in England asks: “At night, why don’t you just drop the anchor and all go to sleep?”
Sadly, this is not possible because the sea is quite deep and we don’t carry enough chain to hook the seabed. But a lovely idea nonetheless.
2) Monica in Brazil asks: “Do you feel seasick?”
We’ve been sailing for four years now so Captain and I are immune to seasickness. The children used to get sick, especially my son. However, our horrifying voyage from Gibraltar to The Canaries was something of a baptism of fire and everything in comparison seems bland, weather wise. So thankfully, none of us have been seasick this passage and we have not needed to take seasickness tablets at all during our Atlantic crossing.
3) Barbara and Goris in Switzerland ask: “Aren’t you scared of the weather? I’d be worried about huge waves and strong winds”.
Kaizen is a 25 ton blue water boat designed for durability and comfort on ocean passages. To refer to our Gibraltar trip again, having survived that experience, I know that the weakest link is the crew not the vessel. This is hugely reassuring - having the right boat makes the world of difference in terms of trust. The waves have at best been only 3-4 meters (we have previously been in 6 meters). The waves have mostly been from behind so this has not caused much rolling. I’ve zigzagged around some squalls a few days back and saw a bit of lightning but nothing that made me worried. I just took some precautions - like putting our phones and a VHF radio in the microwave (Faraday’s Cage). Being such a heavy-weight yacht means we actually seek out strong wind. Kaizen comes into her own in winds of 15 knots plus and whilst sailing downwind, we do not reef until beyond 25 knots of true wind. The hardest part is, in fact, being in light winds because it makes the boom and sails thwack distressingly so we get frustrated with the lack of progress.
4) John from Hong Kong asks: “Do you guys live off Pot Noodles?”
Absolutely not. Captain is a bit of a foodie so I provisioned excessively to include luxuries like caviar, fois gras, and dry aged steak. To name a few of our recent meals: pork loin in ginger and soy sauce with rice, yellow fin tuna ceviche, scrambled eggs with Pata Negra and caviar, Thai red lamb curry and lentils, paprika chicken and couscous, rogan josh curry and poppadoms. We have been collecting the best ingredients from across Europe as we have ventured through the Med on our way to The Canaries.
5) Tom from England asks: “What do you do all day? Aren’t you bored?”
Gosh, no! We are far too busy to be bored. Whilst I have banned Captain from fishing for the remainder of the crossing, my daughter is still determined to catch one. So far, she’s caught a plastic bag and some highly interesting seaweed. I have a daily schedule for the children so that they do four sessions of homeschooling, a ridiculously long four hours of “screen time” (movies, computer games, tapping to friends), and at least two hours of being on watch. My daughter also manages the health temperature charts (a requirement for entry into St Lucia) and the ship’s log. They otherwise entertain themselves with reading, playing Lego, fighting and bickering, making storybooks, weaving ARC coloured bracelets to sell in St Lucia, plus their household chores. I am the Galley Slave so I am cooking, cleaning, being a strict homeschool teacher, killing fish, reading, and doing a big chunk of the night shift whilst listening to music. Recently, I have been listening to Billie Eilish, Adam Lambert, Leona Lewis and randomly, Linkin Park (the latter pairs well with squalls). I suspect Captain has ADHD because he is constantly fiddling, tinkering, and pressing buttons. He loves looking for things to improve on the boat - whether its trimming the sails to eke out a fraction more speed or conceiving new ways to make our lives even more happy onboard. He is currently focused on checking the weather and calculating how much fuel we have to play with under different scenarios if we need to put the engine back on.
Thank you to everyone for following our adventure and taking the time to send such kind words of support. Please continue to send in your questions. Keep your fingers crossed that we can complete this journey in time for Captain’s birthday on Wednesday. Having been tee-total since Las Palmas, I’d love to crack open some champagne to celebrate!
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