We finished our last blog in the Cape Verde Islands as we prepared to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean. This one has been a long time coming, but we want to share our trans Atlantic adventures with you.
Mai Tai was resting in a safe place at the anchorage of Mindelo, Cape Verde, while we waited for the right weather window. Our goal was to find the best sailing conditions for the 2,200-mile passage ahead. Our chosen destination in the Caribbean was Martinique. We estimated this passage would take about 18 days, depending on the actual weather we encountered along the way.
Day 1: leaving Cape Verde. At midday on March 26th, the weather seemed as good as we were going to get. We set sail out of Mindelo Harbour into the channel between the islands of Santo Antão and São Vicente having prepared ourselves to enter this turbulent stretch of water, knowing that once we were in the wind shadow of the mountainous peaks of Santo Antão, we would find calmer waters. Fortunately, that is exactly what happened.
We had left Mindelo with two almost empty water tanks as we did not want to fill them with town water, and making water inside the harbour is generally not a good idea. Making the most of these very calm conditions, we turned on the engine to motor slowly while running our watermaker. To do this, we need to keep the engine running at 1,100 RPMs. With our sails set wing-on-wing and the windvane steering us nicely in a 15 knot breeze, we filled both of our 220 litre water tanks. Our engine driven water maker produces 120 litres per hour.
The calm seas did not last. Once we left the protection of the island, the sea became very choppy and uncomfortable, making me feel really seasick. By nightfall, the seas were very rough, but there was enough wind to keep us moving forward under the guidance of our trusted windvane. The weather forecast suggests this should calm down tomorrow. Let’s hope so—my poor stomach does not do well in these conditions!
Day 2: Settling In to our new adventure. Big northerly swells continued today. However, with the wind holding at 15 knots and a clear blue sky, we enjoyed ideal sailing conditions with one reef in the mainsail and the No. 2 jib. I am beginning to feel much better now, just making sure I drink enough water.
Before leaving Mindelo, I prepared 4 meals to have in the refigerator, so I didnt have to cook in the first days. We don’t have a freezer, but once I get my sea legs, I dont mind being in the galley as long as I have plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
From Day 4 onwards, we experienced 18- to 20-knot squalls through the night, leaving behind a very sloppy sea. We spent most of our time in the cockpit under our hard dodger, where we are very well protected, dry, and comfortable. We rarely need to go forward to the foredeck in these conditions, but Lane still does a tour of inspection at least twice a day, checking for any chafe on the working lines.
Day 7: Changing time zones. Today we changed our clocks to GMT minus 2 hours to fit in with the local time zones as we continue heading west.
The nightly squalls continue, but the weather is getting decidedly warmer. We have settled deeply into our 3-hour watch routine. One of us remains in the cockpit keeping a constant eye on sailing conditions and ship traffic, while the other goes below for 3 hours of sleep. This routine has worked well for us for many thousands of miles at sea.
Day 8. April 3rd Easter Good Friday and a beautiful full moon to help us celebrate our halfway point. We have officially sailed just over 1,000 nautical miles!
April 5th . Day 10: Happy 23rd Anniversary to us and what an adventure we are living. We will celebrate when we reach Martinique.
Day 12: Changing time zones again as we continue to head west. Now GMT minus 3 hrs.
The weather remains challenging. Nightly 20-knot squalls toss us about in choppy seas, but from the comfort and security of our cockpit, we admire how Mai Tai seems to love these conditions. She dances effortlessly in the waves. Lane calls her our Magic Carpet. We are now sailing with two reefs in the main, keeping Mai Tai very well balanced. Balance is critical when steering solely with a windvane device.
During the day, we can see the squalls appearing on the horizon before they hit us with force, throwing Mai Tai around and raining buckets. Once they pass, the night skies become super clear, showing off brilliant starry constellations until the next one hits. Because we can’t see them coming at night, we often turn on our radar to track them clearly. This gives us a heads-up to douse sails if we need to. They can often hit with 30 knot gusts of wind, and if you are caught unaware, bad things can happen.
Day 14. What did we ever do before Starlink?! The entire time out here, we have been able to keep in touch with our family and friends. In less than a week, we will be making landfall, so we are already beginning to make plans to meet up with cruising friends. More importantly, we can now complete our Customs and Immigration clearance online before we even arrive. Soon after arrival, we still have to take our paperwork and passports to the Customs Office, but the pre-registration makes the process so much quicker and more efficient.
Fishing. All our friends keep asking about all the huge fish we must be catching and dining on every day. Alas, we have not been very successful with catching fish, despite dreaming of adding fresh tuna or mahi-mahi to our daily menu. In the Western Atlantic, you encounter what is known as the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt—a massive expanse of free-floating seaweed stretching from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. While this brown seaweed provides food and refuge for marine life, it hooks onto our trailing fishing lures constantly. It also catches on our windvane rudder. Lane has to clear it often so it doesn’t interrupt the water flow the rudder needs to work efficiently.
Day 15: The Final Stretch. We have just 200 nautical miles left to go to our chosen anchorage on the southern end of Martinique. As we approach the island, we are battling conditions ranging from 5 to 30 knots of wind, alongside strong currents and heavy seas. We need to execute huge tacks to ensure we round the southern tip of the island so we can sail upwind to our anchorage in daylight. These conditions are typical when sailing between the larger Caribbean islands, as the strong Atlantic winds and seas are forced through the narrow gaps of the Windward Islands.
Today, I wrote in my log:
“Beautiful sailing all afternoon and I am still finding enough fresh food to make a hot meal. We were down to our last tomato, onion, and green pepper to make one last piperade tonight. Our green bananas ripened slowly, and I was able to pick them one by one as they turned yellow during our passage.”
Our good friends on Adventurous, who were already at anchor, messaged us to say they were off to the supermarket and asked if we needed anything. Being a French island, I thought a nice fresh baguette would be amazing!
Day 16: Landfall in Martinique!
At dawn on April 12th, we could see Martinique on the horizon. We were finally on our final run to the Sainte-Anne anchorage. By midday, we were dropping our anchor in a beautiful, open, well-sheltered bay surrounded by dozens of other cruisers.
The anchor was barely down when we looked up to see our friend Michael, with whom we had cruised during Covid times in Indonesia, paddling over with a fresh baguette! He was right on the heels of Jaynee and David, who arrived with another baguette and a smoked chicken. What a welcome!
Tomorrow morning, we will take our passports to Customs and Immigration to complete our check-in.
And that is our Atlantic crossing.
The Final Trip Stats:
- Total Distance: 2,257 nautical miles
- Total Time: 16 days, 12 hours
- Engine Hours: Only 8 hours of motoring
- Daily Average: 136 nautical miles per day
It was not record-breaking, but we sailed very conservatively and had absolutely no breakages on this passage. However, we do need to get our autopilot sorted out. We are forever thankful for our excellent, heavy-duty windvane, which managed the steering for the entire passage, no matter what weather we encountered.
We truly enjoy the ocean passages, but we are always very happy to be safely anchored in a bay surrounded by the cruising community. Every cruiser admits that one of the most rewarding parts of this lifestyle is meeting so many like-minded people who quickly become friends for life. We love to meet up on the local beaches for sundowners, watching the sunset and trying not to think too much about all those boat maintenance jobs waiting for us. That can be a problem for another day!
Sainte-Anne is a delightful town of 4,500 people, located just an hour’s drive from the airport and the capital, Fort-de-France. The dinghy dock is right in town close to a small supermarket, a pharmacy, the church, open-air fresh food and fish markets, and plenty of local bars and cafes. We are spoiled for choice when picking a venue to eat out with friends.
While we can get all the essentials right here, a short bus trip takes you to le Marin, another township with a big selection of ship chandleries, haul-out yards, riggers, and repair shops to satisfy every boater’s desires. It features a massive marina with 830 berths and hundreds of mooring buoys. It is a highly protected harbour where boats come to shelter during the hurricane season.
Le Marin also has no shortage of supermarkets offering an impressive range of French foods and bakeries. A real favorite place for cruisers is Plus Belle Prix, a supermarket right on the water’s edge with its own dedicated dinghy dock. Best of all, it is the cheapest place in town! This is where we will provision for our next few months of cruising the Caribbean, with the wonderful choice of delicious French products.
We love the colourful friendly people here. It is going to be hard to say goodbye.
We won’t be staying stationary here for long, though, as we want to explore more of Martinique, then the island of Dominica to the north. Then, we are incredibly excited to have my son, Loïc, and his gorgeous Lauren, coming to join us on our passage south to St Lucia.
That will be for our next blog!
Its so nice to experience this journey with you.closest we will get to sailing the atlantic but thanks for sharing your experiences.you must be in for many more travel adventures.cant wait to hear
Enjoyed reading your lat st adventures. Enjoy the French islands in the Caribbean. Am envious. Dominican Republic still on my list. 😊