Crossing the Atlantic Ocean - Part I

We set sail from the Canary Islands on November 27 and charted course for a 2900 nm, 19 day sail to the British Virgin Islands. I'll kill the suspense, we made it exactly on schedule. I'm writing these updates from the Nanny Cay Marine Center on Tortola, BVI. Now back to the update - here is our last look at the Canary Islands. We are hoping for the typical "milk run" to the Caribbean. Nice, following winds and seas for 19 days of blissful sailing and quiet reflection of this beautiful world.

Then again, maybe not. Or maybe snot, cause that is what it was blowing out there.

20-30 kt winds and 10-12 foot seas that seemed to come from all angles.

In sailing parlance, it's called a washing machine. Still pretty to look at, but rough.

The good news is we averaged close to 7 kts for the trip. Very fast.

Good news for my brother Mike, plenty of time for fishing.

And catching fish.

We love Mahi tuna.

Day and night the high seas and high winds continued.

Nice cool breezes though.

A look down Jungle's deck.

Mike heads out to check the line.

A rainbow for our viewing pleasure.

Mike is doing a good job of relaxing.

And catching Mahi.

Thanks to Mike, we had fresh fish every day.

More big waves.

Here's the proud fisherman.

Now a proud fillet master.

Time for some more chillin'. Mike had a tour in Vietnam with the Marines - so this was no big deal.

What he really likes is fishing.

The Admiral is never far away when fish are involved. Excellent supervision.

We have something on the hook!

Dinner! Or, at least hors dourves. This is a 5 lb Mahi.

Time for a pit stop. This is a diesel fuel bladder which holds 125 gallons (500 liters).

It needs a little urging to empty out.

Mike's holding the fuel line into the tank.

I'm still stomping. I feel like I'm making wine!

Time to call in the Marines. The Admiral is also the ships Safety Officer, so she made sure we wore our safety harnesses.

The bag is drained so it's time to roll it up. Oh, by the way it leaked a little. So we'll have some clean up to do - fun times.

1 week into our trip, we did get a one day reprieve from the heavy wind and seas.

We enjoyed the quiet sailing. We'll finish up on the next update. Until then.