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Transatlantic Sailing
  • Mike Zurbrügg

Transatlantic Sailing

Sailing over the atlantic is still one of the big adventures of our time. And one I always read books about it, untill now. Now I did it. Together with 5 friends and a 47 foot sailboat. Read more
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  • Trip start
    November 16, 2018
    Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    Departure

    November 16, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Today the adventure starts. But first i need to pack for 3-4 weeks of nonstop and nonshop sailing. There won‘t be anyplace to get what i‘ve missed so I need to think of everything. Or try to think of everything. And as I‘ve never done such a trip.... there is a whole lot of guessing.

    And here we go from switzerland to teneriffa by plane.

    I‘ll post a full trip video at the end of my trip - but in swissgerman    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    Shopping craze

    November 17, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Yeah, we went shopping crazy. What do. You need to buy for 3-4 weeks of sailing and if things go wrong even a bit more. This is just the nonfrrsh stuff you see. Next day we went for the fresh goods too. Luckily our airbnb let us use the garage for storage, so we didn’t need to carry the stuff upstairs. This. Is about 3 cars full of stuff.

    Our boat started about a week earlier in Malaga Spain with Iwan, Urs and Doris on board. The had a horrible trip to Teneriffa, glad I wasn’t on the boat yet.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    First 24 hours at sea

    November 19, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We‘re starting fast. Sourmthwest. Wind 6-7. the waves are big. Too big for me and rolf. We get seasick. I have to throw up multiple times. I move into managing mode: lying down and sleeping a lot. Managing works although I will have this bad feeling for days. Iwan, Urs and Hansjörg have to do all the sailing up to now. They sometimes almost fall asleep.

    As the automatic windsteering device got broken in a crash a few weeks before the trip we have to sail 24/7 by hand.

    Iwan is the good soul of the boat and he is manning. The kitchen, cleaning and taking care of me. Iif I have to imagine an angel: Iwan!

    In the morning a big dolphin school welcomes us and the enjoy themselves playing around the boat. This catapultes Rolf right out of his seasickness. Me? I’m just excited- still feeling sick.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    3rd day at sea: 20th Nov

    November 20, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We had a good night with some wind pauses. So for the first time we had to use the engine. We have gas for 50 hours in the tank (120 liters) and 80 in carnisters.

    I stink after 3 days without a shower and I probsbly didn‘t brush my teeth up to now. So today is the time for the first bucket shower. To do this you sit and stand at the very rear end and you fill abucket of seawater. Aldi nonsoap shampoo works like a charm with saltwater. And you stap yourswlf with a harness to the end of the boat so you can‘t fall off.

    Iˋm doing much better today. Still on seasickness meds though    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    4th da at sea: wed 21st nov

    November 21, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Iˋm steering my shifts day and night. Night was almost full moon. Awesome 4hour shift all geard up as it is still fresh at night. You see a 360 degree roundvision of stars.

    Iˋm starting to fish. First one bites and tears the rope apart. Must have been a big one. So no fish today :-(

    We enjoy the time and the talks get deeper and more personal. I can learn alot from the others.

    Saw a lot of turtles swimmng by today.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    5th day wind and fish

    November 22, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    The sea is absolut glassy and no wind. Then the rain hits us and the wind is back. But still from the wrong direction. We need to get down into the passat wind stream to carry us west.

    Wind is over and back on the engine.

    Right during breakfast my first MahiMahi fish bites. What a beauty. Gold and blue. Lucky nonfisher me! We finally get in on board and some high percenage alcohol behind the gills kills it. The rest does Rolf with a sharp knife.

    Fish and wind give us a reason to open the first bottle of wine.

    Before it gets dark Hansjörg geta his mini guitar out and we sind ˋblowing in the windˋ and other goaldies. The waves are picking up with the wind to 2-3 meters. Which tilts the boat and gives Hansjörg a wineshower.

    Sry no video of me catching the fish - was. So busy with the fishing.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    6th day at sea

    November 23, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Another shower day. We actually stay pretty clean on this trip. But there were different strategies packing. hansjörg has a neatly packed set of clothes for every week. Iˋve got the lightest pack - so with every shower i need to wash some of my clothes. I didnˋt back rainboots - the crocs will have to do.

    Eventless day which is a good thing out here. One hour before sunset i catch the second Mahimahi (gold-dorado) with my blue lure from williamson. They seem to like them. We bake it in the oven - tastes wonderfull

    We still enjoy each others presence :-)    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    Hansjörgs birthday

    November 24, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    The sky isnˋt clear on my nightshift, as the moon shines superbright on the scttered clouds.

    Itˋs Hansjörgs birthday today and just as he comes out of his bed 2 fish bite. One with Rolf and one second later one with my lure. A boy and a girl Mahimahi. The boys got a big head. What a birthday dinner. It doesń get fresher than this

    With our iridium sat-phone we can stay connected with home through text messages. We need to save minutes for emergencies. So no phone calls.

    Funny on the picture Rolf and me in full gear and Urs in tshirt and shorts. But we just finished the last nightshift - and with all that wind it‘s still fresh at night.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    8th day at sea

    November 25, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Dolphins are jumping. Always a party. Always running to our cameras. I often got the luck to be at the wheel and not to catch those moments on camera :-( at least i can watch them live and not through the small screen of the phone.

    Especially at night the flying fish are jumping accidently on board. They stink. They even manage to dly through a window down into the saloon, and die there and stink. Rolf htes them - even though he is a fisher. I still love them and am always exited to see them flying up to at least 50 meters wide. Awesome and magic.!!!!!

     One week at sea and the boat is rocking nonstop. This is annoying. You can‘t walk without holding on. Can’t sleep without rolling around. Can’t place anything just somewhere without it sliiping.

    We already had two minor accidents. Iwan and Rolf fell under deck and hit their back on the corner of the table. Got some brused rips. This hurts.

    My sickness level drops from a full ten down to a 3 over the last days. nice living again.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    9th day at sea

    November 26, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The bottom-seam of our sail came loose. Not good. So Urs had to go upfront ro sow for 3 hours. We have time.

    The night was a nice collection of rainstorms - storm is too strong. But lots of rain and wind.

    Some nightshifts go well and easy. Others i have to    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    10th day on the atlantic

    November 27, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Today is my 5th fish. This is awesome for the kitchen.

    We have grad man-talks about family, marriage, calling and life. But whats shared on the atlantic stays on the atlantic.

    The mood is great. Everybody has a serving attitude and we cover up each others shortcomings. The guys are really nice to me as I hardly do any kitchen duty - ok i provide the fish - but other than that. I try to do m share of steering and as i manage to eat and steer at the same time i take alot of eating time shifts.

    Rolf lost another lure to a fish :-(. But as the crew tried corned beef they long for fish. You can’t eat that meat - tastes like s....    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    11th day in the middle of nowhere

    November 28, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Hansjörg cooks yesterdays catch. Enough fish for the next 2-3 days. The crew speaks a fishing embargo. I‘m too successfull with my fishing: my Penn roll and my Williamson dorado catcher lures. A blog and youtube made me such a successful fisherman😃

    Urs had the sails fixed in Monenegro. But the guy probably just washed them and only charged for the rennovation. The boat starts slightly to fall apart. The boom that held the sail out broke :-( - just a tiny but all important part of it. Urs is good in fixing stuff and now we use the main boom to hold out the genua sail (front).    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    Halfway there and defects

    November 29, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    At 2 in the morning we‘ve passed our halfway point at 😃 1400 nautical miles. I‘m happy about that, but man, another 1400 to go. I have to keep ot together.

    3 days after last bucket shower. This is nice to be clean again.

    What a great sailing day. Average 6.8 knots. Toospeed over 7.4 for over an hour. The do it yourself rigging works like a charm. The the shock in the evening. the genua-fall - the rope who lifts rhe sail up to the top breaks. The sail is flapping in the wind and our ship looks like a person with its pants down. We need to take the sail down. It tears on th top and destroys something in the rolling mechanism. The sail completely falls to pieces. We‘re completely shocked. The food was still on the table as we had ro act. Lifevests on. Tie in the lifebelts and 3 go on the frontdeck of the ship. We have to ve careful that the beating sail doesn’t hit us with its heavy corners and carabiner hook. Thn a part dmfalls into the water and we need to make shure nothing is caught under the boat or in the propeller

    Our skipper Urs stays cool and we rigg the mainsail to go on.

    155nm is our best day. And to celebrate that we open a coconut.

    I cooked some awesome pasta and Hansjörg some rubbery gurken-salad.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    13 th day - more troubles

    November 30, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    1200 nautical miles to go - a nm is about 1.8km.

    More troubles during the night. A thunderstorm cell passes us. But as it is really dark you dont see it coming. The wind picks up - nice, more speed. The weind is too strong - sugar, we should have made the sails smaller while it wasn’t stormy. I was in bed sleeping when i heard the noise on deck. I just threw my lifevest on and ran up and got soaked right away in the horicontal rain. Hansjörg was just ahead if me and helped to reef the sails. The big noise i‘ve heard was when the boomm came loose and accidentally swang over and fell too hard into rmthe ropes.

    Next morning we saw the damage. The big hit tore some parts and the mainsail had a tiny rip on the backside.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    Day 14 - losing one sail after the other

    December 1, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We rigged the spare genua instead of the mainsail. Thats a lot of work in the rocking waves and with the constant wind fighting you. Two thirds up there seems to be a little problem with the sail.

    The little problem is a bigger one. A tear where tho rollreef got broken. We have to taking it down and go back to the reefed main. 1000 more miles to go and 2 ½ sails gone. We only have one spare one left. And gas for 400 miles.

    But despite that a good sailing day. We take what we get

    Will we make it???    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    Day 15 - fondue on the ocean

    December 2, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We‘ve spilled about 20 coffeepots and other drinks. Don‘t freak out - stay calm. This is normal with 3-4 meter waves.

    The waves are sneaking up from behind. And every 2 minutes there is a big one from a slightly different angle. And boom - we need another roll of household paper to clean up. As i am sitting sideways while i‘m steering i can see the waves coming. I try hard, but still every other off wave rocks the boat uncomfortably.

    I‘m the only sideways steerer of thhe crew, the others standbehind the wheel - which takes alot more work as you have to keep the balance all the time. But it has also to do with the compas positions - which is too high to actually see while seated. I often take one or to pillows. And i only see the compass needle when the boat rocks to the other side or when i lean forward.

    While the body got used to the waves the mind is still sometimes fighting.

    The good talks on board don‘t cease. We find new topics or go deeper. Talk about our leadership, our struggles. How we experience God in everyday life.

    Iwan baket the first bread on board. Awesome, as we finallyran out of bread and are stuck on Wasa and doublebake. Today we enjoyed the fondue we brought from Switzerland. It was awesome 😎

    Despite the big waves and the reduced sail we still make good time with 5.5 knots speed. We should arrive in under 21 days and before our food runs out.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    Day 16 - it gets messy & 2000nm done

    December 3, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Yes with just men on board it surely gets more messy. But within limited boundaries. As you can see our boundry is the cetral table. What a mess. The rest, kitchen & cabins are mostly well organized. This is important as you often have to find your stuff in the dark and fast.

    Strong winds chase us. We‘ve passed the 2000 mile mark. Yeah. A few waves sneak in from behind. I need to make sure my windows are closed. Everything is covered with a salty layer - even my glasses.

    The good talks don’t cease. We‘ve changed the watch scedule so that we have shifts with the other guys.

    Wow 😮 another happy group of dolphins playing with the waves

    Routine and monotony gets us sometimes. 800 miles to go.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    17th day on board- most amazing nightsky

    December 4, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Wow the moon is now gone most of the night. And you can see the milky way with its starclouds and billions of stars in a 360 degree undistracted dome of glory. I feel small. But priviledged. What a marvellous creation.Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    18th day - sail no 3 gone

    December 5, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We see another sailboat on the horizon. Must be number 4. it is so lonely out here.

    The wind lets us down. So we decide we need a larger sail. So not to destroy the damaged mainsail more, we take it down and replace it with sail number 4. a really old but hopefully more robust sail. Should be easy peasy in the light 💡 winds. Just as we try to put the new sail up - which is quite a job with this rollreef constiction - a rainfront hits us out of nowhere and with some windgusts that make the sail shatter like a Harley without exaust. A simple job moves into a sweatdripping fight as the wind tries to steal away the sail. Me and Urs on the mast. I need to keep the sail in line. The rest on the winches trying tonwinch the sail up and also trying to hear our commands in the noise. Finally its up and running.

    Will it get us to martinique or wirhin the 400 mile range where we can use the engine.

    Usually we woud run the engine for an hour a day to cool the fridge and for extra elictricity. But we‘ve stopped doing that in case we lose our last sail too. The fridge is actually warmer than the outside.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    Day 19 - santa is here and 2 fish

    December 6, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    A shaky night and finally morning. Windspeed picks up to a 7 with tunderstorms. A steering mistake leads to more damage on the boat.

    Just in my surfshorts and lifevest i run on deck to help and within seconds i‘m completely soaked. These tradewindrains are wet!!!!!

    I catch my fish 6 and 7. my 10 second fishes. there are these green carpets on the water that get caught in my fishing line all the time. I take off the weight and use only thhe lure. I just let it slip back into the water and let the line go for about 10-15 meter when i see a fish biting. Yeah, dinner is saved. But with 40cm its a bit small for 5 men. Thekitchen wants to start to cook now. I let the fishingline out again and after 10 seconds no 2 bites. Dinner is safes and we don‘t need to eat canned meat. The crew is really really happy.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    20th day dolphin party

    December 7, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    This evening we worship together. Being out here it is easy to see how great our God is. And these men got great voices.

    A happy dolphin party with some really large guys. Awesome.

    Hansjörg cooks a great potato salad with our last potatos. Jummy.

    We have light winds. Too light. But we can use the engine to add speed. 300 miles to go.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    21st day st sea.

    December 8, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Top speed today but the fishing is absolutely successless. We realize it's not for granted to catch any fish.

    Traffic is catchin up towards the Islands. We've seen 3 other boats in one day. Crazy this traffic

    We still it fresh food. Pumpkin! Tastes awesome. But thats the last fresh food we have. Cans here we come.

    Today is movie night with 'rien a declaré'. Fun movie that sets our mind to meet the crazy french on Martinique :-)    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    22nd day - last day on sea

    December 9, 2018, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Tonight we're gonna reach Martinique. yeah. Awesome. How will it be to see land after 22 days.
    The night was quiet with not too much speed. But in the morning wind picks up to 7Bft. A rain cell misses us close shafe. 8 knots speed - not bad.

    Then we see an awesome rainbow.

    We have a time of worship with the tiny guitar and in the midst of the sining dolphins join us. Wow.

    Land!!!!!! Urs shouts and sees the tip of the volcano. Still 35 sm to go. the volcano is 1400 meters high mount pele. Now we can forget compass and gps. We just need to follow the land.

    The tension is rising as it gets darker and darker. Will we make it. We can round the corner of Martinique and toss the anker in a windy and not really suited bay for the night. Tomorrow....    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    Last day at sea

    December 9, 2018, Caribbean Sea ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    The wind picked up good speed during the day.

    Suddenly the dkipper shouts: Land, insee land. He spots a vaguely shade of the 1400 meter high volcano mountain of martinique. Still 35 miles to go.

    We hope we make it at daylight. The miles drag on and on.
    There are some rain clusters that pass us by just barely touching us.    Read more

  • Mike ZurbrüggTransatlantic SailingTraveler

    We did it -finally we reached Martinique

    December 10, 2018 in Martinique ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Last night we couldn't reach the harbor. But today we drive into Port de Plaisance be Le Marin. The night was totally windy and our anchor slipped several times but not too far, so we made it to the morning

    Wow, we did it. after 22 days we stand on solid ground - that shakes slightly. We're very happy and satisfied. Slowly we do our chores, enjoy a very very long real shower, get the sail into reapir and throw away all the trash.

    the next day an expert inspects the mast and rigging of our boat. His comment: 'You lucky men'. The rigging is in bad shape and he thinks we're very lucky that we got all the way across the atlantic without breaking the mast. We're even more thankful now!    Read more

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