Across the Atlantic ⛵

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Trip start
November 18, 2023
Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
Split
November 23, 2023 in Croatia
After a bus ride of a mere 32 hours, I arrived in Split to meet Pixel, the 55ft yacht that will become my home for the coming time. Because of several unexpected repairs and the famous local 'Bora' wind, we were delayed a few days before setting sail. This gave me the opportunity to get to know the rest of the crew.Read more
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
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Palermo
November 30, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
With a mast of 28m high, the sails are beasts! We immediately get an average speed of 7 knots, which unfortunately also involves a lot of leaning and bumping into waves so I'm a bit seasick most of the time 🤢. Life on a boat takes some getting used to; everything you do is an acrobatic balance training (cooking, cleaning, sleeping, going to the bathroom). It's been a while since I've learned so many new things in such a short time, although it's a bit of a baptism of fire. We face a gale and run into multiple squalls while I'm on the helm 🌊🌧️. Luckily, we also stop a few times along the way to hide from storms. On the bright side, I've seen dolphins, Starlink passing by, a beautiful full moon rising and snow-capped Etna.Read more
Jenka Mergaert Hahahahaha classic, al het eten langs alle kanten vliegen! 🤣 love it
12/20/23ReplyTranslate
Michiel Van Ooteghem Goeie foto’s maatje!
1/23/24ReplyTranslate
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
Gibraltar
December 9, 2023 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Just half a day after disembarking from Palermo, the furling line breaks and the main halyard block comes off during rough weather. Luckily, we get creative the next day and find a temporary solution so we can motor on towards safety in Cagliari. After some repairs, we finally get some smooth sailing! Dolphins join us to play at the bow multiple times on the way to Gibraltar and we also spot pilot whales 🐋.

We harbour in La Linea de la Concepción. It's good to set foot on Spanish soil again, I immediately feel back at home. We end up partying here, we're a weird bunch between all the Spanish youth. Once across the border the next day, things couldn't be more British. Gibraltar is a weird place. It's basically a big rock with a town attached to it. For some reason, they also have monkeys here 🐒Read more
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
December 20, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
The first days out of Gibraltar we get to experience the Atlantic at it's best: it's sunny and the waves are very long and smooth. We get time to chill on the bow mattresses for the first time and also get to try out the Gennaker, an orange sail that's twice the size of our other sails! It's beautiful but hard to steer. Our good fortune is short-lived however; soon it's back to what we are used to from the Mediterranean: hard winds and big waves coming from multiple directions 🌊.

Once in Las Palmas, the crew changes and we start preparing for the big crossing. There's a lot of stuff to fix so unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to explore the Island. I do get to climb the mast, which gives me a nice view of Pixel. After 5 days we get the autopilot to work again and we set out on our adventure!Read more
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
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Atlantic Crossing - Part 1
December 30, 2023, North Atlantic Ocean
It's a weird feeling to disembark, knowing that we won't see land for three weeks.

Sailing the Atlantic is much more monotonous, we have the wind from out back basically the whole way. However, the spinnaker pole (helps us to sail wing on wing) and the gennaker sail bring some excitement!Also, better weather conditions means more relaxing than during the Mediterranean. Nothing better than some music , sunshine and the sound of the waves 😎.

On Christmas, we exchange Secret Santa gifts and the crew prepares a typical Swedish meal 🎄

I'm clearly not made for working in shifts. The first week I work 12-4AM and PM, the second week 4-8AM and PM. My average amount of sleep is 3 hours a day 💤Read more
Jenka Mergaert Ohhhhh🦋🦋🦋🦋 the most beautiful view of the sails hahaha
1/19/24Reply
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
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Atlantic Crossing - Part 2
January 7, 2024, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 26 °C
New Year's Eve in the middle of the ocean! We set aside the usual boat rules and celebrated with one glass of champagne and a flare (similar enough to fireworks 🎇). Otherwise, it's business as usual, day in, day out.

Apart from the Spinnaker Pole and the Gennaker sail breaking, it's been pretty smooth sailing. We keep ourselves busy by fishing, working out, reading, games, music and housekeeping. It's nice to disconnect for a while. During this whole trip, we've come across two other sailing boats. Life is simple.

A group of dolphins brightened our day by putting up a real show. They were jumping up to 3 meters out of the water 🐬 Another benefit of the crossing: since the moon has started to fade, the night skies have gotten prettier by the day ✨Read more
Jenka MergaertOhhh smooth! Nice to read 🥰
1/19/24Reply
Michiel Van Ooteghem Classic 😁💪
1/23/24Reply
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
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Saint Lucia
January 11, 2024 in Saint Lucia ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
On January 9th, after 20 days, we finally get to shout the famous words 'land ahoy' and the same evening, we arrive at our destination. We celebrate with the only bottle of wine that we had on board and dinghy to the mainland, only to notice that there is nothing open at this ungodly hour.

The next two days, we explore the neighborhood around the harbour. Beer and marijuana are plentiful, everything else less so. It's not very easy to travel around here except by boat, so this beautiful island remains somewhat of a mystery to me.

Since Martinique is a bigger island where I have a better chance of finding a boat to Colombia, Filip and I start looking for a free boat ride there.Read more
Traveler Miel je doet toch wel weer een beetje gevaarlijk he en slapen in Gewoon bed ben je ook al niet meer gewoon gr
1/20/24ReplyTranslate
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
Martinique - Le Marin
January 14, 2024 in Martinique ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
After an exciting boat ride from Saint Lucia to Martinique, we met up with Dawid, Fillip's friend who also did the crossing and is now boat sitting. He was friendly enough to let us crash on his boat for a few days and we did a few daytrips together by hitchhiking.

The first day we walked through Étang des Salines, a protected coastal area which alternates beautiful beaches with cool mangroves and the next day we snorkeled at Anse Dufour, where I saw a lion fish and a turtle 🐢Read more
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
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Martinique - the north
January 17, 2024 in Martinique ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
I was told that the north is greener and wilder so I said goodbye to Dawid and set out on my own. I hitchhiked to the cheapest accommodation on the whole island and was pleasantly surprised. The view from the only free bed in this tiny hostel was so nice that I even stayed another night! I convinced some other people there to climb the highest mountain - an active volcano that had the deadliest eruption of the 20th C - even though the weather conditions weren't ideal ☁️ 💨 . I also visited a waterfall and a rum distillery (can't leave the Carribean without doing this) and went on a hike around the Caravelle peninsula the next day.Read more
Michiel Van Ooteghem Hey, ho & a barrel o’ rum!
1/23/24Reply
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
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Martinique - Fort-de-France
January 18, 2024 in Martinique ⋅ 🌬 28 °C
Yet another hitchhiking adventure brought me to the capital, where I stayed at Joby's place (a Rasta I met while on the road a few days earlier). Fort-de-France itself is not that interesting but it was fun hanging out with a local and learning about Creole culture.

Martinique is France high on coconuts and reggae. There are creperies and boulangeries everywhere, people speak French (good practice for me), the local currency is Euro, everything is overpriced, Carrefour and Auchan are the most common supermarkets and 99% of the tourists are French 🥖

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find another boat that could bring me (closer) to Colombia, so I'll have to fly to Bogota with a stopover in Santo Domingo ✈️.Read more
Michiel Van Ooteghem Nice beard, guy!
1/23/24Reply
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Across the Atlantic ⛵Traveler
Santo Domingo
Jan 20–22, 2024 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
The capital of the Dominican Republic is the oldest colonial city in the Americas (1496). It's colorful and has a beautiful coastline, but unfortunately there's a lot of pollution, which diminishes its magic.

Since the city's highlights could be seen in half a day, I mostly enjoyed luxuries that were lacking the past 2 months: a private bathroom and decent WiFi 🚿.

After my sailing and Carribean adventure, it's time for a new chapter. South America awaits!Read more
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Trip end
January 20, 2024