Author: Will

After 15 nights at sea, land was sighted (where it should have been) on Sunday 26 May. We have had a good trip from Fort Louis, St Martin, though large portions have been in very light winds, and other parts in seriously strong winds. We endured a night of terrific thunder and lightening, 2 days and nights of torrential rain and 6 days where we did not see the sun. For the sailing part it was nearly all a broad reach on white sails, but the Bora Parasailor did make a very useful appearance for 9 hours, covering around 40nm as the wind dropped. That 40nm has made all the difference to our ability to motor the last 36 hours in the light airs.

2 am, pitch black and the lightening is awesome and terrifying.

Fishing wise we caught a lovely Mahi Mahi at the beginning of the trip but other than that have failed to land anything else. We did have 2 large fish on, so large that we could not even hold them on the reel, let alone start winding them in. The fish just made a run, stripped the line of the reel and than snap went the line. We also had a stowaway for a couple of days, a small yellow coloured finch. The custom of hands to bathe was followed a few days out whilst the wind was non-existent.

We have suffered relatively little damage on the crossing. Just the big genoa requires looking at. Some of the stitching is coming undone along the seams, a panel is flapping and we can see a few small holes. Luckily the sailmaker in Horta seems confident that they can sort out the issue next week. There is also some bad chafing on the genoa sheets, but that is easily resolved.

Despite all of this, we still had some wonderful sunsets/sunrises, even if we did go 5 days without seeing the sun.

2 sunrises and a sunset – can you tell which is which? (A clue, we are heading in an Easterly direction).

For those that have followed the updates on Yellowbrick our destination in The Azores has changed a few times, but we are now back to Plan A, Horta. We did think it would be pleasant to visit the most Westerly on the islands, Flores, but it is unclear how easy it is to get fuel there and they have very limited facilities. We then thought we would go to Ponta Delgada, the large marina on the most Easterly island. They have plenty of space and it would put us a day closer to the UK. However, a combination of fuel concerns and being turned down by the sailmaker prompted us to revert to Plan A and Horta. Our sail is now in the repair shop and we hope to have it back in a few days. The marina and anchorage at Horta is jam packed. The harbour master took pity on us and allowed us to spend our first night alongside the fuel dock. This made life convenient and also meant that we were first in the queue for fuel the next morning. By the time we were refuelling, there were another 3 boats rafted alongside us all waiting to fill up with diesel and water. We have also deposited a large load of smelly clothes at the serviced laundry.

Dolphins on the last day as Failal appears with Mt Pico above the clouds.

We now intend to spend a few days recovering in Horta, repair the genoa, refuel, charge up the batteries, fill the water tank and get more fresh supplies. We envisage departing Horta around 31 May/1 Jun depending on weather, sail repairs and whether we can squeeze in a short visit to another island. The aim is to get back to the UK in time for the crew to participate in the annual RTI race that commences in Cowes on 15 June.

Valent at anchor Horta with Pico in the background. The crew enjoying a well deserved meal at Peter’s bar after arriving.

For those that like some stats, we spent 15 nights at sea, the total crossing time was 15 Days and 5 Hrs. We covered a distance of around 2,300nm and motored for 136hrs or about 1/3 of the way. This is more than hoped but as expected given the light airs forecast at the start.

While Valent is making progress towards the Azores, Suzy, Lucy and Sophie have returned safely to the UK and are currently staying with Suzy’s sister Alex in Bookham. Luckily we brought some of the warm weather back with us, at least for the first few days. We will be going to the Lake District to stay with Will’s parents next week, before returning south for half term week. We’re adjusting to life back in the UK and are looking forward to catching up with friends and family over the next few weeks, before we move back onboard Valent for a couple of months once she has returned to England.

Valent is back at sea and on her way home to the UK. The crew of Alex, Noah & Sean joined in Antigua over the first few days of May and spent a few days acclimatising to the heat and humidity of Jolly Harbour. Suzy, Lucy & Sophie moved off Valent on Sunday 5 May. After a farewell visit to Shirley Heights for the Sunday night party we were ready for departure on Monday 6 May. We delayed our departure until after lunch to ensure that we would arrive in Fort Louis, St Martin during daylight hours. Not only did we have a good shakedown sail, but within 2 hours of putting the fishing rod out we had a lovely 4kg Black Fin Tuna on board. Tuna steaks for dinner, Tuna Tartare for lunch and a bit left in the freezer.

An enjoyable (though occasionally bumpy) sail saw us arrive outside Fort Louis on the French side, around 7am where we anchored for a few hours before proceeding into the marina. The plan was then to fully stock the boat with fresh produce, make sure that the water and fuel tanks were full and everything as ready as possible for the off. There were only 2 problems with this plan, 1. Wednesday became a day of torrential rain, and 2. Thursday turned out to be a public holiday on the Dutch side which naturally a lot of the French businesses copied.

St Martin is a small and beautiful island at the northern end of the Leeward Islands. The island is divided across the middle, the French have the North and the Dutch have the South. An amusing story (with no historical evidence whatsoever to support it) is that the French and Dutch were so civilised that they decided to divide the island without a fight. Instead a Frenchman with a bottle of wine set off from one side, and a Dutchman with a flask of gin from the other side. Where they met became the boundary, and so the story goes the French got slightly more because the gin was stronger than the wine. In 2017 the island was badly damaged by hurricane Irma, some of the damage still being very visible. The marina is overlooked by the remains of Fort Louis which is approached by a colourful path and affords a a lovely view over the bay & marina.

On the way across from Antigua we had finished doing some inspections and found that the clew of the main sail was badly frayed. Another job to get fixed. We also decided that given the light winds forecast for the crossing we should ensure that the bottom of the boat was as clean as possible. After a few phone calls we found a sailmaker on the Dutch side who could repair our sail before Friday, and a diver who was available Friday morning. Over the next few days we packed, cleaned and shopped. Having exhausted the nearer supermarkets Alex and I took a taxi to the large Carrefour over in Philipsburg (the Dutch capital) and filled 2 trolleys with Fruit & Veg. A few hours later, all was stowed, the fridge stuffed full and we were ready. There was still time to go up the mast and do a final check before a last crew meal out and Saturday morning departure.

We spent a few hours on Saturday morning alternating between anchoring, fuel dock and final preparations. The fenders needed tying under the dinghy which then needed lashing down. The Watt&Sea generator and Hydrovane needed setting up and the lazarette locker needed to be repacked now that we had finished with ropes. Finally after a cup of tea and slice of freshly baked cake we were ready to depart just after midday. We also decided to immediately do our first hour change moving to UTC-3 which will leave us with 3 more hour changes before the Azores.

Farewell to St Martin and land. Only 2,178 miles to the Azores and our next landfall.

We have had an enjoyable first 24 hours, mainly sailing but with a few hours of motoring when the wind got light. During the night we were treated to a distant lightening show, and as day broke the clouds were visible on the horizon and the radar picked up a severe squall around 8 miles away. On with the engine, alter course 30 degrees, Genoa away and Main half furled we did our best to avoid the worst of it whilst also going in the correct direction. The plan was successful with no rain and only a short period of wind in the mid 20kt range. We are now back to sailing around 5.5kts, heading North of the direct course seeking the stronger and more consistent winds towards the Azores.

The ominous squall and thunderstorm. Very glad to avoid it.

With her crew now arrived and ready to depart, Valent set sail from Jolly Harbour Antigua this afternoon, Monday 6th May, on the start of her Atlantic crossing. Left to right beside Will in the photo below are Sean, Noah and Alex.

The plan is to go initially north to Saint Martin as a short first sail, to complete provisioning there over a few days, and then to sail direct to the Azores, although with a possibility of going via Bermuda if weather conditions dictate. From the Azores the route goes direct to the UK, aiming for Plymouth, although as always with sailing, plans are subject to change!

To follow Valent’s progress at sea, you can look at our blog page “How to Follow us at Sea”, and choose the first link, which is the Yellow Brick tracker. (The other two links only work when Valent is close to land and therefore will not work across the Atlantic). There will also be blog updates from Valent as their journey progresses.

Saint Barts is a very chichi and very French island, full of designer shops and superyachts – very different to laid-back Saint Kitts and Nevis! Planes fly low over your head to reach the landing strip a short distance across the other side of the island.

We anchored outside the main town, Gustavia, which was Swedish owned for nearly a century from 1784. The three crowns from the Swedish coat of arms are in Saint Barts’ coat of arms, and the street names are still shown in both French and Swedish.

After exploring Gustavia we moved along the coast and took a mooring buoy in Colombier, a much quieter bay in Saint Barts’ nature reserve, with clear water and sea turtles everywhere. Anchoring is restricted to preserve the sea grass for the turtles to feed on. The girls wasted no time in leaping off the side of the boat into the water, one of their favourite pastimes on our trip!

We hiked up to the Colombier viewpoint, from where we could see Valent below and the island of Saint Martin in the distance.

Our friends on fellow ARC/ARC+ boats Epiphany and Gian were also in the same bay, which provided a good opportunity for a get-together on Valent.

Little did we realise that this would be the last time we would see both boats in the Caribbean, as they were both due to head north to Saint Martin, where they would join the ARC Europe rally back across the Atlantic starting on 11th May. Our plan was to go south to Antigua instead to pick up our new crew for our own Atlantic crossing.

We had intended to stay in Saint Barts for at least another day, but as so often with sailing, our plans changed as we reviewed the weather forecast for going south. The wind was due to strengthen and turn in the wrong direction on Tuesday 30th April when we had originally planned to travel, so instead on the Monday we headed back to Gustavia to check out, and then set off on the 75 mile journey to Antigua at 5.30 pm for an overnight passage.

Almost immediately on leaving Saint Barts we were hit with 20+ knots of wind across the boat, an unsettled sea state and large waves crashing over the bow, making the cockpit a damp place to sit. With the boat heeled over and rolling uncomfortably, both girls chose to go to bed at 6.30 pm and three out of four of us decided against dinner. The wind and the motion calmed down overnight, but it was a reminder of how even in the Caribbean the weather can turn against you with no warning.

So we are now safely back in Jolly Harbour, Antigua, in the marina this time, which makes a nice change from the boatyard. The new crew has arrived: Alex, Noah and Sean, and Lucy, Sophie and I (Suzy) will soon fly back to the UK, to be reunited with Will and the crew there in around a month. We are sad to be finishing our Caribbean adventure, and leaving behind all the wonderful people we have met and spent time with, particularly family boats Saltair and Epiphany. We will still live on Valent in the UK for a couple of months over the summer and explore the UK south coast though, so there’s still time for more adventures!

We’ll write another blog entry when Valent is ready to set off from Antigua, including a reminder of how to follow their progress while they are at sea.