Sailing in Caribbean – Sailing with Saphir

St Lucia to Antigua

The day after the big finale, it’s time to move Saphir from the SuperYacht dock to the regular dock as we will stay until April 28. We begin by spending three days in a villa with Karen & Chris, Julia & Jeff, Matt & Fiona, Cheryl & Ken, Cory & Luc, Clare, Maria & Oscar. What a place, absolutely fantastic with a pool, and we didn’t have to wash dishes or cook dinner. A perfect ending to our round-the-world sailing. No obligations, just enjoyment. The next meeting is already booked.

Back on the boat, I get help removing the salt from the hull and cleaning the interior. It’s so nice to have that done occasionally. I take the opportunity to continue sewing some more sailcloth boxes. I try cutting out letters and numbers from the Sailrite fabric I bought for our hatches. It’s quite fiddly to cut out, but it turns out well. Unfortunately, I run out of my navy blue thread, so I can’t continue sewing on the letters/numbers. I find some glue, which I use to stick them on. I can’t find any place nearby to buy thread, so I have to wait to sew them on. We say goodbye to Solana V, Renegade, Matilda, and Lover of the Light.

We stay for a few days, waving off one by one as they head out. There are a few last dinners with our friends before we also say goodbye to Karen and Chris, but we know we will see them in August at the latest when they come to visit us in Sweden.

We head north! Our next stop is Martinique, where we will receive our new D1s. On the first night, we anchor and have a fantastic lunch with everyone on board Brainwave, Navilus, and Kaja, which ends with a swim in the sea and a lovely sunset.

We motor into Le Marin and dock between two large motorboats. We have total shelter and are not visible from land. The next day, we have an appointment to get our D1s made. Edgar goes over with our damaged ones and is informed that they can’t handle them, but maybe on Tuesday or Wednesday, Thursday is closed. It all ended up with Edgar sitting outside on Friday at 2:30 PM waiting while they manufactured them. We installed them ourselves, and now we hope the rest of the rigging is okay. Edgar also managed to find a guy who could change the shaft packing on our water pump. He came on Tuesday and promised to return the next day. Ha ha ha, we thought, and on top of that, Thursday was a public holiday, so maybe he could come on Friday. On Friday, Edgar tries to contact the mechanic but with no luck, so he asks the dock guy to call the mechanic, who also does not get a response. But shortly after, the mechanic contacts him and wants to come on Monday. Eventually, Edgar manages to convince him to come on Saturday. Which he did, though a little later than promised. The whole job took 30 minutes, so one wonders why it took so long. The harbor office was closed, which meant we couldn’t check out and leave Martinique. In hindsight, we could have just anchored at the beach and enjoyed swimming and sunbathing, especially since it was unbearably hot. On the positive side, I walked quite a bit, and we had good food every day without me needing to cook it. Some stops don’t always go as planned, especially when things need to be fixed on the boat by others. Our patience has truly been tested and has improved more and more, with Edgar improving more than I.

Sunday morning arrives, and we finally set off, and the best part is that we sail. Extra joyfully, we see dolphins this time, small ones jumping high out of the water. It’s about 120 nautical miles up to Guadeloupe, so it’s barely a day’s sail. The anchor went down Monday morning outside the village of Deshaies, which is the place where “Death in Paradise” is filmed. Unfortunately, we missed them by a day. They were probably somewhere else on the island. Others who had been there had seen the whole filming crew and met the new commissioner.

Finally, I can swim from the boat again. I manage to take a dip before the sky opens up. At the same time, I see Seamonster with Gen and Jerry coming in to anchor for the night. When the rain stops, the bottom of the dinghy is filled with water, so we just have to scoop out the water. It has been a long time since we’ve had this much rain.

Gen and Jerry came over for a sundowner and brought a Kalukela, a rum they bought on the island that we tried. It was one of the best rums I’ve tasted. We continued our evening with dinner at La Savane, a nice little restaurant by the beach. We had a fun evening, which we ended with a little walk to see some of the famous buildings from “Death in Paradise.”

We were in two minds about whether to stay here and set off for the Azores or head up to Antigua and Jolly Harbour, where some other ARC boats were also docked, and we decided on one more island and a few nautical miles closer to the Azores.

We sailed up to Antigua in the morning. Seamonster also left but was headed to English Harbour to fix their rigging. We had a wonderful sail up with sun and warmth. The closer we got, the more the clouds gathered, and of course, when we dock at the customs dock, it pours down. Edgar was not too pleased with these bureaucrats. They were a bit grumpy and wanted to show some power. I think it’s the first time we’ve encountered such sour officials, as everyone else has been very nice. Luckily, the harbor master was pleasant and very helpful when we docked at the pontoon. Even the rain had stopped but lingered in the air. When we finished, I saw that Amanzi was a boat away from us. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t meet Mark and Clare as they had crew sailing their boat home. Kaja is also at the dock, getting ready to sail one step closer to home. They don’t have to cross the Atlantic since they are going to the USA, a bit envious especially since they will go via the Bahamas. In the evening, we meet up with them again, Bahati, and Escaped of London.

Sian and I go out and snorkel around the three small islands by the entrance. A little hazy sun, so not the best visibility, but we see some beautiful corals and a small turtle and a little stingray.

In the coming days, we keep ourselves busy during the day with usual activities like laundry, maintenance, shopping, preparing food, etc., and in the evenings, we meet our friends who leave the island one by one.

On May 9, we leave Antigua to sail to the Azores and wave goodbye to Bahati, who is staying a few more days to wait for their crew.

Now we have 2200 nautical miles ahead of us with varied weather, hoping to be in port on May 25-26.

Hugs Eva

Celebration with World Arc

It was nice to lie still for yet another week. I managed to clean and do laundry, and I even brought out the sewing machine after we went to the village and bought canvas for the forward hatches. The only water-repellent material I have on board is sailcloth, and it’s too stiff for the hatches. The hatches gets sun protection, clothes are being repaired and some re-sewn into linen, I’m also sewing a storage bag for the clothespins, and I’m sketching and planning how the last part of the Arc flag will look. We are six boats that will fit in the last available spot. I’ve decided to use sails with the names of the boats. I sewed one and will leave the rest to finish in Marigot Bay.

During the week, the Swedish catamaran Think Twice showed up with Björn and Nilla, who are on their way to Trinidad. The next boat to arrive is Cepa with Britta and Thomas, with whom we did the first part of the Arc around the world. Another pleasant surprise was that Rebecca, also from the last Arc, showed up. It was so nice to see each other, even if it was just for a short while.

The rest of the week went smoothly with some more grocery shopping, knitting, reading, and socializing with the other Arc boats that came in one by one to Bequia.

On Monday morning at 5:30 AM, we cast off and headed up to Marigot Bay, arriving at the dock by 3:30 PM.

Now we have a few days before the others arrive. I take the opportunity to prepare to sew some storage boxes and bags from sailcloth by cutting out the different pieces before bringing out the sewing machine.
The first sewing is finishing the flag. Those who have their own logo get it sewn into the sail, while the others I write on with a marker and zigzag stitch. I let my creativity flow a bit and try to create some waves and a whale fin. It’s so much fun to sit at the sewing machine and be creative. The flag itself is a trophy that is given to a boat that has done something special on a crossing, which in turn decorates it with, among other things, its boat name. I also made two boxes and a bag. The boxes are for Andrew and Swade as a little memory from me and Edgar, and the bag is for Sian on Bahati, as it’s their sailcloth I used. In between, I help decorate the boat by hoisting signal flags at the bow and the national flags of the places we have visited at the stern.

In the following days, our Arc friends arrive, and the celebration begins. One evening, there’s a Rompunch sundowner offered from the harbor, and the loo Arc treats us to a sunset cruise on a catamaran with food, drinks, and dancing that continues until we’re back in the harbor. It was an incredibly fun evening. The next day, we take it easy and hang by the pool with several of the others.

Saturday, April 19, is a bustling day at the dock. Today is the big day when we have all decorated the boats with flag displays and are ready to sail in an escorted group up to Rodney Bay, where the finish line for World Arc 2024-2025 is located. It’s an amazing experience to end the sailing this way, with all the boats lined up. However, it seems not everyone has complete control of their boats, as some are maintaining very wide distances or steering out of line, but we made it to Rodney Bay and crossed the finish line, receiving a fantastic welcome from our Arc friends from 2023-2024. Onboard Renegade are Julia and Jeff, of course, Ken and Cheryl, Maria and Oscar, Luc and Cory, and Clare. Once we docked, we enjoyed amazing music, snacks, Rompunch, and other drinks. What a wonderful atmosphere it was now that everyone had arrived. It was one big hug fest filled with cheers, congratulations, and dancing, which ended with most of us jumping into the water.

In the evening, we had our farewell dinner with a slideshow from the entire journey, and Swade and Andrew gave fantastic speeches to each boat and its crew, and we also got to share a bit about ourselves. The evening concluded with dancing before it was time to take the bus back to the boat. We enjoyed a nightcap onboard Mistral before it was time to crawl into bed. We fell asleep with big smiles and tired feet.

Our body boat true good and bad Karen&Chris

Here, our adventure with Arc World comes to an end, but our Arc boat friends remain, and we will surely see some of them again very soon.

We continue to sail and so will the blog. Now we only have 6.000nm left to get home which is nothing compared to the 36.000nm we have done since we left Sweden.

Hugs Eva

We have sailed around the World and celebration have started!

Wow, absolutely incredible!!! We have sailed around the world. Our own path has been crossed. We are five boats that have sailed around the world here in Grenada while most have done it when we arrive in St. Lucia in mid-April, where the big celebration is going to be or have been since at this writing moment it is 15 May and we are on our way to Azores. But first let’s go back to our arrival in Grenada on the 22of March.

For three days, we were busy cleaning and fixing on our boat, and in the evenings, we had great parties on the dock with our friends. Dancing late on Fatjax and drinking rom punch and Abides Sangria we learned is dangerous strong. The marina also wanted to celebrate our arrivals with a rom punch sundowner party.

Edgar was doing different maintenance and I was busy organizing the boat, emptying both cabins for our friends Linda, Kalle, Leif, and Marita, who will sail with us up to St. Lucia. That was the plan, but now we’ll have to rely on the engine, so we’ll see how far we get. We won’t have our new D1s, (which we ordered to Martinique), until the end of April. Thankfully, the engine is working, and the distances between the islands aren’t too long. The only thing we don’t want is too many waves that put extra strain on the mast.

Our friends surprised me by showing up earlier than I expected. They arrived during our ladies’ lunch. It was so wonderful to see them. It has been a while since we met at our cabin. I’m looking forward to spending time together again and showing them parts of the Caribbean. First, they will join us for our festivities for another day, culminating in a prize-giving dinner.

Both D1s rolled and attached to the boat.

We leave the harbor in the morning of the 27 of March and set off towards Sandy Island. It was a tough start for our friends with a very bumpy sea as soon as we got out a bit, and it got worse when Grenada didn’t shield us from the waves. Normally, we travel at 6 knots with the engine, but unfortunately, we encountered a strong current between the islands, so we only made 3.5 to 4 knots. This meant the journey took an extra two hours. When we arrived, I was glad that Kalle and Leif were with us when we docked at the buoy. It wasn’t easy in the strong wind and waves. Despite the lack of sun and calm weather, it didn’t stop us ladies from swimming before dinner. For safety reasons, I tied a fender with a long line from the boat. It turned out to be a wise decision, since as soon as we got into the water, the current took hold of us.

The next morning we navigate into Tyrel Bay to check out from Grenada. As we go along the coast, it is very clear how badly the storm hit here in Carriacou, with trees down, empty houses, and boats washed up against the rocks. The storm was strongest here and around the islands up to Union Island and over to Tobago Keys, which is very evident as we continue sailing past these islands.

We spent one night in Chathambay, and there was not much left. However, we had a lovely afternoon and evening on board with swimming, trying out the paddleboard (which still leaks a bit), enjoying sundowners, and having a fantastic dinner prepared by Linda and Marita. Our attempt to check in here failed as it was a bit too far to walk in the heat, so we chose to head to Canuan and Sandy Lane Marina. Once there, we got a ride to the airport for check-in and walked back. We enjoyed the pool and the sea for two days before we made our way up to Bequia.

Even though Port Elisabeth is a large and sheltered bay, it was quite rolly and very windy. After two days and some seasickness, we moved to a mooring bouy closer to shore. The rolling eased but not the wind. After checking the weather, we realized that the conditions were not good for reaching St. Lucia in the next few days, so we looked for the best way for our friends to get from Bequia to Martinique. There are flights, but they go via Bermuda and were fully booked. Eventually, it worked out: ferry to St. Vincent, flight to St. Lucia, and ferry to Martinique. Now we can relax and enjoy the last days before they leave Bequia.

The weather varies with sun, rain, and wind, but it doesn’t stop us from taking a trip around the island. Many beautiful views, but also a bit tragic how the Atlantic side of the island has been affected in recent years, with lots of seaweed making it tough for hotels to attract guests since the beaches are filled with meters-high piles of seaweed. It’s not pleasant to swim when it is so far out in the water, and we won’t even mention how it smells. Coming from the west coast and being used to the smell of seaweed, I can say that this is worse. It was nice to be back at the boat, enjoying the lovely sandy beaches, Port Elisabeth, and everything the village has to offer. There was some swimming, snorkeling, drinks at sunset, good food, drinks, and lots of laughter, along with a game night or two. Time flies when you’re having fun, so it’s time to wave goodbye to our friends on Saturday morning. We will stay another week as our reunion with the Arc is on April 15 in Marigot Bay, which is the next island.

To continue…..

Hugs Eva

Days in Shelterbay

Saphir went up on land and we check in to the hotel in Shelterbay. It is very nice to sleep in a air conditioned room so we decided not to sleep on the boat when it is on land. The hotel was full so we book a room in Colon. Not a place where you feel safe walking around in and it is very poor and many broken houses

A bit shopping was also done with Lorraine and Annie. Trying to find a new pare of good walking sandals since I manage to forget mine on one of the island in SanBlas.Not easy to find they only have flip flops and sneakers. It was so nice to have two hours going shopping . Ended up with a Panama hat, basing suit and some groceries. Me and Edgar went shopping and got a ride back home to the boat from the shop. Now we should have enough of soft drinks,beer and wine until New Zealand we think…. We are good to go on the Panama Canal after inspection from the canal. On the skippers briefing we was inform how we will attach our boats to each other when we go in the locks and how we will attach us during the night on a big buoy. We are the middle boat in the nest.

I joined a guided tour with Sara of Sweden and parts from BlueSunshine to Gatun locks which is the first lock we are going trough in the Panama Canal. The museum is where the new lock is, not the old where we are going trough. It was very interesting and fascinating to see. The locks are huge 55m wide and 427 long and these are only for the enormous big ships. The pools are for reuse the water and safes around 50% that would have just gone out in the ocean. It is not only the locks that keeps control of the lake not flooding. There is a trap door that when it is open it provides with electricity.

The ARC organised a guided tour to one of the natives village Embera village in Charge national park. This was a fantastic trip. First an hour in the bus then 45 min in canoe until we reached the village. They live very close to how they always have lived. Although even they are getting effected/ influenced what happens in the rest of the world. They have a school that is provided from the government up to 6 grade and after that they go to school in the nearby city. Some stay and some comes back to live in the village. In this village there was 132 people living in 40 different houses. One of there income is to sell products that they make. We bought some baskets that are made out of bamboo. They use leaf, nuts ect to colour the bamboo. We had a lovely lunch served on bamboo leafs, and some dancing. We really enjoyed our day here in the jungle.

Tomorrow our crew comes to help us trough the canal.

Hugs Eva

SanBlas a place in paradis.

We had few lovely days in this paradise before we left for Shelterbay to lift the boat. This is paradis, wish we could stay for more days. Easy relaxing life at SanBlas anchoring and just jump in to the water, walk around the island, meeting our sailing friends, grill party , snorkelling ,paddling (getting better). Lots of pictures for you to enjoy.

Last dip in Caribbean for this time. Next time it will be in the Pacific. Lots of boats near the entrens to the canal. Up again with the boat to get it painted before we leave for Galapagos.

Hugs Eva

Santa Marta to SanBlas 240NM or 430 km ish

Time to sail over to SanBlas. Looking forward seeing this paradise in about 40 hours. We got company buy these two lovebirds that probably have started build a nest. Hope they just started to build a nest.

Start shot came and we sail east and some of is slightly more south. After a couple of hours we came in to a really dirty water. This is from the river that comes out next to the city Barranguilla. From other boats we learn to be careful and keep good watch since there might come a three or anything else in the water that the river brings along.

Lovely sunsets and sunrise. Love them and continue pinching my arm to realise that we are hear and doing this fantastic adventure. We didn’t see many other boats with our eyes ther came a ship and also our friend boat Enalia suddenly cross just in front of us.

Almost at the finish line. Count down. We need to pass 078 30 000 W and at 02 58 23 we passed the finish line. It took us around 4 hours more before we where anchored in Holandais Cay close to our friends on Sara of Sweden. This looks fantastic and here we will stay for some days.

Hugs Eva

Days in Santa Marta

Now we have almost a week to explore this interesting city and country. Of course there is things to fix on the boat and the usual cleaning washing finding food store ect but in between we enjoy the city. Very nice to be in a city that we feel we can move around without feeling uncomfortable . We went on a guide tour to see the place where the founder of Colombia Simon Bolivar stayed his last days. Today it is a museum and also an art gallery. Next stop was the history museum which was even more interesting. Specially the textil part. I did get a bag or two…

Walking around in the city and checking out some nice restaurants to try later. Then of course grocery shopping and getting help from the store get everything back to the boat. Welcome party out on the pier. Dinner out at the best Mexican food we have had. Strolling around in the Santa Marta and enjoying the night pulse.

Went to a school that are working to help children that have been abuse in different ways. In Colombia it is still very tough even if many have got it better. Worst is for those that are living outside the cities. It was very nice to hear about their work and progress in helping children with their education. Lots of focus was on using your hand and mind true art and craft to help the children. We all had a lovely meeting and I will treasure it in my heart forever.

Last days our friends arrive with their new boat Sara of Sweden. We are very happy to see them and that they are going to sail with us around the world. They lost their mast crossing the Atlantic and couldn’t get a new mast in time so they ended up buying a new boat. Week continues with schippers briefing getting to know things around next leg and also a bit about Galapagos even if that is not our next stop. There are some food that we are not allowed to have on the boat when we arrive to Galapagos.Good to know when we start provisiones for going there, which is when we get to Shelter Bay and in Panama. We don’t want to have food we need to throw over board. The last night before we start our sailing to San Blas we have a dinner and prize giving award for StLucia to Santa Marta. As I wrote on the previous blogg we came in as nr 5 off all the boats so maybe we get something! And we did we was the winner in our sailing class!! Felt nice even if we are not competing… Next morning we have the start to San Blas and part of our instrument are dead… Can’t see wind speed or direction more the depth in the water. Imported when we are sailing around in all the small islands. The most sad thing is that our auto pilot connected to raymarin is not working. Luckily the second is working. Always something to fix on boats. Edgar couldn’t solve it now so he will try in Shelter Bay. Now of to Sun Blas

Hugs Eva

St Lucia preparing for next leg

Back in St Lucia I started to make sun screens for the sides of the boat which is very much needed. They also helps prevent the rain to come in to the cockpit. Not totally when it pours down then we need a tarpaulin. Which we bought here in StLucia and it was needed for a few days to keep the cockpit dry.

St Lucia Marina is very cosy with lots of restaurants, cafe, different shops even a small swimming pool. It is very easy and relaxing to see and talk sailors. The kids runs a round to each other boats and in the Marina. There is 11 kids divided on 5 boats that will be sailing around the world with their parents. You meet so many nice people and get new friends along the way. We had a few nice evenings with Michael, Helena and Martin.

Before we are going sailing our 815NM there is some preparation to do like cleaning the boat, washing clothes, food shopping and preparing some dinners. You are not that keen on going down in the boat the first day and do cooking when the boat rolls in the rough sea. Then being part of ARC you have different meeting with good information about the sailing, weather, place we are going to and then the evening events to meet the others sailors. The ARC also organised excursions. I went on one taking Alex,Inez and Elinor with me while their parents needed to work on their boat. It was very fun going on zip lines in the jungle. All in all we where 3 mums, 2 young adults and 11 kids.

We also got help from Jörgen and Mats to put up the second genua. First they had to take down the one that was up so both could go up together. Down is one thing but getting both up if it is blowing is not easy but the guys did it. So now we can sail wing by wing again.

Mats also went up on our mast to check that everything was okay. He taped the antenna since the screws didn’t sit very well. Thank you Mats for the help.

Now we are ready to sail away to Colombia and Santa Marta.

Here comes the planed route for our sailing. The world Arc continues after Fiji but we jump of there and spend some weeks there extra before we sail down to New Zealand

Hugs Eva

Fixing Saphir and New Year

The sailing up was a bit rough with big waves, wrong wind and some rain. It took us little longer than we expected so we came to late to get in to the Marina so we had to anchor out in the bay. That was quit okay and specially when we got this lovely sunset.

At eight a’clock we contacted the Marina and went in to get our boat lifted. Entering the Marina you wondered a bit where are we going with all these shabby houses. They do need a lot of attention and love.

Before they would lift our boat Edgar had to go and declare us in . After that they lifted up the boat. The turner made us a new mount for our anode and at the same time we got the boat clean and the propeller needed that really much. Now we will sail little faster.

We spend a few days in the Marina enjoying the easy life and happy that our boat is whole again for now.

New Year is coming up and we decide to sail down to Marigot bay to spend New Years even with our friends on Maty1 and Northstar. A very short sailing and we are in this magical place. Very lovely bay but very pricey as well. We had a great evening with our friends even if there was some issues with the restaurant that at the end got solved

Happy New year to our family and friends around the world!🎉

Hugs Eva

Christmas and Edgars Birthday in Bequia

After breakfast we hoist the sail and steered towards Bequia where we will celebrate Christmas and Edgars birthday. When we arrived in to Bequia we saw our friends Mary1 how kindly help us book a buoy for us and Zelda.

The life on boat can be brutal some times and leave big marks or it can be relaxing and playing cards with Martin to end with a nice dinner at a restaurant with a lovely view.

Christmas 24 Dec we started with a sill lunch on our boat. First everyone hade to decorate our tablecloth for Christmas. In the evening we had a dinner together with other Swedish,Finnish and Norwegian boats at Upper deck. We had different but great evening.

The next days we relaxed and fixed things on the boat. Fredrik and Sofia took up our log and cleaned it. It was filled with shells and could not spin. This little thing is sitting under the boat and spins when the boat is moving forward. To get it out you pull it up from inside of the boat and put in a plug in the hole while cleaning it. That’s why they where so concentrated. Little scared of sinking the boat… but they manage it. The hull got cleaned as well and we discovered that we had lost the zink anode and the metal thing that the anode can attach to the propeller. This is not good. Edgar made a temporary solution with hanging the anode on the propeller until we go up to Rodney Bay and get it fixed hopefully. When everything was done we took the dinghy’s in to land and snorkelled . Not much see and the water was not so clear.

Edgar’s birthday we started with going on a tour together with Fredrik,Sofia and Peter. Our taxi driver was an excellent driver and guide. Ended the evening with a lovely dinner on Zelda.

The next day we went up early to head up to Rodney bay in St Lucia to fix the boat. It is a 10hours sailing and we want to get there before it gets dark.