From Bermuda to the Acores... Dr Jekill and Mr Hyde

Funny how you easily forget the bad times when good times come along… the first part of the trip has been really awful. We left on a sunny day but 5 days passed before we saw the sun again!

Lightening, heavy rain, white sky with no hope in sight… On the monday, we were sailing with 3 reefs in the main and gen reduced to the max, and reached up to 37 knots. The worst was to come… on the tuesday night, I was in bed trying to sleep around 9:30 pm just after my watch finished when I hear a terrible noise and the boat begins to shake crazy as. I get out of bed all of a sudden and once in the lounge, discover it’s only the gen flapping hard out in the wind. Jordi is fighting like hell to take it in as the wind is blowing crazy. Rachel and I watch outside in disbelief. In addition of the lightening, the rain falls horizontally the wind being horrifically strong and our kiwi flag is flying at the light speed making an incredible noise! Jordi is so soaked that he hardly sees anything and needs to ask Rachel where the wind is coming from! After it all comes down to normal, some 35ish knots, Jordi tells us what happened. A big squall came over, and the wind increased up to 30 knots first, then reached the unbelievable speed of 52 knots, the last speed he could see on the speedometer before he could not see anymore!
As for me when I had to take the gen in in a rush, he burnt his knackles on the damned plastic protection…

Welcome in the Hauraki fighting team bro!


I go back to bed but cannot find the sleep after that, keeping on thinking about the boat to flip over… I take my watch at 3am and Rachel reassures me that there is nothing to worry about as we have only a little bit of gen out…and this boat has anyway been conceived as an ocean vessel… I finally get some needy 4 hours and a half of good sleep.
The next two days are tiring, 10ft swell and strong winds, plus the rain, the kind of ‘crachin breton’ which makes everything damp, clothes, full weather gear, sheets…


It even gets in my camera and the lens would not open anymore… Bugger… I hope I’ll get it fixed in the Acores or back to France at the worst as this is a really good camera!

We all resign to put on wet clothes when going back on watch, waiting for the nice weather, normally announced for the thursday. The sun appears finally on the friday to our great relief and pleasure. Everything dries out and it’s good for our mental to feel the warmth on our faces and bodies! We can at last alter our course and go back to a direct route as we had gone north to avoid another front…


With the return of nice weather, the second part of the trip is much more enjoyable. Sunbathing on the top of the cat, reading books, enjoying the afternoon outside instead of having a nap to catch up with sleep, watching the dolphins playing around. There are two kinds of species. The tiny grey ones with dots on them, and bigger ones, with white/cream/grey colours. They all swim and jump happily around us and the best session is maybe on the next tuesday, as the sun rises and I can film them, after admiring them during the night, their tail leaving a white track in the water, just like a rocket and with the light of the full moon, … magical…

After strong winds, it’s with lights we have to cope with, and we go back to motorsailing.
Time for fishing we happily think! We are gutted… nothing gets caught in our lines for the next 6 days… quite unusual for us after our past experiences on other boats!

We finally arrive in the Acores on Friday the 22nd of May, on a beautiful sunny day, just time for us to fill up everything and leave the day after for Ireland. CU later bros for the rest of the adeventure!