Follow these two friends' voyage across the Atlantic Ocean – “incredible to navigate using the stars”

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria –the day before departure

Almost two years ago, we started talking about embarking on an exciting adventure - sailing across the Atlantic. Now we are finally here!

We have been here in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, for a week and have made countless visits to various shops, planned everything from cleaning supplies to food and snacks, as well as attending interesting seminars on constellations, provisions and navigation with a sextant. The questions we've been trying to answer are: How many eggs do we need? How many peppers are in a kilogram? How much fruit do we eat? What fruit keeps in the sun for three weeks? How much can we fit on the boat?!? It has been an incredibly informative week together with wonderful people who all have the same goal, reaching St. Lucia in the Caribbean.

Our boat is an Excess 15, a 50-foot catamaran named White Lotus. The crew is ready and we are looking forward to an exciting adventure together with our skipper Sebastian and our first mates Ronja and Felix.

P.S. For those who were wondering, we can reveal that we bought 500 eggs...

The first day is here – day 1

The day we've been waiting for. Excitement was at its peak when the sun came up on the morning of the first day. When the final preparations were done, we set sail towards the starting line. It was crowded with boats at the harbour entrance and lots of people were cheering along the quayside. The atmosphere was amazing when we passed the competition organisers and they played ABBA.

Finally the starting signal went off and we sailed slowly over the starting line. After a few hours of slow sailing we gave up and started the engine, but luckily the wind came back and we sailed into the night. A magical spectacle of shooting stars, stars and planets welcomed us as we left land behind.

Everyone was incredibly excited to sail the boat and a cheer erupted when Sebastian said we should hoist the gennaker. Since then we have sailed quickly forwards and the clear racing instincts of the crew have proved themselves. Now we hope for continued favourable conditions and another wonderful starry sky while the hunt for our buddy boats continues.

Calm & fish –day 2 

Oh, oh, oh, now things are happening! Yesterday, Monday afternoon, full action erupted on the boat as the gennaker fell into the water when the halyard broke. But with quick and professional leadership from our crew, everyone on board helped and we got the gennaker up on deck. Fortunately, there was already a new halyard ready in the mast and Christian volunteered to be hoisted up to replace it. Everything went well, the night was calm and early in the morning we hoisted the gennaker again.

On Tuesday morning the winds changed from quite strong to almost calm and it has been a cloudy day with rain in the air. But what does that matter! We have caught our first fish, a mahi-mahi and we were joined by wonderful dolphins playing in front of the boat. We also enjoyed a delicious lunch consisting of potato and leek soup and banana pancakes for dessert. Let's see what the afternoon and evening have to offer. The mood is great!

Close to running aground – day 4

Wednesday was a quiet day, so calm that we took a dip in the sea. Surprisingly warm and nice and a very happy crew! Several of our hopes and expectations have already been ticked off in these few days. :-) In the afternoon the winds came back and we were able to hoist our gennaker again.

The night was fantastic and we had fun figuring out what time it was with the help of the North Star and the Plough. We could make out the Milky Way with all its billions of stars. Totally magical!

On Thursday, something incredible happened! In the middle of the afternoon we almost collided with four sperm whales!!! Quite unexpectedly they appeared right in front of the boat, who expects to have to slalom around whales in the middle of the Atlantic?!?!

To further boost the already high mood, Ronja surprised us with a cake and a quiz. And the winners are... Sten and Felix!
Now the preparations begin for another delicious dinner together with happy friends on board White Lotus.

Today at 8:00 am Swedish time, after travelling 752 nautical miles south we have finally set course west and are heading straight for the finish at 7-8 knots. Soon we will be smelling palm trees and rum punch.

Towards Saint Lucia – day 6

At 7:00 am it happened! We changed our course and are now steering towards our final destination of St. Lucia. In the morning there was a beautiful sunrise and those who were supposed to go to bed couldn't resist staying on deck and enjoying it. As if that wasn't enough, we were given very good eggs and bacon for breakfast.

Before lunch we took the opportunity to exercise on the front deck, we’ve been to worse training grounds. The afternoon has been spent cleaning, cooking and playing Ludo.
Now we're ready for a cosy Friday with Bruce Springsteen on the speakers and the wind at our back.
St. Lucia here we come.

The sea challenges us – day 7

After yesterday's calm, today we have challenged our gennaker or maybe it was the gennaker that challenged us. In the morning when we hoisted the gennaker, the snuffer line followed it up. Those who were sleeping were woken and together we got the sail down until we got hold of the rope and could to redo it correctly. Afterwards, we had a well-deserved breakfast.

A couple of hours later, it was time again. The sea challenged us with its waves and the gennaker hung on. In the end, it won and twisted itself around the forestay, resembling an hourglass more than a sail. The hero of the day Sebastian managed to subdue the gennaker and in the end it spun itself back, fortunately without any damage.
In all the drama, we also managed to get water into one of the cabins so the boat looks more like a drying rack than a catamaran...

One of the challenges of the trip is that the gennaker’s halyard, i.e. the rope that holds the sail up, is damaged up near the mast, which means that there is a risk that it will break off. The manoeuvre to recover the gennaker from the sea has been tried once, so we don't want to redo it. Some creative people are trying to come up with a good solution, let's see what it turns out to be.

Since the apples are starting to got bad, we took the opportunity to make an apple crumble for our coffee break. Perhaps our biggest concern is that we don't have any vanilla ice cream to go with it...

Record day – day 8

We sailed a total of 204.9 nautical miles. Cheers erupted, of course!

By morning we had reached the halfway point of our journey and the night shift decided to offer the rest of the crew freshly baked scones and luxury porridge, which was much appreciated. As usual when there is already full activity on the boat, we got a bite. It took three people to conquer the beautiful yellowfin tuna weighing over 60 kg. Everyone on board got involved and we created a “fish factory” that cut up the fish with a saw and knife, packed over 25 kg of meat into bags and froze it. We have a lot of fish to eat!  Of course, the freshly caught fish was served for lunch along with mango and chili. It doesn't get any fresher than that, there's no restaurant in the world that beats this.

Of course, the halfway point has to be celebrated with more than luxury breakfasts so in the afternoon we toasted with champagne and cinnamon bun sugar cake baked on the boat.

Reaching halfway also means that we get new sheets and towels, something everyone appreciated, especially those who hadn’t closed their door and got a cabin full of water.
Now we’re sailing into the Atlantic evening with music playing from the speakers and dinner cooking in the kitchen. We’re looking forward to another lovely dinner with our team of good friends.

Our lovely blue gennaker – day 9

We really appreciate our lovely blue gennaker. When it’s hoisted, our speed increases drastically. Of course, we are very careful with it so every 24 hours we take it down a few times to ensure that everything is undamaged. If we do say so ourselves, we’re starting to get really well coordinated and fast. Today we took it down to fix several small holes with spinnaker tape, so now we hope it gets us through the night safely.

But of course, all that activity on board today was not enough. When we were working on the gennaker, we heard a bang. It was the swivel at the top of the mast that broke. This time it was Felix who did an amazing job of climbing up the mast and fixing it. Once down, of course, he was greeted by applause and cheers. It was quite unsteady when he was hoisted up and down. Hero of the day!

Now you might think that the day is going to calm down, but no chance. We noticed that the fasteners on the bowsprit were loose. The threads were worn out so we couldn't replace the screws. But once again Sebastian, Ronja and Felix did a great job and now the bowsprit is securely attached to the boat again.

Our stowaway Sune, the head from the tuna we caught yesterday, is currently hanging in the stern like a trophy and the crew have different opinions on how long he should be allowed to travel with us. We'll see which side wins... to be continued.

No breaks, no calm –day 10

No breaks, no calm on the White Lotus. During the night's sailing, we heard something fall from the mast. When it started to get light, our skipper Sebastian went on an inspection tour and saw that the block that we had previously set up to avoid chafing on the halyard to the gennaker had fallen down. And not only that, he also saw that the halyard was very worn. So again, the gennaker was brought down, the chafed part removed, spare parts for the block brought, the harness taken out and this time Sebastian was once again hoisted up the mast. A problem-solver as he is, he came down and had of course succeeded in his mission. Mission accomplished and once again he became the hero of the day.

During the day we kept up good speed, dolphins played alongside the boat and everyone was happy. After lunch we thought it was time for a well-deserved rest. But the gennaker did not agree. Those who were lying on the sun deck and resting suddenly saw the sun shining through the gennaker in a way that it shouldn’t. You know what happens next... bring the gennaker down for inspection, a 40 cm long tear at the stern lee. Time to take out the spinnaker tape and fix it. Now the gennaker is in one piece and up again.

For dinner it was spicy and tasty Thai stew and for dessert chili licorice. Reactions were a bit mixed, some sweating more than others.

Now we sail into the dark night and hope everything is still in place when the sun comes up. Despite all the challenges, which would easily fill a season on TV, the mood is positive on board the White Lotus

12 days at sea – day 12

Now we have been at sea for 12 days and we have less than a third of our journey left. What have we been doing all these days besides mending sails and climbing the mast?
When we started, we decided to sail all the way ourselves and not use the autopilot. We have a rolling watch schedule where there are always three people sailing the boat, in addition to our skippers who have their own schedule. This means that one person is relieved every hour, and the people on duty have four different people to talk to. At night, it's nice to wake up groggy and know that the other two have been on duty for a while and are a little more alert. Sailing at night is magical. The boat is calm as many are sleeping and the conversations vary from hour to hour. Sometimes you just sit quietly and enjoy the moon and the stars.

There are a lot of sounds on a yacht. The waves crashing between the hulls, the interior creaking when the boat's going fast, the sails rustling and banging as we sail to catch up with the wind, and the winches squeaking. Some sounds you get used to, while others make you wake up and be on your guard. Not getting an uninterrupted longer stretch of sleep affects us in different ways. Some seem to handle it better than others. With the schedule we have, you get 7 hours between shifts in the evening, night and morning so if you can fall asleep easily you can get a nice, fairly long sleep some days. The advantage is that the sun sets at 7:00 pm and rises at 7:00 am so you get the feeling that it is night for quite a few hours. It gets a little confusing when you say good morning to someone who starts a shift at midnight when they’ve been asleep since 8:00 pm, while at the same time saying good night to the one who’s finishing a shift to go to bed.

How well do we steer our little ship? Well, pretty well if we can say so ourselves. The fact that we have a lot of competitive people on board came to light very early in the journey. The first few days we saw a lot of boats and the hunt was on. The big question that was discussed was how far south we should go to get the best winds out west. We chose to go quite far south which may seem a detour, but we have had good winds so far. Of course, we monitor our buddy boats and get updated daily on their positions. One can apparently compete in many disciplines when sailing. Everyone has their personal speed record, the boat’s speed record, longest distance in 24 hours, the biggest fish, who can sail the longest without collapsing the gennaker, etc. Our fastest day so far was on 30/11 when we sailed 214.2 nautical miles.

Today our skipper Sebastian challenged us with a competition: sail as far as possible in 10 minutes on a certain course. If you don't stay the course, you're out of the competition. It will be exciting to see how it goes.

Some of our readers may be wondering how it went with our 500 eggs and all the other provisions. We have eaten about half the eggs, the fruit is finished except for the green apples and a handful of oranges, and the fresh vegetables are running out except for the white and red cabbage. Otherwise, our pantry is full of pasta, rice and canned food of various kinds. We have eaten very well and with good variety, as we have several creative chefs on board. Ronja has also added that special something to our days with her baking. Luxurious and delicious!

Between shifts, naps and meals, people read, play cards and other board games, listen to music, and write in their diaries. Sometimes we have a communal coffee break with a quiz or another team competition, while other days are calmer and allow more time for rest. Everyone shows respect for each other and there is room for both private time and social time.

Now we are in the month of December and the boat elf has begun to decorate the boat. This happens most often at night. There have been foam Santa sweets appearing in different places, we find messages like “Merry Christmas” here and there, and we have a painted Christmas tree on the ceiling. Let's see if there will be some baked goods for the first day of Advent!

Today, Friday, has been a nice day with a slightly calmer pace on the boat and some joint activities. Today's big question is: who the heck has put the Nutella in the fridge!? We can't have that. As usual, to be continued. Now we have less than 900 nautical miles left.

Odd traditions at sea – day 15

We can probably call it a tradition now, to start the day by fixing the gennaker. Saturday started like that, then it was a quiet day with good sailing, rest, games and reading.

Everyone has become a little more comfortable on the boat, and more and more private things are lying around here and there. When the boat was thoroughly cleaned, a basket of shame was created. Any private things that are found where they should not be, end up here. A war has erupted between the messy and the disciplined sailors. Then there are those who actually put their own things in the basket of shame to know where they are.

The last few nights we’ve had about an hour between the sun setting and the moon rising. During that time it is really dark and all the stars are very visible. It is incredibly beautiful and wonderful to navigate by the stars.

When we woke up on the morning of the first day of Advent, the boat elf had stuck an Advent candlestick with a lit candle in the window. The boat elf sees and hears everything and has an eye on who has been kind or mischievous. We'll see who gets Christmas presents this year...
Our Advent coffee break consisted of freshly baked buns and homemade ice cream. Everyone appreciated it so much!

Speaking of waking up, the watch schedule means waking up the person who is going to relieve you of duty. The methods vary from soft words and songs to pinching people's toes and using foghorns. It’s worth mentioning that we made a big mistake in the provision planning, which is something we’ll remember for upcoming sailing trips. We had to open the snack repository for week three 6 minutes before week three started. However, we will never have to open the bread bag intended for week three, as everyone seems to prefer porridge or scrambled eggs for breakfast. The mystery of the Nutella in the fridge is solved, the culprit was caught red handed this morning with the excuse that he does not eat Nutella. The crew is now discussing the appropriate disciplinary action.

The direction and strength of the wind has been in our favour for the last 24 hours and it has been extra fun sailing the boat today as we approach our final destination in leaps and bounds.

120 nautical miles left to shore – day 16

The countdown has begun... we now have about 120 nautical miles to the finish line and we are preparing little by little for disembarkation. How will it feel to get back to civilisation? Will we have sea legs? How many will get a tattoo? There are many questions because we love being at sea and the routines we have become accustomed to. But now we are looking forward to the next adventure; lovely sailing days in the Caribbean with sun, swimming and a full night's sleep. And maybe the occasional umbrella drink.

Today we have cleaned the boat and taken inventory of our food supplies. We find that some things we calculated correctly and other things a little less well. Can you swap orange marmalade, wholemeal bread or milk for fruit and vegetables in St. Lucia? We'll see tomorrow...

So on the home stretch, Sebastian challenges us to hoist the gennaker and jib and bring down the mainsail so we can pick up extra speed to the finish. There's always something to challenge yourself with.

This morning our boat elf was suddenly gone and there was a message that he had gone to the North Pole. Of course we didn't believe that!  Why would he choose to leave our boat and this wonderful crew? Something was wrong and we suspect someone is playing the Grinch. What could be the North Pole on a boat? Yes, the freezer! There was the elf vacuum-packed... But you can't do that with impunity. Now Santa has sent reinforcements in the form of a bigger elf named Big-Klas and he had a letter with him. It said that now things have to tighten up around here, otherwise anyone misbehaving will be left without Christmas presents.

We look forward to our last night under the stars on the Atlantic and we try to guess which of us will spot land first.

Finish line –day 18

At 3:45 am we saw light on the horizon. An hour later we saw land and those of us on watch began to wake the others. Some sat on the foredeck listening to music as St. Lucia approached. There was an expectant mood on board and some mixed emotions.
Sebastian announced our arrival to ARC and we lined up on the deck wearing our nice More Sailing tops to meet the photographer. Huge cheers erupted as we crossed the finish line after 16 days, 23 hours and 15 minutes.

We sailed into our port and were greeted by a welcoming committee consisting of representatives from ARC, ABBA at full volume, as well as cheers and applause from the neighbouring boat. It was a special feeling to jump ashore and have solid ground under your feet. The promised rum punch tasted very good and everyone was very happy!

After just over a day ashore, we missed the sea and we set sail again with our sights set on St. Vincent. Now we are looking forward to holiday sailing with sun, swimming and visits to charming islands.

Thank you Sebastian, Ronja and Felix for your confident coaching, wonderful energy, lovely antics and your patience to let us sail the 3069 nautical miles without autopilot.

Thanks to all of you who followed us during the trip, now we are checking out for this time.

Over and out
Malin and Marie

P.S. Yes, it was our cabin that got wet.