Written by Mia:

Time flies in Martinique which feels quite European, only with lots of Mangroves and sea turtles. We started our stay in Martinique with some lovely company. Clive came back to Itchy Foot and all the Wrights cheered! He is the perfect boat guest, helping with sailing tasks, chatting away into the night and exploring the shore and swimming in the sea with Teo. The 30th of December we spent in the shadow of Fort de France and were treated to an amazing fireworks display, we were anchored as close as we could and were picking bits of firework out of our hair and off the decks in the morning.

On New Years eve we dressed for dinner and had a slap-up dinner of steak and chips on anchor in the bay St. Anne.The week flew by and we were all a bit blue when he left. Luckily we quickly met up with our lovely friends on Sta Vast and again we cheered.

To begin with we were anchored in a quiet mangrove bay where we could swim back and forth between the boats. It is so nice to see them and catch up. We have been swimming and SUPping and giggling a lot, so NICE! Also, they motivate us, so we have been continuing to do a bit of school and have decided to do a little less each day so that the motivation and enthusiasm are more plentiful. This is leading to a lot more smiling and that is a very very good thing.

In Martinique, we have found two hubs of activity, one in Fort de France and one in Le Marin and both were worth the visit and good for provisioning and boat shopping so that we can scratch things off the long boat to do list. We have given the decks some attention and need to turn our attention to winches and deck lighting next. Also we have a project of getting a good internet solution, which will make communication and the research for the boat jobs a lot easier.

Other than that we have been enjoying the gorgeous, unspoiled landscapes. For example we anchored in a few bays (Grande Anse, Anse Dufour and Petit Anse that have incredible snorkelling. We have spotted turtles, star fish, lion fish and one very cool squid. Teo takes it all in his stride telling me, ”Mamma, we have plenty of time to watch the wildlife.” They have done a great job of not destroying this paradise island!

We are also really enjoying the benefits of the rally as we reconnect with our fellow crossing boat friends. We had a little reunion in Le Marin with the crews of Sta Vast, Element, Goodtimes, Richard Parker and Starship. And a few days later ran into Freya and Sameera as well. It’s fun to hear what everyone have been up to, some even had butlers at Christmas, you know who you are! We anchored off a beautiful beach at Pointe de Salines that was so picture postcard perfect we had to pinch ourselves. Starship invited everyone for dinner and they served 17 people with a few hours notice. They even had special kid friendly meals and a movie, it was incredible and a very lovely evening. We caught up with Go Beyond as well in Salines and they whipped up a perfect leg of lamb dinner as we motor sailed back to our anchorage. I am beginning to feel we need to up our game! Good news that Martinique is the place to provision…

Next… St. Lucia

Written by Mia

We arrived safely in Barbados and then it might seem as if we fell off the planet. We moved from one rather exposed marina where we cleared customs (called the Shallow Draught) to an inner city marina (called the Careenage) with lots of life where we were surrounded by lots of Christmas trees and lots of boats with our friends from the rally. Thanks to Terry and Andy for help checking in and out of the country and teaching us how things work in Barbados. It was lovely to spend some time together at Pirates Cove playing in the sea and letting the island pace wash over us. I think we are getting the hang of it! We said some hard good byes, Kevin and Tina left us on the 21st and Sta Vast the next day.

We made the most of the water connection of the Careenage and washed everything in galley so that we protected it all from the salt water washing of the crossing. We also filled up with water and took down our fancy dress overall and got ready to move Itchy Foot again with just the three of us. It was special to have the lift up bridge open for us, lots of locals watching and taking video of us.

We anchored just outside the Yacht Club, where Jon signed us up for a visiting yacht membership. We used their beach and their showers and ate lunch on the beach under the May Ho trees surrounded by bright yellow banana quit birds. Teo and I made Christmas decorations for Itchy Foot, she looked so fancy!

There were pine cones from Teide and sand dollars from the Pirates Cove, so something from each end of the crossing. And we made enough for all the boats in the anchorage and we put on our Santa hats and delivered them by dinghy on Christmas day. Later we met our friends for potluck on the beach, complete with sword fish done on the Cobb bbq (ooh how I wish Santa would have brought us a Cobb!) and a Christmas ham and smashed potatoes ala Kevin and lots of yummy salads and a dessert table. A fun time was had by all, the adults chatted and had seconds and even thirds. The kids ran around and played on the beach and made a club in a tree house and had water fights and such. It was a perfect day!

Then we went to the races on Boxing Day, that was very exciting! They even moved the gate and we got to see a couple of starts right in front us. It was a lot of fun!

We have explored Barbados, a little anyway, and would like to thank the island and its people for a wonderful welcome to the Caribbean! And now it is time to go to Martinique, I wonder if I have time to learn French…

Written by Mia:

We have mentioned the lovely friends we have been making along the way and how these people have been making all the difference with their support and generosity. And now we have also been lucky enough to start meeting more boats with kids. Teo has had a ball!

A marinera is Spanish for the person who works for a marina who does lots of different jobs around the place but often meets boats at their designated spaces and takes lines and takes lines to help incoming boats get the boat moored safely. One morning the very friendly marinera was waiting across from our slot and asked Teo to help him catch lines for the incoming boat. Teo was full of proud smiles and then the icing on that cake was the four (and a half) year old that was on that boat.

The boys spent the next few days dividing their time pretty evenly between Lego on Itchy Foot and playing on their boat – Go Beyond. Teo slowly began to remember his Norsk as his new friend was Norwegian. We went to the beach one day all together as well and shared dinner together. The energy that kids have when they are in the company of other kids is different and so is their communication. Sini and I were talking a lot about this when she was on board and Teo should be doing a lot of his learning through play and an important element of that is interaction with other kids. We were so happy to see him together with a new friend and he was very sad when we said goodbye.

Thankfully, this time it was only a few days before we made some new friends! it is SO nice to be in the company of other cruisers. We were anchored off the lovely La Graciosa and we woke up to a new neighbour in the bay. A Belgian flagged yacht, Sta Vast was anchored close by and we knew they had young crew members on board. They had taken contact with us a week or two earlier saying that they are on the same rally and were hoping to meet up. This was a match made in heaven for Teo, a boy aged 10 and a girl aged 8. We were so excited to meet them that we quickly got Nemo in the water and went over to say hi. The kids were fast friends, there was more Lego  and even a zombie battle complete with its own theme song.

The weather in the anchorage turned bad and we were forced to move but we all went to the same marina down the coast so we could spend more time together. There was school in the morning and lots of playing in the afternoon. One day we went for a long walk altogether to find out we all have lots to chat about. There was even a sleepover on Itchy Foot with pasta, movies and popcorn and pancakes the next morning. Everyone was giggling and playing. Later, there were crafts and Teo’s ”favorite meal ever” on Sta Vast. This means there were also two sets of parents who got to have dates! I don’t think anyone even noticed all the rain we had.

Boat kid friendships are quick, probably because you never know when you might meet new small humans and also because you never know how long you will all be in the same place. it also doesn’t seem like age or gender matters as much as it does in ‘the real world’. We have been reading about the sailing kids community and have been missing it most of the summer so far, so it was a real joy to experience first hand. We are looking forward to getting to Santa Cruz to see our new friends again and also to meet more boats with kids. There are several more boats we have been in contact with whom we look forward to meeting.

One of the main reasons for choosing to cross over to the Caribbean was in search of finding more playmates for Teo. So far, so good.

Written by Mia:

We got a great message a couple of weeks ago that went something like this, “ Hey Jon, Mia and Teo, we are sitting here in our stilongs (long underwear) watching the rain and we are dreaming of a visit. Where are you on the weekend of 27-30th of October?” We got SO excited that Gunnar and Mona and Nikolaj wanted to come and visit! It is no little undertaking either with lots of flights and schedules and uncertainty, but it all worked out and we had a wonderful time together!

We sat on deck from our mooring on the end of a pontoon in Marina Lanzarote and watched their plane land.  A short hour later they were on board and we bigs were chatting like we saw each other last week and the boys were playing with Lego down below. We went exploring in the town of Arrecife on the Saturday, complete with a trip to the playground, lunch outside and short trip to the beach. We were talking about time and timing and realised that we had a boat-iversary and that it was almost exactly or actually exactly a year ago that we had the VERY EXCITING WEEK that included selling the house, becoming the owners of the boat and Mia quitting her job. Mona and Gunnar bought us a bottle of Moet and we toasted it and added the cork to the one from when we changed the name. How lovely that they were here! They really spoiled us withs stuff from Norway, Godiva, meals out and treats, very generous guests!

On Sunday we went out for a short sail to let Itchy Foot show off. Nikolaj was very excited about the foam on the water, Mona pulled lines like a boss and Gunnar was first to jump in the water for a swim when we anchored. It was a great day, the only bummer was that Mona had to leave us to get back in time for work on Monday. She jumped ashore as soon as we tied up. We got to keep Gunnar and Nikolaj until Monday morning, which meant the boys got a good run around when we got back to the marina. That made everyone happy! There were some tears when we put the boys in the taxi on Monday. We were SO happy to see them and really appreciate the effort they made to come out here to stay with us for a few days!

On the subject of making an effort, the Itchy Foot crew are feeling very blessed to have people we love make an effort to come and see us! Grandma and Granddad will be arriving in Santa Cruz about the same time as we do! We have been really looking forward to seeing them. About a week later, Jon’s cousins and Teo’s favourite play boxing mates, Michael and David are also coming to see us in Santa Cruz, as well. Again, it is really lovely they are willing to make the effort.

And in the last couple days we have been bouncing with delight as we got news that dear friends are coming to celebrate the New Year with us in Martinique. Fiona is coming all the way from Sydney and Clive from Oslo, these are big distances and complicated itineraries!! We are giggling reading the emails that bounce back and forth during the planning process, there is talk of frocks and champagne and tuxedo clad swimmers carrying ‘Milk Tray’ with painters in teeth. I CANNOT WAIT! This is just the motivation we need to gear up for our crossing.

Written by Mia:

We have been preparing a blog post about maintenance and haven’t posted it because we thought it sounded an awful lot like complaining. Along the way, we have worked on the water pump, the decks, the fridge and freezer and all the annual stuff you do to keep the boat happy. We wrote a lot about the arch and solar panel installation as well. But nothing really prepared us for the three weeks of preparation we are wrapping up for this Atlantic crossing.

We started with our own list of things that need doing, for example checking what sails we have and the state of each, also getting preventers working so that we are ready for our down-wind sailing. Itchy Foot needed a few extra safety installations including new navigation lights (including the ones up the mast) and upgrades for the life raft and grab bag. We now have AIS to tracking boats and being tracked as well as a satellite phone and a solution to get weather forecasts. All of these things are time consuming to source and often turn into drawn out projects to install and get up and running, especially where cables are involved. The generator was acting funny on the way to Lanzarote and that needed some attention, and we wanted someone to give us an expert opinion on the state of the rigging.

Then there were all the things to do to make sure the boat is a comfy home for our little family and the crew joining us. It took a few days to juggle our things and find creative storing solutions so that everyone has some space of their own. A place for everything and everything in its place is definitely the way on a boat. Now I understand how important it is that the tupperware nests inside other tupperware! Also, nothing should be stored anywhere it can do damage to the boat, for example near a sea cock or anything with electrical wiring.

We have been going to seminars packed with helpful tips for sailing and preparation. You could feel the excitement and tension and everyone went through their own mental check lists. It has been really intense and there is a palpable sense of activity as we near the date of departure. It feels like everyone has had moments of ”Are we ready?”, “Will we be ready in time?” and “Oh my God, how on Earth will we ever get it all done!?”

But luckily in amongst it all, we have had the pleasure of amazing company. Jon’s parents visited for a week and we got to see some of this beautiful place, like our trip up El Teide not to mention all wonderful meals we shared. It is always a treat to spend time together and of course they spent time with Teo so we could get some things checked off our list. It was lovely and very helpful. We were all in tears when they left. And the same when Michael and David came for the weekend. It was SO lovely of them to come and see us and of course Teo was over the moon, too. The visit was short but sweet and we miss them so!

The sense of community has been incredible! Not only have their been really lovely casual chats over a cup of tea or glass of wine, but there have been great events arranged by the rally organisers like a craft session and a potluck, and trips to a museum and up El Teide. And other stuff organised on the side like a Ladies night, Yoga for kids and a session to learn from a professional cartoonist. All this has been giving us a great opportunity to spend time with friends and make new ones. The kids are getting along so well (it takes them about 5 minutes to find something in common and become friends ). You see them running around together visiting each others’ boats and it makes everyone smile.

There is so much to write and so little time so I will have to be brief, but of course our most rewarding time is the time we spend with our friends. A few days after we got here J-Squared got here too and we love spending time with them, it is always such a pleasure! We came home from dinner with Jon’s parents and there was a note “Hello! End of Dock” and we figured it out and all bounced down there to say hello! StaVast are here too and the kids are like the three muskateers, going from one boat to the other and we bigs are loving the time we spend together too! And Bright Eyes got here a few nights ago and are here on the same pontoon and we have been catching up. Itchy Foot also welcomed some new family members, too. Kevin and Tina joined us on Saturday. There have been so many things to do and they have just jumped right in! Kevin and Jon have been doing boat jobs like checking sails and securing water and diesel cans on the deck. Tina and I have been provisioning and cooking, we even borrowed a kitchen and cooked NINE meals for the passage. They have been working SO hard. I don’t know what we would do without these wonderfu people in our lives, we are so very, very lucky! 

We are leaving on Saturday and you can track us. My plan is to write some more along the way and see if there is internet to share it with you over there 🙂

We have also enjoyed spending time with friends.

Written by Mia:

So, we did some proper blue water sailing! I belong to a Facebook group called WWS (Women Who Sail) and I was thinking of writing a yay me post. The crossing took five days and we were really pleased to have good wind for most of the way. We were happy to have Bright Eyes as our buddy boat especially through the fishing area. We also attempted a game of Battleship over VHF, thanks to Clive introducing it to Teo when he visited. There wasn’t much shipping to worry about, but shortly after nightfall on our first night we encountered several miles of fishing nets and boats off the coast of Morocco, stressful weaving in and out with the occasional furious fishermen. Otherwise, it was relatively easy to find a rhythm  and our little crew was very happy to have Granddad on board. He was great on watches and not to mention Teo cuddles. We found time to read books and do some fishing, Jon caught, filleted and served us Mahi on day four.

The first day after we left Barbate we spent an hour with the Orca whales we posted a photo of earlier. It was incredible to see these powerful and graceful creatures in the wild. The experience sparked a lot of interest and we researched them on Wikipedia and Teo is now quite often a whale when we are playing. He also told us that he dreamt he was swimming to visit the whales at their home. On the day before we arrived in Lanzarote, when the seas were at their highest and waves the biggest, we had a fleeting dolphin visit, joining us for ten minutes of jumping and diving out of the breaking swell – a great way to lift morale!

We had done some cooking in Gibraltar to warm up for passage meals and we were happy for that, especially since we had to hold on to our bowls for most of the meals. One morning, Teo ended up wearing his Cheerios, but lucky for us, he is good natured and we laughed it off, too bad we didn’t get a photo to share with you. Having both a fridge and separate freezer is a bit of a luxury on a boat the size of Itchy Foot, and despite using a lot of battery power we were very grateful to have ready prepared frozen meals to reheat. So, this passage was not only good for confidence building but also as a trial run for the big crossing next month. We won’t run out of milk next time…

Once we made landfall and got tied up in Marina Lanzarote, we went ashore and Granddad treated us to brunch, complete with two rounds of coffee and pastries, yum yum! We immediately were greeted by Jeff on the catamaran, called J/squared across the way, and all thought, these are the type of cruisers we have been looking for! We later met his wife Julie and 19 year old Lucas, too. Teo helped Jeff with some work he was doing which immediately makes Jeff a hero but later when the sun went down, he also showed Teo coolest lighting, it might be hard to get Teo to come with us when we leave. Arracife is a cute town and we were happy to take a long walk around.

The next day we rented a car and did some sight seeing. We were impressed with the Montanas del Fuego. It was amazing to see the remains from various eruptions, the lava left behind some amazing natural artwork and we ooooohed and aaaaaahed our way around Timanfaya. We had an amazing lunch in a little village and we to see Cuevas Verde, a very impressive set of caves created by lava. We went on a tour that covered about one kilometre of the seven kilometre long cave and we even got to see a section where there were two tunnels one stacked on top of the other. Again, it was very impressive!

The next day, we dropped Granddad off and were all very sad to see him go, we cheered ourselves up with a trip to the Cactus Garden. It was a lovely place and we explored it for a few hours. The cactus collection and the presentation were amazing.

Our sense of community at Marina Lanzarote is lovely. We finally got to meet up with another kids boat and Teo made friends with a Oivind, who is very proudly four and a half. The boys run back and forth between the boats and even go and visit Jeff and Julie and Lucas, who is 19 and Teo refers to him as “my boxing friend”.

Bright Eyes are also here, we were able to have some drinks together in the pub with the boys to celebrate a successful crossing. And now Anne and Marilyn joined their husbands and we had a few lovely meetings. Anne even wrapped a few treats for Teo to enjoy on the crossing, how lucky we are to have such thoughtful friends! We are hoping we can see more of them in Graciosa in the next few days.

We’re currently off the coast of Morocco. We had nice wind to leave Spain and no trouble crossing the shipping lanes between the med and the Atlantic. Shortly after dinner we received a call on VHF from our buddy boat, Bright Eyes alerting us to nearby Dolphins. They were wrong, it was Killer Whales!

A small family of maybe five whales, including a young one, were happily playing on the surface, jumping, slashing and showing off. We followed them to take photos, only stopping when the larger male whale dived directly under the full length of Itchy Foot and we realized how small we are. Quit while you are winning, and still have a rudder.

More photos when we get back to land. Posting this via Iridium GO Satellite phone, fingers crossed that it works.

So unless the weather forecast changes dramatically in the night we should be setting off to Lanzarote soon. All being well it’ll take about 5 days and change. At the moment the forecast looks like fairly light winds, which means we may end up with a day or so of motoring, hopefully not more.

We use PredictWind for weather routing and forecasting in general, so far it’s been OK and it’ll be interesting to see how it does with an offshore route using satellite to download the forecasts.

Joining us for this little adventure is my dad, David, who has already proven his worth helping me with both boat repairs and playing with Teo while mom and dad went shopping. Being able to split the night watch into 3x four hour watches rather than 2x six hour watches will also make the whole experience more comfortable.

Finally, watch this space! We have satellite communications now so we should be able to post here, or at least to Facebook as we go. I’m not sure we’ll have the tracking page working before we leave, but hopefully a quick update is possible.

Written by Jon:

We set off from Menorca with the goal of getting to Gibraltar by the end of September and we made it with a few days to spare.

Our last crossing from Motril to Gibraltar was uneventful if a little frustrating in the lack of wind. Keeping an eye on the weather forecast we picked an afternoon departure in in the hope of arriving 12 hours later in Gibraltar and, according to the forecast we’d sail about 80% of the way. The reality was somewhat different and we ended up motoring most of the way, with only about 4 hours of sailing in the middle of the night.

But! While the sailing wasn’t great, we were escorted by dolphins for almost the entire journey. As there was no wind, the sea was flat and we spotted the pod shortly after we left Motril. Deciding that we weren’t in a rush we just motored over to them to take some photos. We were amazed to find a huge pod, with well over 50 dolphins. Over the next hour we followed them as they played, jumped and chased fish.

We figured we should continue with our trip and moved on without them. But, over the next 10 hours they decided to follow us to Gibraltar. During the night we could hear and see them jumping and swimming beside us, occasionally disappearing for 15 minutes to do there own thing before returning to our bow.

Shortly after lunchtime we arrived in the busy port of Gibraltar, with the rock rising up from the sea and topped with clouds. Entry into the marina was easy and we were tied up by 1pm. After popping into the marina office to officially check in and clear customs (Teo made our customs Q flag out of yellow paper) we headed out to Pizza Express to treat ourselves to lunch.

We’ll be in Gibraltar until at least the 3rd, when Jon’s dad arrives to help with our next passage down to Lanzarote, which, weather permitting, should take about five days. Until then we continue to work on the boat, Teo’s school lessons, exploring the town and rock. Oh and even taking a trip to the top of the mast to change a lightbulb!