Letters from the South Atlantic Ocean

Another letter from Martin!  I have to say, I talk to Martin almost every night (thank heaven for technology and satellite phones), however; I always love an email from him giving me an update on their day.  I thought this one was definitely blog worthy.  Enjoy...

"...This morning we noticed that the water temperature has climbed a full degree since yesterday.  As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of flying fish (a million or so) and the fishing today was much better than it has been.  We are now restocking our fridge and freezer with tuna and mahi-mahi.  They will be on the menu for plenty of more dinners on AMARA.  

The air is also warmer, and we are bringing out the sunscreen!  It is hard to believe that we have sailed 2,500 nautical miles since Cape Town and are now only 600 miles south off the equator.  The Trade Winds have have been fairly steady from the south east and are now usually between 15-17 knots.  This makes for beautiful sailing and we are moving along very smoothly as we head straight downwind,  flying our spinnaker around the clock for the last 6 days.   We even have an additional .5 - 1 knot of current helping us right toward our destination of Fernando De Noronha, an archipelago just off the coast of Brazil.  We have 875 nautical miles to go and should arrive in 5 or 6 days on the 7th or the 8th.

Attached is a picture that I took yesterday from the top of the mast with our spinnaker flying.

—Martin"

Thanksgiving on AMARA

I just got this email from Martin this morning wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving!  

"In true AMARA spirit, we are already celebrating Thanksgiving here in the South Atlantic.  We have a turkey roasting in the oven, and David is currently working on the mashed potatoes and gravy as I type.  We are even having roast pumpkin with butter and brown sugar, stuffing, and some cranberry sauce that we made from an old bag of cranberries we had on board.  The smells are wafting through the boat, and probably attracting some birds!  We are just sorry you all aren't here to enjoy it all with us when it comes out of the oven in a few minutes.

I'm sure our Black Friday activities tomorrow will consist of more downwind sailing in fair winds, and basking in the warm sunshine as we continue our way to Brazil.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

—Martin, John and David"

The Island of St. Helena

AMARA leaving the island of St. Helena.  Thank you, Debbie for sending this to us!

AMARA and crew arrived in St. Helena on Monday morning.  I always love hearing from Martin when they reach land after a long passage because I know that putting feet on solid ground is always welcomed but a full nights sleep is first on the list.

I got an email from Martin today that I thought I would just share on this post about their visit to St. Helena.


"We arrived in St. Helena yesterday morning, the 24th, for a brief respite from sailing.  It was interesting to explore the island.  One thing you quickly notice is that no one has a cell phone because there is no cell service.  In fact, they have only had TV service for about 10 years, but there is still no airport— so everything comes and goes by ship.  Napoleon was exiled here and died on the island.  We had to see his "prison" which turned out to be quite an estate.  There are lots of gun emplacements in the cliffs from WWI and WWII, and some old British forts from when they fought the Dutch.

Everyone on the island has been really friendly, and we have enjoyed meeting some of the people that we have encountered during our stay.  This week there is a big legal trial going on here and they have had to bring in lawyers and a judge from the UK since their is only one lawyer on the entire island.  We have also heard some questionable things about the health and medical services here.

Today we took a tour of the island and visited a black sand beach that had lots of Portuguese Man-o-War jellyfish wash up.  We also saw the verdant interior and lots of flax plants which was the big industry here back when using parcel twine was common practice worldwide.   A highlight of the day was ringing Bellrock, which was a large boulder that when struck with another fist-sized rock, rings like a bell.  It was entertaining to hear the different tones that we could get each time we hit it.  I'll make sure to send a video whenever we find decent internet again.

The biggest highlight of the day was climbing up Jacobs Ladder, which is a steep cliff face with a staircase that goes up the cliff 669 steps.  Our non-stop climb took 14 minutes, and today we are all feeling it in our legs.  

The 669 steps up the cliff in St. Helena

This afternoon we also brought some local friends out to visit AMARA, and then went for a quick whale watching tour.  We were also able to get in a snorkel dive over a wreck of an old coal ship which sank in the harbor.  Later today we loaded 400 liters of diesel fuel, and first thing tomorrow we will try to get some vegetables before we leave for Brazil. We weren't able to get any in the supermarket today, but we considered ourselves lucky to find some sliced bread, since the bread shelves were empty yesterday.

—Martin"

I'll continue to keep you updated as I hear news from Martin.  

Exciting news here in Utah is that Lily and I have purchased our tickets and plan on meeting Martin and the crew in Grenada later in December.  We are getting excited to spend the holidays in the Caribbean!

Next stop for AMARA is the Ilha de Fernando de Noronha just offshore from the Brazilian coast some 1700 miles from St. Helena.  

Let's hope that the winds are, as always, in their favor.  

Circumnavigation Complete!

I got a call from Martin this evening.  It was 5:00am his time and he was on the last hour of his 4-hour watch.  He called to tell me that he was 500 meters from officially completing his circumnavigation on AMARA after starting off from France almost 21 months ago.

Where the two lines meet showing a complete 360° navigation.

While on the phone, Martin and I talked about what it took to get him to this point and what a monumental moment it was as he completed the final 150 meters.  Martin also expressed how grateful he was for my support and how we "both" did this.  Once Martin crossed over the 360º mark, no fireworks went off and no corks were popping, but the elation and excitement between us was equal to any crowd.  It was a special few minutes that just the two of us shared some 7,800 miles apart.  Him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and me safely tucked away at home.  Miles apart, yet so close while we shared this special moment... together .

It's been a good day.

—Kym

A Real Nail Biter!

I got an email from Martin today wondering why I didn't respond to his email (below) that he sent to me yesterday.  The thing was... I never got it, and I am kinda glad that I didn't!  I would have been awake all night worried about Martin and the crew.  

Here is the email that I was supposed to have gotten yesterday...

"The rough weather we have had since we left Cape Town intensified yesterday afternoon and has remained a Severe Gale, with sustained winds in the 40 knot range, and gusting to 53 knots.  Unfortunately another ship told us that this storm won't abate until the day after tomorrow.  This is the first time we have had a really inaccurate forecast while in Africa (we are now off the coast of Namibia).  As a result, we are running with 3 reefs in the main, and no jib.  Our constant challenge is to keep the boat running straight downwind in these rather large waves which are trying to slew the boat sideways.  To help, we have deployed a warp, which is a long line we drag behind the boat to help slow it down and keep it aligned.  Everyone on board is wearing a life vest and we have shortened our watches to ensure we don't get over tired.  No cause for alarm back home, just wanted to share what's going on here.  We are gaining a real appreciation for what it means to ride out a storm.  We will keep you posted.

Cheers,
Martin"

Nail biting to say the least!

I have since talked to Martin and the winds have finally settled down and they are back on track heading to Saint Helena.  Let's hope that this is the last of rough sails on the water.   I don't think that I can handle another email like that one!