At 1730 local time (2130 UTC) on Jan 31, 2017 our position was 13.15.66N, 59.38.74W.
The anchor is down and we have stopped moving for the first time in 21 days and 9.5 hours. We are anchored outside Port Charles on Barbados. We are not sure what to do with all the silence and stillness.
And wouldn't you know it the first sailboat we saw as we arrived in Port Charles was Canadian flagged no less who was just leaving. When we spoke with them on the VHF, Darryl realized he has actually been in email contact with the captain relating to rigging related questions. Yet another example of what a small world it is!!
Darryl has us all checked in to the country so tomorrow we will all venture off the boat for the first time, how incredible it will feel to have our feet on solid ground again. What an amazing journey it has been! Maple handled the crossing beautifully, big thanks to our auto helm who was a workhorse for the entire time. But most importantly thank you to the crew on Maple who worked tirelessly to bring us all safely across the Atlantic Ocean. I am still in awe that we just crossed an ocean!!!!
The girls wasted no time jumping into the water for a swim and play. Ella who is quite picky about water temperature gave the nod of approval to the temperature here. Jeff and Sandra soon followed them after.
We are all exhausted and looking forward to an uninterrupted night sleep before we sail further down the island to Carlisle Bay!
Love to all from,
Janet for
The Maple Crew
PS: Sorry for the delay in sending this out, but we had a hard time getting the modem to connect.
Wednesday, 1 February 2017
Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Atlantic Crossing Day 22 - LAST DAY!
At 1230 UTC on Jan 31, 2017 our position was 13.50.84N, 58.58.99W.
Land has been spotted!!!! Jeff and Sandra were the first to spot land this morning around 1100 UTC. We are now less than 50 miles to the north end of Barbados! We raised the spinnaker again for the first time in a few days to try to gain a couple of knots of speed in hope we can arrive at the customs dock by 1700 local time (2100 UTC) before they close. It will be tight but hopefully we can pull it off.
We will be in touch when we have arrived!
Love to all from,
Janet for
The Maple Crew
Land has been spotted!!!! Jeff and Sandra were the first to spot land this morning around 1100 UTC. We are now less than 50 miles to the north end of Barbados! We raised the spinnaker again for the first time in a few days to try to gain a couple of knots of speed in hope we can arrive at the customs dock by 1700 local time (2100 UTC) before they close. It will be tight but hopefully we can pull it off.
We will be in touch when we have arrived!
Love to all from,
Janet for
The Maple Crew
Monday, 30 January 2017
Atlantic Crossing Day 21
At 1600 UTC on Jan 30, 2017 our position was 14.46.40N, 57.12.51W.
At 1200 UTC today (Jan 30), we officially completed Day 20 of our Atlantic crossing with just 192 miles to go to reach the north of Barbados! The sight of land is tantalizingly close!!!
We are having one of our best days of sailing today, only had to wait 20 days. We have a full headsail and one reef in the main and are sailing at a beautiful angle with seas that are being relatively kind to us. Maple is loving the ride and handling it all so beautifully after this long journey.
This morning, we discovered our hard working tow generator had lost one propeller blade and the other was broken. I think the plastic blades after 20 days and the big seas we were surfing down the last two days had reached its breaking point, so to speak. Fortunately it came with two spare blades so she is happily back in the water keeping our batteries topped up beautifully in compliment with our solar panels. The only downside is this generator is no longer made so spare parts are no longer available for purchase. So we will have to find an alternative to getting new backup blades made for us. No doubt that will be an adventure in itself when it comes to sourcing boat parts with no fixed address.
The Maple Crew are all doing well!! We have enjoyed the journey but also looking forward to the destination. Perhaps our next update I can say "Land Ho"!!!!
Love to all from,
Janet for
The Maple Crew
At 1200 UTC today (Jan 30), we officially completed Day 20 of our Atlantic crossing with just 192 miles to go to reach the north of Barbados! The sight of land is tantalizingly close!!!
We are having one of our best days of sailing today, only had to wait 20 days. We have a full headsail and one reef in the main and are sailing at a beautiful angle with seas that are being relatively kind to us. Maple is loving the ride and handling it all so beautifully after this long journey.
This morning, we discovered our hard working tow generator had lost one propeller blade and the other was broken. I think the plastic blades after 20 days and the big seas we were surfing down the last two days had reached its breaking point, so to speak. Fortunately it came with two spare blades so she is happily back in the water keeping our batteries topped up beautifully in compliment with our solar panels. The only downside is this generator is no longer made so spare parts are no longer available for purchase. So we will have to find an alternative to getting new backup blades made for us. No doubt that will be an adventure in itself when it comes to sourcing boat parts with no fixed address.
The Maple Crew are all doing well!! We have enjoyed the journey but also looking forward to the destination. Perhaps our next update I can say "Land Ho"!!!!
Love to all from,
Janet for
The Maple Crew
Saturday, 28 January 2017
Atlantic Crossing Day 19
At 2200 UTC on Jan 28, 2017 our position was 14.53.31N, 52.21.39W.
We are now 450 miles from our destination and starting to look forward to our arrival!
After 19 days, we were overdue for some high winds and big, confused seas. So they arrived with vengeance today. As Sandra said, this is fine as long as it only lasts a day. So we have put that request in. The main sail made its first appearance after a long rest today and we made good speed all day but in uncomfortable seas. Tonight, the seas have sorted themselves out and we are back enjoying following seas with the head and main sails trimmed wing on wing as best we can manage on a catamaran. Wing on wing is a first for us on Maple thanks to Jeff guiding us through the set up. Now we will all need to be on our toes tonight during our watches to keep the balance right. (And yes, we do have a preventer on the boom for those who know what that means.)
Our latest casualty on board is our external hard drive that did not like being dropped and as such we have lost all our movies and music. Oh well, perhaps it will mean Iris will have to find other things to do. Shockingly Ella and Iris had their best day of playing together for the first time in 6 years they have known each other. Now let's see how long that lasts, I am not holding my breath.
Everyone is still doing well on board! The fresh food is quickly dwindling, we have already had to break out the canned fruit. We have all done an amazing job with meals, loads of variety. Although I am sure Jeff and Sandra are looking forward to a meal that doesn't involve hearing us nag Iris to finish her dinner. She is a master negotiator that one.
Love to all from,
Janet for
The Maple Crew
We are now 450 miles from our destination and starting to look forward to our arrival!
After 19 days, we were overdue for some high winds and big, confused seas. So they arrived with vengeance today. As Sandra said, this is fine as long as it only lasts a day. So we have put that request in. The main sail made its first appearance after a long rest today and we made good speed all day but in uncomfortable seas. Tonight, the seas have sorted themselves out and we are back enjoying following seas with the head and main sails trimmed wing on wing as best we can manage on a catamaran. Wing on wing is a first for us on Maple thanks to Jeff guiding us through the set up. Now we will all need to be on our toes tonight during our watches to keep the balance right. (And yes, we do have a preventer on the boom for those who know what that means.)
Our latest casualty on board is our external hard drive that did not like being dropped and as such we have lost all our movies and music. Oh well, perhaps it will mean Iris will have to find other things to do. Shockingly Ella and Iris had their best day of playing together for the first time in 6 years they have known each other. Now let's see how long that lasts, I am not holding my breath.
Everyone is still doing well on board! The fresh food is quickly dwindling, we have already had to break out the canned fruit. We have all done an amazing job with meals, loads of variety. Although I am sure Jeff and Sandra are looking forward to a meal that doesn't involve hearing us nag Iris to finish her dinner. She is a master negotiator that one.
Love to all from,
Janet for
The Maple Crew
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Atlantic Crossing Day 16
At 1630 UTC on Jan 25, 2017 our position was 15.33.94N, 45.23.92W.
We continue to sail along in comfortable seas and winds! We have pulled the spinnaker down the last two nights to be cautious with squalls. It paid off the first night when Sandra experienced a brief squall, but last night we just bobbed along at a painful 3 knots most of the night with no visits from squalls. Never thought I would say that we were hoping for one just to briefly see some decent boat speed!!! First thing in the morning the spinnaker was back up doing its thing beautifully as usual. The fix for the broken block is still holding well so let's hope it can hold on for another week or so.
We have not been fishing since we caught the tuna as we just didn't have any more freezer space. Jeff gave us a bit of a nudge yesterday wondering when we might cast the line in again. So this morning we did just that! I put in a request for Jeff to catch us a dorado (aka:mahi mahi). And boy did he deliver!! Within an hour we had the reel spinning and Jeff pulled in a beautiful 5kg (nearly a meter long) dorado. We are looking forward to dinner tonight!!!
On a completely unrelated note and really one that only Iris's grandparents might be interested in, Iris has her first loose tooth!!! It is one of her bottom front teeth. It will be the first time the tooth fairy will have to make a visit to Maple. Perhaps it will fall out in Barbados where big sister, Ella, likes to retell her story of losing one of her teeth when we last visited Barbados nearly four years ago.
The Aussies on board |(Jeff and Sandra) would like to wish everyone back in Australia a very happy Australia Day (26th). We hope that the barbie is fired up and the beers are flowing and those that are still working can enjoy a long weekend!!
So that is the extent of the excitement here on Maple! Just enjoying life, contained on an 11.5m x 6m floating platform!
Love to all from,
Janet for
The Maple Crew
PS: Ok this is starting to become a habit. As I finished writing this email we were visited by a pod of whales!!! We must be the luckiest sailors out there. I can't say for sure how many whales there were but I believe it was at least four or five of them. Ella was on watch and gave the shout out when she spotted one. Then the first close encounter was right beside the boat when I believe a mama and her calf surfaced together to scrutinize Maple. After this we had front row seats to FOUR full breeches off our port quarter! Unbelievable!!! I can't believe how fortunate we have been with whales visiting us, along with all the other wildlife. What an amazing trip this has been!
We continue to sail along in comfortable seas and winds! We have pulled the spinnaker down the last two nights to be cautious with squalls. It paid off the first night when Sandra experienced a brief squall, but last night we just bobbed along at a painful 3 knots most of the night with no visits from squalls. Never thought I would say that we were hoping for one just to briefly see some decent boat speed!!! First thing in the morning the spinnaker was back up doing its thing beautifully as usual. The fix for the broken block is still holding well so let's hope it can hold on for another week or so.
We have not been fishing since we caught the tuna as we just didn't have any more freezer space. Jeff gave us a bit of a nudge yesterday wondering when we might cast the line in again. So this morning we did just that! I put in a request for Jeff to catch us a dorado (aka:mahi mahi). And boy did he deliver!! Within an hour we had the reel spinning and Jeff pulled in a beautiful 5kg (nearly a meter long) dorado. We are looking forward to dinner tonight!!!
On a completely unrelated note and really one that only Iris's grandparents might be interested in, Iris has her first loose tooth!!! It is one of her bottom front teeth. It will be the first time the tooth fairy will have to make a visit to Maple. Perhaps it will fall out in Barbados where big sister, Ella, likes to retell her story of losing one of her teeth when we last visited Barbados nearly four years ago.
The Aussies on board |(Jeff and Sandra) would like to wish everyone back in Australia a very happy Australia Day (26th). We hope that the barbie is fired up and the beers are flowing and those that are still working can enjoy a long weekend!!
So that is the extent of the excitement here on Maple! Just enjoying life, contained on an 11.5m x 6m floating platform!
Love to all from,
Janet for
The Maple Crew
PS: Ok this is starting to become a habit. As I finished writing this email we were visited by a pod of whales!!! We must be the luckiest sailors out there. I can't say for sure how many whales there were but I believe it was at least four or five of them. Ella was on watch and gave the shout out when she spotted one. Then the first close encounter was right beside the boat when I believe a mama and her calf surfaced together to scrutinize Maple. After this we had front row seats to FOUR full breeches off our port quarter! Unbelievable!!! I can't believe how fortunate we have been with whales visiting us, along with all the other wildlife. What an amazing trip this has been!
Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Atlantic Crossing Day 13 & 14
At 0815 UTC on Jan 24, 2017 our position was 16.16.74N, 42.51.29W.
Maple continues to plod her way across the Atlantic. We've had unseasonably light winds so far but we're actually not complaining. Light winds mean less stress on the boat and smaller seas so overall it has been really comfortable out here. We're enjoying the sunshine and the solitude.
Things have been relatively quiet on Maple,on the night of the 22/23 we once again flew the spinnaker at night. Winds were light all day with about 10 knots from the East and we didn't see any signs of impending squalls in the evening so we made the call. At around 0500 UTC the winds picked up and we decided to drop the spinnaker. Janet and I (Darryl) thought we had it under control so did not wake Jeff or Sandra. That was my mistake and one I won't make again. The spinnaker came down beautifully, except for the fact that one of the ropes which control it (the port sheet) ended up in the water.
If I asked you to drop a rope in the water from the bow of our boat, and have it tie a knot around one of the propellers I doubt you could do do it. If I paid you to do it, you wouldn't be able to, but at 5AM when it's dark and windy and you're tired and you don't want the rope to get tangled, I guarantee that it will. Yep, you guess it, the line in the water inevitably managed to wrap itself around the prop. The engines weren't on so it was not a big deal but I couldn't free it from the deck - that's right, I was going to have to go swimming. Fortunately, I could wait for daylight. With the coming of the dawn we stopped the boat as best we could and in I went. The rope came free with no drama and we were underway again in a few minutes. The water is warm and beautiful if you don't mind it being about 4000 meters deep...
We continue to experience some intermittent problems in getting our radio to turn on. It seems that when it's acting up I can get it to work again by removing power from the radio and then restoring it (essentially resetting it???) but I don't know if the issue will continue. Long story short - if you don't hear from us regularly, please do not assume the worst - we are doing well and it is probably just a communication snafu. If anyone wants to google something for me the radio is a ICOM M802 SSB radio. Perhaps "ICOM M802 not turning on" or "need to reset ICOM M802" or something like that? Let me know if you come up with anything relevant. No worries if you don't as I'll be googling like a mad man once we have internet access again.
Love to all from,
Darryl for
The Maple Crew
Maple continues to plod her way across the Atlantic. We've had unseasonably light winds so far but we're actually not complaining. Light winds mean less stress on the boat and smaller seas so overall it has been really comfortable out here. We're enjoying the sunshine and the solitude.
Things have been relatively quiet on Maple,on the night of the 22/23 we once again flew the spinnaker at night. Winds were light all day with about 10 knots from the East and we didn't see any signs of impending squalls in the evening so we made the call. At around 0500 UTC the winds picked up and we decided to drop the spinnaker. Janet and I (Darryl) thought we had it under control so did not wake Jeff or Sandra. That was my mistake and one I won't make again. The spinnaker came down beautifully, except for the fact that one of the ropes which control it (the port sheet) ended up in the water.
If I asked you to drop a rope in the water from the bow of our boat, and have it tie a knot around one of the propellers I doubt you could do do it. If I paid you to do it, you wouldn't be able to, but at 5AM when it's dark and windy and you're tired and you don't want the rope to get tangled, I guarantee that it will. Yep, you guess it, the line in the water inevitably managed to wrap itself around the prop. The engines weren't on so it was not a big deal but I couldn't free it from the deck - that's right, I was going to have to go swimming. Fortunately, I could wait for daylight. With the coming of the dawn we stopped the boat as best we could and in I went. The rope came free with no drama and we were underway again in a few minutes. The water is warm and beautiful if you don't mind it being about 4000 meters deep...
We continue to experience some intermittent problems in getting our radio to turn on. It seems that when it's acting up I can get it to work again by removing power from the radio and then restoring it (essentially resetting it???) but I don't know if the issue will continue. Long story short - if you don't hear from us regularly, please do not assume the worst - we are doing well and it is probably just a communication snafu. If anyone wants to google something for me the radio is a ICOM M802 SSB radio. Perhaps "ICOM M802 not turning on" or "need to reset ICOM M802" or something like that? Let me know if you come up with anything relevant. No worries if you don't as I'll be googling like a mad man once we have internet access again.
Love to all from,
Darryl for
The Maple Crew
Saturday, 21 January 2017
Atlantic Crossing Day 12
At 1700 UTC our position was 17.59.53N, 37.28.39W.
What a difference two days makes!!! I bet all of you have been tired of our "oh how wonderful life is on board Maple in the big blue". Well that all changed on the evening of Day 10 after all of the whale excitement and sushi dinner. I (Janet) was on watch from 2200 to 0000 and at around 2300 I heard something go bang. Because the wind was reaching the limit of us flying the spinnaker, Darryl fell asleep in the cockpit in case we needed to quickly make a sail change. After an inspection in the pitch black (the moon was not up yet), we discovered that a block that held the spinnaker about two meters down from the top of the mast had broken free. This left the spinnaker halyard flying directly from the masthead, which is not what our rigging is designed for. So we woke up Jeff and Sandra to take on the task of taking the spinnaker down in the dark. Precisely why we had originally said we would never fly the spinnaker at night. But that 7 to 8 knots of boat speed is so darn intoxicating.
Fortunately for once that spinnaker actually came down relatively easily, small blessings! And then the rest of the night we were left bobbing along with only the headsail at 4 to 5 knots. Lame!
This is where I need to put a plug in for the amazing sailing community we are so fortunate to belong to! Darryl immediately emailed other cruisers, most of whom we met during our long stay in Las Palmas. D even sent off an email to the rigger who re-did our rigging in Palma this summer on the off chance he could provide some input on our options. By the next morning, we had heard back from other cruisers, Mike, Peter and Janna, as well as our rigger. So wonderful that from a distance and in the middle of the ocean, we are able to reach out for support. So D and Jeff spent the day tinkering with various ways to make a fix. Unfortunately yesterday the seas were less comfortable with swell coming from multiple directions. Not a day for anyone to head up the mast. So we just puttered slowly along with the headsail.
Wouldn't you know it that the resident whale came to check up on us again last night! What a welcome sight after a bit of a tough day. Jeff even saw the whale do a complete breech from the water. Too bad the Go-Pro wasn't running at that moment.
This brings us to today! We are officially at the halfway mark to Barbados! So we have plans for a Halfway There Celebration. But first we had some work to do. Overnight, the SSB radio stopped working. So that was first up, after reconnecting some lose wires we are back in business. Now the tough part. D going up the mast to make a fix in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The seas were a bit more gentle today, but for those of you who have never ventured up a 17 meter mast, what you discover is any slight movement just creates a pendulum up there. So needless to say, D was not excited at the prospect of climbing the mast, but it had to be done. Unfortunately the Go-Pro mounted to his head didn't really show the work he was doing up there, but I believe it did beautifully capture the copious amount of cursing every time the swell hit us on the side, which was pretty much every second swell. With his legs firmly wrapped around the mast and a tether around him to try to keep him close to the mast, he managed to make the temporary fix. And we have just hoisted the spinnaker and all is looking good so far!!! Much happier with the 6 knots of boat speed to the 4 we have been averaging the last 24 hours.
It was an amazing team effort from those on Maple! Jeff and I winching D up the mast. Sandra at the helm with the impossible task of trying to keep the swell hitting the stern as gentle as possible. Have I mentioned before how grateful we are to have these beautiful people on board with us?!?!?
But wait, the excitement is not over yet! After we get back inside the boat patting ourselves on the back for a job well done, I notice the fresh water pump and bilge pump are running!!! Are you kidding me??? Yes, after a quick investigation, we found that a newly installed water filter had cracked its housing and was leaking water into the bilge. We figure we may have lost about 100 liters. Is it true that bad things happen in threes? If so, hopefully that is all there is.
As for marking the milestone of reaching the halfway mark, the girls had bought loads of candy before we left, which they hid and brought out as a surprise. I made crepes with all the trimmings for lunch after all the work was done. The cava is chilling in the fridge for a much deserved, very small sip. And the most exciting part of all: HOT SHOWERS!!! We have been running the port engine to heat up the water and it is heaven to feel clean for the first time in 12 days.
Here is to smoother sailing from here on out!
Love to all from,
The Maple Crew
PS: If you do respond to this email, please delete my original email first as it will speed up when we download any responses. Thank you!
What a difference two days makes!!! I bet all of you have been tired of our "oh how wonderful life is on board Maple in the big blue". Well that all changed on the evening of Day 10 after all of the whale excitement and sushi dinner. I (Janet) was on watch from 2200 to 0000 and at around 2300 I heard something go bang. Because the wind was reaching the limit of us flying the spinnaker, Darryl fell asleep in the cockpit in case we needed to quickly make a sail change. After an inspection in the pitch black (the moon was not up yet), we discovered that a block that held the spinnaker about two meters down from the top of the mast had broken free. This left the spinnaker halyard flying directly from the masthead, which is not what our rigging is designed for. So we woke up Jeff and Sandra to take on the task of taking the spinnaker down in the dark. Precisely why we had originally said we would never fly the spinnaker at night. But that 7 to 8 knots of boat speed is so darn intoxicating.
Fortunately for once that spinnaker actually came down relatively easily, small blessings! And then the rest of the night we were left bobbing along with only the headsail at 4 to 5 knots. Lame!
This is where I need to put a plug in for the amazing sailing community we are so fortunate to belong to! Darryl immediately emailed other cruisers, most of whom we met during our long stay in Las Palmas. D even sent off an email to the rigger who re-did our rigging in Palma this summer on the off chance he could provide some input on our options. By the next morning, we had heard back from other cruisers, Mike, Peter and Janna, as well as our rigger. So wonderful that from a distance and in the middle of the ocean, we are able to reach out for support. So D and Jeff spent the day tinkering with various ways to make a fix. Unfortunately yesterday the seas were less comfortable with swell coming from multiple directions. Not a day for anyone to head up the mast. So we just puttered slowly along with the headsail.
Wouldn't you know it that the resident whale came to check up on us again last night! What a welcome sight after a bit of a tough day. Jeff even saw the whale do a complete breech from the water. Too bad the Go-Pro wasn't running at that moment.
This brings us to today! We are officially at the halfway mark to Barbados! So we have plans for a Halfway There Celebration. But first we had some work to do. Overnight, the SSB radio stopped working. So that was first up, after reconnecting some lose wires we are back in business. Now the tough part. D going up the mast to make a fix in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The seas were a bit more gentle today, but for those of you who have never ventured up a 17 meter mast, what you discover is any slight movement just creates a pendulum up there. So needless to say, D was not excited at the prospect of climbing the mast, but it had to be done. Unfortunately the Go-Pro mounted to his head didn't really show the work he was doing up there, but I believe it did beautifully capture the copious amount of cursing every time the swell hit us on the side, which was pretty much every second swell. With his legs firmly wrapped around the mast and a tether around him to try to keep him close to the mast, he managed to make the temporary fix. And we have just hoisted the spinnaker and all is looking good so far!!! Much happier with the 6 knots of boat speed to the 4 we have been averaging the last 24 hours.
It was an amazing team effort from those on Maple! Jeff and I winching D up the mast. Sandra at the helm with the impossible task of trying to keep the swell hitting the stern as gentle as possible. Have I mentioned before how grateful we are to have these beautiful people on board with us?!?!?
But wait, the excitement is not over yet! After we get back inside the boat patting ourselves on the back for a job well done, I notice the fresh water pump and bilge pump are running!!! Are you kidding me??? Yes, after a quick investigation, we found that a newly installed water filter had cracked its housing and was leaking water into the bilge. We figure we may have lost about 100 liters. Is it true that bad things happen in threes? If so, hopefully that is all there is.
As for marking the milestone of reaching the halfway mark, the girls had bought loads of candy before we left, which they hid and brought out as a surprise. I made crepes with all the trimmings for lunch after all the work was done. The cava is chilling in the fridge for a much deserved, very small sip. And the most exciting part of all: HOT SHOWERS!!! We have been running the port engine to heat up the water and it is heaven to feel clean for the first time in 12 days.
Here is to smoother sailing from here on out!
Love to all from,
The Maple Crew
PS: If you do respond to this email, please delete my original email first as it will speed up when we download any responses. Thank you!
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