There and back again

Just across the straights from here is Playa Blanca, Lanzarote, home to Marina Rubicon. And so it was from here, just over 12 years ago in mid-December 2013 that, having sailed 1400 nautical miles from Guernsey we pointed the bow of Seminole Wind into the Atlantic with just the two of us board..

I remember it was a blustery morning as is so often the case here and although we left harbour in the company of five other boats we were soon alone. By sun up on the next day there was no land to be seen. The initial feeling of anticipation and a good deal of trepidation soon settled into a daily rhythm of watches log updates, maintenance and the endless Atlantic rollers, long lazy seas that you only saw the scale of when you looked back over the stern. Cooking takes on a whole different experience when the boat is running downwind and the cooker is swinging back and forth on it’s gimbals

After turning west we saw not a single ship or aircraft until we arrived off Antigua 18 days and almost 3500 miles later. On the one hand the ocean makes you feel small and insignificant on the other it makes you feel like a real grown up sailor but most of all it teaches you humility and respect for the elements that could crush you in a heartbeat and for our beautiful planet that we could so easily destroy.