Our next trip was to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Verde to Surinam which was a former Dutch colony. Our first ocean passage with a total of 1,887 nautical miles (3,400 kms). We calculated an average of 100 n.m. per day so we expected the trip to take 18-19 days. Again, we made sure we had enough fresh fruit and vegetables and although it wasn’t easy to find, we also had a week’s supply of fresh meat.

We read several books about people who sailed around the world and one of the things they often mention is how to preserve the fruits and vegetables so it will last longer. Put it in a dark place, under the floor, etc. but we learned that the best way to preserve the fruits and vegetables in tropical temperatures is to put it in the refrigerator. Unfortunately we didn’t expect our refrigerator to break down on the third day of our trip. Since we did not like to waste food but also did not want to take any risk of food poisoning we first had to cook all the fresh meat. Erwin caught a Dorado on the second day but he had to postpone fishing for a few days since we had to eat the meat first before it got spoiled. Luckily we were able to save most of the food. What we missed the most though were the cold drinks because drinking a warm can of 7-up when it is 30 degrees outside is not really refreshing.

The ocean passage is not very different from the longer trips we had done before except that the period is much longer. You do your daily chores (which is not much) and before you know it another day has passed. We have gotten used to the constant movement of the boat but one thing we cannot get used to is that nothing and I mean NOTHING stays upright. It may stay there for a while or maybe a day or two but sooner or later, it will fall. You need to stow away things immediately. We learned our lesson when one time the coffee pot shattered into a hundred pieces and another time when Erwin had a pan of moussaka on the stove. The moussaka was already done and one minute before being served, a big wave swung the boat vigorously and so the moussaka ended up on the floor instead of our plates 😠. He had to clean up the whole mess and after an hour start cooking all over again. Oh well, what else do we have to do.

We have about 500 liters of water which should be enough for this trip but we use the water sparingly. The luxury of taking a shower is therefore something we cannot permit so we use a plastic bowl of water and a washcloth instead to wash ourselves. We shampoo our hair with sea water and then rinse the salt off with fresh water. One day when we saw that there was heavy rain approaching we took advantage of this opportunity, grabbed the shampoo and took a shower in the rain ☔️. That felt really good.

Observations at Sea

Flying fish and the seagulls keep us company. The flying fish is a constant sight, we see them every few minutes and sometimes they even land on the boat. We have read some recipes on how to prepare this fish but we’ve actually never tried it.

Flying fish hitching a ride on our boat

The seagulls often fly around the boat and when Erwin is fishing, they sometimes try to catch the artificial bait. Fortunately, none of the birds have gotten caught on the hook. Halfway through the Atlantic we suddenly saw green seaweed/plants floating continuously. We had no idea where these came from and after about three days it stopped. Also, we noticed that the color of the ocean changed because in the first half of the trip it was deep blue and in the second half it was dark green and about 20-30 n.m. from the coast of Surinam it became brown.

Nice tuna for lunch

Wind 💨

The first nine days of the trip went fast and smoothly because we had the northeast trade winds. Suddenly, the wind stopped and it seemed like we were in a doldrum (no wind at all which occurs close to the equator). We used our engine once in a while to maintain speed but since we had no idea how long the doldrum would last, we had to turn the engine off and just sit and wait until the wind returned. 😬 It was quite frustrating but after four days of waiting the wind finally picked up.

So, after 16 days at sea we finally reached Surinam. It looked like Holland at first sight because the water was murky, the sky was gray and the land was flat and when we turned on the radio, the DJ spoke Dutch (with a Surinam accent) but we were definitely far from Holland.

Land!!!

The first thing we wanted to do when we arrived was to open a bottle of cold champagne to celebrate another milestone. But since our refrigerator had to be repaired first we went to the closest restaurant and cheered with a nice, cold glass of beer 🍻.