Happy New Year and Start of the World Arc

What a difference a year makes! Last year after finishing our transatlantic crossing with the ARC 2023, we had a long list of boat issues to resolve and we felt very overwhelmed. We were wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. Ultimately we decided to delay our circumnavigation and today after living onboard for close to 18 months we handle most challenges with better grace and we feel much better prepared , particularly mentally.

Seth at the start of our World ARC. He has grown so much in the last few months.

We joined the World Arc Rally 2025-26)  in St Lucia on January 5th after a couple weeks in Guadeloupe and Martinique. While in Martinique we managed to resolve a few more boat problems and were able to provision for the months ahead. 

As a bonus we ran into and spent time with a few other cruisers we met along the way - SV Kepler, SV Incognito and SV True North.

Seth and his friends from SV KEPLER

Christmas Day with Dale and Jay (SV Incognito)

My brother Jean Matthieu and my sister in law Floriane also came to spend a week with us in Martinique and we rang in the new year together . It felt like a mini vacation with some exploring and some beach time.

Seth and Jean Matthieu 

Jean Matthieu  and Floriane

JM and Floriane enjoying lounging on our new beanbags on our sail to Anse D'Arlet


beach time and ice cream

In St Lucia we spent the days leading up to departure doing final preparations and meeting all the other boats and crew participating in the first half of the rally!  Seth is particularly excited as there are 6 other family boats with 13 kids ranging from 7-15. He went to do a zip line tour on Thursday and had loads of fun. 

some of the kids on the World Arc 2025-26

Seth playing with friends from SV Chillalot at the Marina pool in St Lucia

Timo and Hilari are on board with us until Panama and as always we really enjoy spending time together. 
Hilari  (above) , Timo and Adam at the start

I am writing this blog on my first night watch. The start of the St Lucia to Santa Marta leg was at noon today January 11th with enough wind to start under sail. It was great to see the 32 boats starting.
Winds are pretty light with calm seas and we enjoyed a nice diner at sunset with some dolphins swimming around! The moon is high and bright and so are our spirits.


Seth and I on New Year's Eve in Martinique