Sailing from Brest to Madeira was my first offshore passage and all my expectations and preparations were based on testimony and experiences from others. I read many guides and articles to gather tips ahead of time.

 

The most unknown for me was how I (and Seth) would adapt to motion, we do experience seasickness and I was truthfully dreading it. For most people it takes a couple days for the inner ear to adjust and I was really hoping that would be the case for us after 2-3 days at sea. I did take meds preventively which kept me from feeling incapacitated but it also made me feel weird, headachy and generally sluggish, in other words not a pleasant experience. In the first few days I had moments of wondering why I was in the middle of an ocean feeling crappy ! Thankfully by the third day I was feeling better and once the drugs were out of my system my energy came back and I started enjoying the experience to the fullest! 

As I am writing we are on a beam reach in relatively organized seas and this is so delightful that I feel like I don’t want it to end! While offshore the only imperatives are to keep watch and do necessary chores leaving time for reflection and gazing at the sky, time to take in sunsets, sunrises, starry nights, the blue of the water and the occasional dolphin, whale or birds. 

You heard me… I don’t want it to end…. I want to enjoy the moment and not worry about all the work on arrival !

My other area of focus before leaving was provisioning, meal planning and organizing the galley. Here are my takeaways:

Freezing meals is a great idea and makes it easy on busy days or when not feeling well. I will make lasagna again but will do it more greek style, with tubular pasta rather than lasagna sheets.

Even more helpful was having meat already cubed and packaged ready to throw in the pan. This was key for many reasons: no chopping while underway,, no extra cleaning of cutting boards when preserving water (our watermaker is not working on this passage) and ease for other crew members to use to make a simple dinner. 

While in France I went to a butcher (instead of the grocery store) and asked the butcher to chop the chicken and beef into cubes … a wonderful time saver! I grabbed some loose herbed sausage to use in a pasta sauce or to stuff vegetables…. While not on my list it is very versatile and takes little freezer space !

Having healthy snacks is important. During night watches or when the weather does not cooperate, being able to grab something quickly is key. Along with cookies and bars I stocked the following: apple sauce, cereal bars, breakfast bars (my sister suggested those and it has been a great hit) , yogurt, dried fruits and nuts and hard boiled eggs. Particularly important is to have individual portions ready to grab (and for everyone to know where to find it).

I found that washing and cutting orange slices and keeping them cold in the fridge ready to add to a lunch plate and or to have as a snack when it is hot out was very successful ! I did the  same with the melons - healthy snacks, easy to grab....

The bag of oranges we grabbed at the store was on it's last legs... oops...I'll be careful next time I select fruit to make sure to select some ready to eat and some that still need to ripen. Keeping some fruits in the fridge and pulling it out gradually has worked well. 

I used the pressure cooker 5-5-5 method to make hard boiled eggs ahead of time and it has been a popular snack or addition to the lunch plate. (I checked with the crew first to see how many to cook).

For the final run to the store for fresh produce, most of the crew came along and helped pick out snacks and fruits they enjoyed. Chris found fig cookies and Paul instant soups I would not have thought of ! Paul also offered to cook some meals for which we got ingredients! I don't often cook with cabbage at home but it keeps well on a boat so I was thrilled to learned a couple new (and delicious) recipes with it ! 

The one area where I have felt underprepared is homeschooling.. keeping a routine and sticking to a plan is not obvious while underway and Seth much rather likes to help with all the boat tasks. I am sure however, that the experience makes up for the formal learning. We have run into challenges and Seth has been right there with the crew, not only lending a capable hand but also thinking through the issues and potential resolutions. He is also learning from the amazing friends who join us , through discussions and personal interactions . Our friend Paul is a fisherman and is teaching Seth how to fish - on the day before departure he and Seth went on an expedition to get the gear we need for offshore fishing… they went to multiple stores asking for advice and local knowledge until they found the right store and the right gear. Paul is now teaching Seth to use and maintain the gear and we hope to eventually catch a fish! I am trying to coax Seth into writting a blog about his fishing…. Sit tight! 

Paul and Seth setting up the fishing lines.

Other ramdom lessons:

Toilet paper and paper towels are perfect for padding storage areas and keep content from rattling! 

Anti skid is your friend …. I keep a couple silicone baking mats on the counter and it helps keep everything mostly in place. Special thanks to Marj on True North for the idea. I also have silicone rings on the induction stove to both protect the surface and keep pots from sliding.

We do not have any cup holders in the cockpit and after a coffee spill we added some non-skid material that had helped our wide based coffee mugs stay put in most (not all) conditions ! I purchased it thinking of cabinet shelves but it works well for this as well . I will look to get some more! 

Stable wide mugs with secure lids are great if you don’t have cup holders and I am experimenting with a flexible silicone water bottle that can lie flat. 

Drinking plenty of water is key, Chris has a couple small flexible water bottles that he ties up to his belt with a carabiner and that works well for him. We also found some inexpensive colored plastic tumblers in a grocery store and assigned each person a color so that we can keep them out ready to reach on the shelf above the sink! I know Seth uses it as I keep finding the red tumbler in unexpected places!

For trash, we are using one of the deck lockers that vents overboard. I use a very large heavy duty trash bag to hold the smaller bags from inside. The fenders that would normally be stowed in that locker are in the dinghy.

Finally and probably most importantly the crew is the key to a successful crossing! I am so grateful for the crew in this passage, Adam obviously who kept his calm and worked through all issues with calm and knowledge. Chris for his positive spirit, fun attitude and all his bits of strings to fix and attach and quiet everything. Chris raced with us as our bowman on Jam Session for over 6 seasons and we sure were glad to have his experience when we had to douse the blue water runner! Paul for his quiet support, his thoughtful insight and his delicious meals and Seth for taking everything in strides and embracing the adventure, he often kept us company during our night watches. Trying to get Seth to do some school work was not particularly successful while underway but he had many discussions with Chris, they shared jokes and got the sextant out once. Seth also learned from Paul how to set up our fishing lines and will undeniably be the fisherman onboard!