Atlantic crossing!!!! ⛵️🌊🫶

Perrine Louvet

The first few days of the passage were so incredibly peaceful. We were going 9knots downwind and the boat was the most comfortable it’s been since I got on in Madeira. We quickly got into a routine and it was so nice being able to get so much done while also having time to hang out and share meals as a crew. I especially enjoyed my night watches, during which I would - read (I loooved the two books I read: “Les choses humaines” by Karine Tuil, and “Intermezzo” by Salley Rooney) - work out (with dive weights, to the few musical soundtracks I had downloaded which proceeded to get irritatingly stuck in my head: My fair lady and The sound of music) - record little voice diaries for my best friend - study my sailing theory In the middle of our 5th night, ~700 nautical miles off of Cape Verde, we had a serious accident. Everything was going smoothly until our spinnaker suddenly ripped in half (we think it caught on the top spreader) and started dragging behind the boat, bending the pole 90 degrees and causing it to swing uncontrollably forward and back. In the midst of this, the chafing of lines caused the preventer on the boom to snap and the boom swept across the deck and hit our captain Roy in the head. Roy was unconscious on the deck for ~5 mins… we all assumed the worst but jumped into action: our first mate got the boat back to safety while I provided first aid to the captain. It suddenly felt terrifyingly real that we were in the middle of the Atlantic, several days away from helicopter range or any kind of medical help, and with limited means of communication. Thankfully Roy regained consciousness and didn’t seem to have any major problems other than some short-term memory loss, which is normal after a concussion. We got him inside and monitored him while using the satellite phone to get in contact with the Martinique coast guard doctor. Since Roy was stable, we decided the safest decision was to keep going towards Martinique (~1400nm) and try and make landfall as soon as possible (hell of a mission without a spinnaker). Our first mate took over as acting captain and did a wonderful job. He reorganized the watch schedule between the three of us, which was manageable but definitely more intense. We were all a bit traumatized by what had happened and found the night shifts particularly stressful. Two days later the wind picked up to force 7, and our night watches became busy reefing up and down for squalls that came towards us at full speed. The sea state worsened and the boat was extremely rolly and uncomfortable. As the days passed, Roy got better and we all started to calm down and trust the boat again. The end was in sight, and we would soon enter helicopter range (100nm) where it seemed like all our problems would be solved. The last night was a lot calmer, the sky was beautiful, and I was finally able to take a breath and feel the realness of it all. We had made it. Through the ups and downs, and the fear, and the weather, we crossed the damn Atlantic Ocean. It’s not the Pacific, it’s not high latitude sailing, it’s not what my plan was when I first decided to spend this year sailing around the world, but it is still a crazy accomplishment and I feel so so proud and grateful for it all ❤️Plus 12.5 days is prettyyy damn good! 🥂 To my first ocean crossing!! (many more to come I’m sure xx) PS: as much as I complain about not having starlink onboard, it was actually kind of wonderful to be offline for 2 weeks hehe (not ready to be back to reality 🥲).

Boat & Crew

Modus Vivendi

Oyster , 61

john turley

Deckhand

Perrine Louvet

Deckhand

Tuva Naustvik

Deckhand

Roy Kirke

Owner