Said good bye to Colombia and headed towards Panama. The first night was tough and conditions were not as predicted. 35 knots of wind, our jib was tiny but maintaining 7.5 knots of speed, lightening all around, waves crashing into the cockpit and heavy rain. 2nd day, still sailing maintaining good speed. But after this first night, everything calmed down, maybe a bit too much 😅 the wind dropped but honestly provided for a glorious night shift with bioluminescent phytoplankton, the starriest of nights and a decent night of sleep. The next day we motored through which meant a lot of dips in the open ocean. And after an amazing sunset we pulled into San Blas. We are in disbelief with this place. Just doesn’t seem real. We’ve seen dolphins, met locals, walked the through this paradise.. how can you have just arrived somewhere and already be sad that you’ll eventually have to leave?!

Crew of 5! Left Aruba and headed to Santa Marta! Started off with champagne sailing but quickly the waves grew. First night was intense, with waves crashing on the cockpit and lightning storms. Second night was even more intense 😅 harnesses and lifejackets, 36 knots of wind - this crossing was living up to its gnarly reputation. We kept sails up the entire way. Spotted rough tooth dolphins. And our entrance into Santa Marta was very on brand, gnarly weather but we finally made it only to realise our anchor wasn’t working so tied up to the fuel dock. Next day we cleaned the boat and proceeded to explore Colombia - Minca, Tayrona national park etc. for a glorious week.

The first trip that I’ve done with crew that I met as I sailed along! Drew and Lydia joined after I met them for the first time in Curaçao and my friend Cat flew in to visit us. 5 people on board! A lovely downwind sail, the we lost two rapallas to VERY LARGE fish that we probably wouldn’t On approach to Aruba at 5pm I debated wether to go to customs and sort that out, or to anchor as the sun would set soon and deal with customs the following day. Before I know it I hear the VHF, I see the coast guard on my tail and they asked for all my crew to come on deck & informed me that they would board my vessel while I was under sail. They directed us to customs and we had our entire boat searched, by dogs, machines etc. it was a random stop and search exercise 😅 but very time consuming and did mean that we left the customs dock at dark to anchor which isn’t ideal. The charts aren’t very accurate here, and I also felt Arabesque graze a sandy bottom for the first time, but broke free quite easily 😳 A slightly surreal entry to this island. But we are here and Aruba is treating us well 😊

Left the marina in Curaçao and headed up north to the less busy anchorages. We arrived in Boca de Santa Cruz, went snorkeling at the wreck, checked out the blue cave and went spear fishing which meant the yummiest of ceviches for lunch. Staying here for a few days while we find crew, and sort out a few things prior to going to Aruba!

Los Roques was a hard place to leave, we will definitely be back to that paradise and we haven’t had such a hard time leaving a place in a while ✨ In the last days we stuck together with some buddy boats, kitesurfing, spear fishing, grilling the fish on beach bonfires and making Lambe ceviche for sundowners. Was truly very special. The sail to Curaçao started off with some beautiful champagne sailing as we left Los Roques - but as the night set in we found ourselves surrounded by thunder storms, consistent 2/3m swells and winds of 27knots. With just Jo and I on board, we did 2 hour shift rotations but the conditions made it hard to sleep. Intense, character building but arrived safe and sound ready to start on the thousands of boat jobs that need doing after we get ourselves a much deserved burger and have a nap.

We are one week into our stay and we just had to extend our time here for another week. It was the first pin we set of unmissable locations during our circumnavigation when we thought of this trip years ago. We have had the best kite-surfing sessions of our lives here.. there are so many amazing spots, empty anchorages with untouched beaches, clear water and warm nights. The locals are so friendly and the food is all locally caught, they’ve even taken us with them on some fishing trips where we scuba dived and watched them catch their fish and lobsters. The reefs are amazing and full of life. We came here in off season, which is nice because I do like plenty of space to Kitesurf after mostly experiencing overcrowdedness in popular kiting locations in Europe - but it’s literally empty 😅 we are often the only boat in anchorages so can be tricky to meet people. But there is life in the main island and we’ve had a pretty fun night out here with locals and other visitors. This place is an absolute gem and everything I dreamed of and more ✨

Left Martinique and headed West. Turned off AIS, no navigation lights during the night, very vigilant night watches & had the Radar on stand by. Slow crossing with little wind and so much sargassum we gave up on fishing. But very beautiful sunrises and sunsets! We painted some more courtesy flags, read, journaled, drank beers etc. When we spoke about this trip years ago and started noting places on a world map that were unmissable, this was the first to be pinned. So it feels pretty awesome to have actually arrived! Ready to start kitesurfing when we are done with customs 😁

Upwind sailing the entire way. Le Marin is our last stop in the Caribbean - tomorrow is a busy day of provisioning and prepping the boat and ourselves for the crossing to Los Roques 🇻🇪

Last island stop before lengthier crossings where we will head further west!

Searched for sperm whales to swim with the entire way, even sent Jo up the mast (she volunteered) - but sadly nothing.