In the news


Katadyn have recently sent out press information about our world tour in their latest newsletter. Check it out here. If you can't read German, here's a translation:

"Taru and Alex who got to know each other in Barcelona, left in the end of October on a sailing adventure around the world. Aboard their Hallberg Rassy 352, they have also installed a Katadyn Power Survivor 80E, to be able to have fresh drinking water on the long Atlantic crossing. When planning a cruise, the daily supplies of fresh water is absolutely essential for survival and the ability to produce drinking water itself has a huge impact on the comfort on board. With their Internet blog Taru and Alex have already achieved celebrity status within the sailing community. They cleverly combine the harsh life at sea with lifestyle elements such as good food (and fresh drinking water), expensive wine, and fashion clothes. The duo have just left Morocco and is now heading west. Make sure to follow the journey and love story of this extraordinary couple."

Nice!

We have by the way just started to use our watermaker and we've realized that it is even easier to use than it seemed from the beginning and the unit uses less amps than expected. Good! We'll post some information of the machine later on, if you guys are interested in knowing how it is possible to transform salt water into fresh (drinking) water. /T

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What's your fear

Beautiful summer nights are spent here in the Canaries, although we are dying to get over to the tropical Caribbean asap. We still have a few things to sort out here on the European side before we're ready to go and some final work on the boat and other necessities will be finalized this weekend. We will also need to fly to France later this weekend for a super short stay before we get back to prepare the last things for the crossing. This is something that freaks the hell out of me for some reason. Yeah flying. Not much in this world frightens me but flying is one. Might sound strange as I've travelled the world back and forth in both large jumbos and tiny passenger planes about a thousand times by now, but this is a phobia I've developed during the last two years or so. Nowadays, I am always convinced that I have the last minutes of my life in front of me when I board a plane and the thought of leaving my destiny and life in someone else's (the pilot's) hands is totally freaking me out. Call me a wimp, but that's a fact and I can't seem to get over it. The worst part is that it gets worse with time and age, and definitely now when we have so much beautiful things to look forward to. It would be a beautiful, tragic love story no? "Couple in love, just started their dream voyage, died in a plane crash before they even crossed the Atlantic". But do not get sad if you don't hear anything from us after Sunday, at least you know we were prepared for it. Jesus Christ. /T

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Where are we?

Our SPOT tracker is back in business. You're now able to follow our tour once again, over here.

The blue line on this map is the actual route we made during the time the SPOT wasn't cooperative, however it is now right on spot where we are located in this very moment. You'll be able to follow us over the Atlantic and over on the other side, once we leave this marina in a few days. 

Looks also like our journey now is the most visited on the Spotwalla trip rankings in the world. It's great to have you all following, dear readers. Hope to have you along with us for a long time to come! /T

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One simple apple dessert

One of the easiest desserts there is to be made (I did mention I love everything in terms of cooking involving the word easy, no?) is a simple fried apple dessert. If you, just like me, think that you've been eating too much over the holidays but still need something sweet after dinner, this is a good choice. Delicious and healthy, if you can resist the temptation of putting together a vanilla sauce to it, that is. 

All you really need is: 1 apple for two people, little bit of butter, brown sugar, ground cinnamon and that would be it. Panfry the apple in a tiny bit of butter, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top and leave it on the stove till it's golden brown. The firmer the apple, the better in my opinion. Granny Smith's has always made it for me with it's acidic taste, but also a traditional sweet Gala or Honeycrisp would be good for this type of frying. It's quick, healthy and delicious. Just how we like it. /Taru

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Route updated


You might be interested in knowing how far we've travelled so far. Almost nine months have passed since we started this circumnavigation from our hometown Barcelona on the 31st of October 2010 and around 9000 nm have been sailed through three continents and eleven countries so far. 

The red mark on the map is an indication of what we sailed the first summer we spent together in Barcelona, before the official circumnavigation started. You'll find tons of stories and photos of that first year further back in the blog if you're interested in seeing how we spent our time in Corsica, Sardinia, the French Riviera and the Balearic islands (Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca etc).

The blue line on the map indicates the actual world tour trip which we've accomplished so far and shows the trip made from Europe, the time we spent in Morocco, the long passage across the Atlantic to our new temporary home in the Caribbean sea where we're dropping our hook wherever it might suit us for the day. We are planning on staying around here and discover the beautiful Caribbean island chain at least until March next year. The plans are thereafter to transit the Panama canal and to enter the Pacific ocean for further adventures in the South Pacific and South East Asia in 2012.

We're located in lovely Antigua at the moment and we'll be staying here for a couple of more weeks. We will then probably sail towards St Lucia, Grenada, Tobago Cays and Barbados in the beginning of July.

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On the other side of the world

Although it is wonderful and amazing and fulfilling in so many ways to live this different life we've chosen, I do miss my closest friends at times. Therefore we're ultimately happy for Skype's existence. Home feels instantly so much closer, just what is needed in small doses now and then. Tonight I had a four hour (and four glasses of wine) session with one of my best friends in Sweden over the Internet. A wonderful energy kick delivered straight through the screen. /T

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Departures

The two days after NYE are the days when hundreds of boats leave Las Palmas for the long Atlantic crossing. On the 1st of January it was Swedish Marta, Magnus and their 14 months old son Fox's time to departure for new adventures across the ocean with their boat Mazarin, a Bianca 27. We wish this little family all luck and we're hoping to see them again in some weeks when it's our time to land on the other side. P.S: Can you see that they also have the Sailomat windvane? Good stuff!

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NYE 2010

We went to make the food shopping for NYE yesterday and Alex studied me while I was picking up things for the soup that I was planning to concoct. Langoustine, spider crab, fresh salmon fillet, swordfish, prawns, clams etc.. and he said with a sceptic look: "Are you really going to spoil these beautiful fishes and seafood into a soup?" Soupe de poissons for him and for many other French people is a (sometimes) clear soup containing a couple of (or many) different types of bony fishes, garlic croutons, cheese, wine, tomatoes and spices and most of the times not much more ingredients into it, although it is very tasty. So he almost got upset realizing that I was actually going to spoil and destroy such delicious things into a watery mix. That was only until he tasted my soup though. He had a spoon, then another and he went from a long delighted mmmmm to an ecstatic aaaah and kept on like that for a good fifteen minutes or so and I think he refilled the plate at least two times before he fell down in the cockpit couch with a satisfied grin. A proper food orgasm was delivered and he admitted that it was something of the best he had ever eaten. My soup, FYI, is made of a base made of shallots, garlic, persil, mushrooms, oil and white wine. Gently mixed with a couple of different spices, liquid cream, lemon juice and added are several types of seafood and fish. It is a true masterpiece and I still haven't encountered anyone who doesn't love it. Saffron can occasionally be added but this specific version I prefer without. 

We enjoyed the dinner just the two of us and after the dessert we left into town and found ourselves a perfect spot by the beach just before they shot off the fireworks at 12:00. Prepared with a delicious rose champagne, which we got from our friends Thierry and Nat when leaving Barcelona for two months ago, and the 12 traditional Spanish grapes (which are supposed to bring luck when you eat twelve of them just after midnight) and we wished each other and ourselves the best of luck for the future and the upcoming year under the sparkling sky full of colorful flashes and explosions. Afterwards we had a walk back home - a walk which took over two hours along the beachside as we got lost by the narrow cobbled streets. A beautiful night was spent and we crashed in bed around 3 am, tired, happy and excited for what the new decennium will have in store for us. All was perfect, only some of our dear people from home were missing and thank god I drank enough champagne that I barely felt the ache from my new shoes after all that walking. Feels good to know that I will not be in need of wearing high heels for, at least, the next four weeks or so.

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A new decade, a new era

We're starting the celebration of the new year with a bottle of Spain's finest. We're utterly convinced that this upcoming decade will be the best in our lives and we're sure that goes for all of you. Happy new year to all of our dear readers and have fun tonight wherever you are in the world!! Love from Canaries / Taru and Alex

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Burning skies

The sky is on fire. We're just about to have dinner with a light wind, some luminescent plankton and a purple-pinkish shimmer around our boat as the only peaceful company tonight. See you tomorrow in Gran Canaria.

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Updates

When hearing and reading about other peoples Atlantic crossing this year, we are glad that we'll have a late approach for it. The tradewinds were late to establish this year and many of the people we've been in touch with or read about in their blogs, have suffered from seasickness due to poor winds and the rolling of large seas and many seem to have experienced their crossing as a very uncomfortable one. Our original plan was to cross the ocean in early December but as of many unfinished boat projects, we're about one month late to the original schedule. Good like that, and the new plan for the ocean crossing is set to begin after New Year. There are still a couple of things we need to complete on the boat and also a couple of packages to receive and we're scheduling ourselves for a departure towards Martinique on the 10th of January. Let's then all hope for the best and pray for the tradewinds to be working it like they should - and a landfall is wished to be made about 3 weeks thereafter - where we'll be good in time for meeting up a couple of friends on the Caribbean side. Cannot wait for getting started with the crossing, but also we're glad to have made the decision to await for a perfect time to get it all started instead of stressing us through this first part of the tour. By the way, Marina Rubicon where we're staying at the moment has been an excellent stop for us. Peaceful, clean, fresh, great service and good facilities. The price a bit high (23 Euros/night) but over all an excellent marina. We're just about to leave for Gran Canaria and Las Palmas this afternoon where we'll make a quick stop before heading to the Southern parts of that very same island. 

New Year is now due to be celebrated in Gran Canaria, we have no plans whatsoever on how to spend NYE, but I'm sure we'll figure something fun out tomorrow when we arrive. Christmas and New Years celebrations have not been high up on our priority list for this year. But at least we have the fridge full of Champagne for a new years toast. /Taru

Photo from the Atlantic beach of Rabat, Morocco.

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Cabins and Swedish candy

Some of you were interested in having a look into our cabin .. so this it is. Not very extraordinary but oh so cozy. This is where I'll spend the rest of the night with a movie and candy* as my PMS doesn't allow me to do much else without getting in a bad mood. Good night. /T

* Stina my dear, would you please be so kind to bring some Swedish sweets when you come to visit next time! Everything is finished by now and I would die for some djungelvrål, sura nappar, dumle and ahlgrens bilar mmmmm...

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Surf in Lanzarote

I have always known how important surfing was to Alex for about 15 years ago or so. When he was a surf teacher in Biarritz on the French Atlantic coast and when he was traveling the world from Mexico to South Africa to Angola and Bali, Portugal and the coasts of Morocco in search for the best waves, but I had never seen it myself as yet - and as it was such a distant image for me. As I never seen it IRL, I had also hard to picture him as the surfer he obviously once was - even though I've seen some old photos of it. He's been mumbling about getting that board in the water once we get to warmer waters like the Pacific or such, while I at the same time have felt his worries for being a bit too old and rusty, and with time I have also somehow thought that yeah, he probably is a bit too old and rusty to get it going on the big rolls. But so today I finally got to see him working that board for real for the first time in my life and while sitting some hundred meters away, prepared with my tele-objective, I could slowly start to realize the deep importance the surfing have had on him - and obviously still does in a nostalgic, deep way and I felt such strength of seeing him excellently maneuvering the board after such long time. Obviously a lot more stiff than I can imagine him in his 20's, but still he had the flow. 

For some odd reason I even started to cry for fucks sake, when I saw him taking off on a two meters left. Two meters (6,5 foot) is really nothing when it comes to serious surfing but it did made me proud to see my handsome man making some action after such long time. Is that the second you know that you never loved anyone higher - when you're almost 30 and you begin to cry when watching the love of your life doing something he really loves from the bottom of his heart or is that just a sign of that human beings (me) gets more pathetic with age? Seriously. Either way I had an amazing time watching the show and Alex was obviously really happy to have found himself some good waves again. Can't wait to learn this sport myself and I'm glad I have the perfect teacher for it.

Also I definitely need to get a good waterproof camera/video cam so that I can shoot better pics and videos of Alex surfing on our tour around the world.

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Safety equipment part 1

What was that fashionable bracelet I had on the last picture, you might ask. So I'll tell you: It is actually not a thing with a fashionable purpose, more with a surviving one. This wrist transmitter from Navicom is connected to our radio which is connected to our GPS/Chart plotter and in case any of us would fall overboard, this will transmit a distress signal to the radio and GPS. This armband is for us a necessity during night watches, as it will awake the person sleeping if the one of us two on night watch would fall out of the boat. Obviously we will in every way possible avoid falling overboard in the first place (life vest attached to lifelines) - but would it somehow happen - this armband will immediately send out a high sounding distress alarm awakening every living person onboard and at the same time indicate on our chartplotter exactly where the person fell out and we will have a higher chance of finding the person in the water. One of those security things we find invaluable for our trip on the seven seas. /T

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Lanzarote!

We had a peaceful Christmas night on the sea with 20-25 knots of wind coming from the NW, right on the beam. 240 nm was quickly done in 39 hours. This is how it looked when arriving to the islands this morning. It is so hot over here, one could almost mistake these islands to be Caribbean ones. Sorry for the bitchy-early-morning-look on my face but that's how it goes when trying to avoid getting too much sun in the eyes while balancing with a bony ass trying not to fall over board and at the same time dying for getting back into the cockpit to enjoy Christmas breakfast with my baby. Anyways, we're finally here!

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