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" 2nd day at sea " The Oxley flew the whole night, there was even a little rain shower from a passing cloud which rinsed the boat. We will probably get more rain the closer we are to Brazils coast. This morning the sky is a bit overcast, providing some protection from the sun but hopefully it will peep out and recharge our batteries through our solar panels. We don’t use much electricity onboard and thanks to our lithium batteries we have enough backup to last a few cloudy da

" 1st day out again " We had quite a rolly night because of the main and genoa goosewinging so as soon as daylight appeared we brought out the Oxley. After some adjustments and trying to fly it without any twists, the third time was the right time. It will probably be up for quite some time, winds are not going to be stronger than 15kts and the sailing is so much more comfortable with the Oxley! We were doing more than half the true wind speed (so when it’s 9-10kts we are goi

Discover the new video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjatG_5Nucg En français en dessous Episode 8 : It's D-Day! Finally, the day of the big departure! They've been dreaming of this for five years. That dream becomes a reality today. The mooring lines are scheduled to be cast off at 8:00 a.m., depending on the high tide and the winds. Lorenzo just has to give the engine one last check, and the crew has to put on the official "Anouchka" boat t-shirt. Many people have c

« Swimming with a whale shark - Departure from Saint Helena » Today is our last day on Saint Helena, so we did many last minute purchases like fresh meat and dried goods. At 13:00 we had an appointment with Craig, he was going to bring us three to see, hopefully, whale sharks. He couldn’t promise that we’d see any so we didn’t get our hopes up too much. So we set off towards the west side of the island, after 15’ Chester, Craigs helper, spotted a whale shark just underneath

« Plantation house and Jonathan » We had a busy day again, started with our water delivery. We used about 300L during the last two weeks which is pretty good considering we cook, take short showers and do the dishes everyday. At 10:30 we had a guided visit planned at Plantation House, which is where the Governor lives and where officials stay over when they come to the island. This house is not a museum but a working place, so we were allowed to sit around. The best room was

Discover the new video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk24OPzyphE En français en dessous Episode 7 : One day before D-Day One day before departure, there are still many things to take care of on the boat. These include checking the sails, furling the spinnaker, inspecting the anchor, setting the helm, and so on. But the most important moment is the ceremony organized in honor of Anouchka, Lorenzo, and Jean-Baptiste at the Port Owen Yacht Club. Anouchka spent her child

« Napoleon’s memorial » Today we visited Napoleon’s residence: Longwood House. This piece of land actually belongs to France, even though it’s on British soil. It’s located on top of a hill, surrounded by gardens and has a view on the ocean. We freely roamed around the house that was kept as close as possible to how it originally was. The house is not so prestigious but you can feel that it was a place that ressembled him, many beds and loungers, many desks for him to write

« Discovering the island » First thing this morning, we headed to our flashy rental car and started driving up the narrow mountain passes. After 5 minutes of steep roads and sharp turns we suddenly saw a lot of green grassy fields, trees, ferns, flowers and some cows. It felt like a mix between Switzerland and the Azores, it didn’t look at all like the volcanic cliffs we were used to in Jamestown. We felt cooler air up here, which was a pleasant relief from the heat near sea

Discover the new video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4UiYchMMDI En français en dessous Episode 6 : Two before D-Day Food purchase for 1 month Setting off at sea for a month isn't something you can just improvise. You need to plan for enough food for at least two months, in case of any unforeseen problems. Anouchka had carefully prepared her shopping list, which she took with her on her computer. Even so, a lot of extra food was added to their list while browsing th

« First day on land » This morning at 8 :59 the little ferry boat was ready to pick us up, definitely British punctuality ! We happily hopped onto it and he brought us to the pier where the harbour master and customs office are located, we met a very friendly guy named Nick (the harbour master) and once done with all the paperwork he offered to drive us to town. The island seemed at first, as quite bare, very rocky and dry. On the way, we got a first glimpse of the spectacula

Discover the new video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMYYFZNz8YU En français en dessous Episode 5 : Three days before D-Day The boat sails back to Port Owen After four days of intensive work on the hull, the boat is finally ready to return to its home port, Port Owen! After a few final adjustments and filling up with diesel to tackle the long crossing, Jean-Baptiste settles in and begins writing the first entries in the logbook he plans to fill all the way to Brazil

« Arrival in Saint Helena Island ! » This morning we all woke up earlier, maybe because of the excitement of seeing land after 12 days. The wind since yesterday has picked up to 18 kts so our ETA is a bit earlier than expected, we will arrive during daytime in the bay, around 16 :00. The boat is doing well in the high swell, crashing peacefully into every passing wave. The deck has remained dry for more than 10 days, the sides are high enough to avoid the spray. Since 12 :3

We now know that we will arrive in Saint Helena Island tomorrow, the 6th February around 16 :00 GMT! We have been looking forward to arrive and it seems like time is not flying by so fast anymore. I’m sure the last couple of hours will feel extra long but at least we will start seeing land a few hours before - we will be searching the horizon with the binoculars for that tiny little bit of land ! Today was quite uneventful, we opted yesterday for the genoa + main sail goosewi

Discover the new video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2QJaJgIawc En français en dessous Marine life around the boat The boat Anouchka has been moored in the Port Owen marina since it was built. This small port is a two-hour drive north of Cape Town, on the west coast of South Africa. This peaceful, tranquil, and idyllic haven is separated from the sea by a wild river that is home to a variety of marine life. Seagulls, Egyptian geese, cormorants, herons, pelicans, fla

This morning we calculated that we had done 150Nm in a day, which is not bad at all and means we were sailing at an average of 6,2 kts. Winds were good the whole day and we saw a MSC cargo ship, the first one since we’ve left Valdivia bank. It looked like it was going to St Island but when we checked him out on the AIS we read he was going to New York… Right now we are heading slightly off track because of the wind direction coming from the E but we will gybe before sunset to

The day started in light winds again but progressively went to 13 kts which is allowing us to reach 6kts average speed. Not bad, considering we don’t have to do anything, Rudolf is keeping us on track like a professional helmsman and the Oxley is giving us good speeds in light winds. These two are good co-workers ! We have been able to spend our time chilling and fishing. Nothing much happened today, the weather was hot reaching 29°C and the sea 25°C. We caught another mahi m

Discover the new video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_20tQhVQrw En français en dessous Works, works, always works! Since Anouchka, Lorenzo, and Jean-Baptiste are going to spend a month at sea, the boat has to be in impeccable condition to avoid any damage in the middle of the ocean. Throughout the day, the work never stops. They not only have to carry out the tasks themselves but also think about everything that needs to be done to prevent potential problems. On the

We have officially passed the 2/3rds of the way mark ! Now we have the last stretch of 555Nm to Saint Helena, the Oxley has been flying non stop since yesterday afternoon and we plan to leave it up as long as the wind stays under 17kts. The repair is doing its job, hopefully we can get the right colour spinnaker tape when we get to Brazil, right now it looks like a little yellow plaster on a wound the size of a chip, barely noticeable mind you ;) Today we also did our only bo

Discover the new video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIU9rdFLMm4 En français en dessous Works in Saldanha Before a demanding Atlantic crossing, the boat must be in perfect condition. First, the boat had to be brought to the Saldanha Yacht Port, a two-hour drive north of Cape Town. Experts with enormous, improbable machines carefully lifted the boat out of the water and brought it in front of the hangars where it would be meticulously prepared. Everything below the wa

« Oxley’s time to shine » Started calmly with very light winds around 8:00 so we decided to get the Oxley out again but this time poled out (with the whiskerpole we normally use for the genoa). In order to get all the lines ready for this setup Lorenzo went up the mast to place a new shakle and line, it gets very rocky up there when you are underway. We spent most of the day slower than the previous days as the wind was as low as 6-8 kts, so today we probably didn’t get our