We write this at the library in Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia. Today is November 15, 2022 and it is hurricane season further west. That is a long way from Stavanger, Norway and it has been a joyful trip for us all – Vetle, Theresa and myself Dag.
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2019: We left Norway on out boat sv Escape in July 2019 (blogpost here) as planned. That may be the only time our actions hit our planned milestones. To us, this has become a curiosity more that the rule and we love it.
Quickly after departing Stavanger, we motored out the fjord, passed the final islands (Utsira) and headed west to Inverness – the gateway to the Caledonian Canal in Scotland.
The Caledonian Canal is an excellent start of a journey where EXPLORE – LEARN – SHARE is the motto capturing our drive. We explored the canal, learnt about haggis (that I actually love) and shared it with you on our YouTube.
This episode includes lengthy explanation from Vetle (then 5yo) on the ghosts of the castles. See our video here on our travel through the canal.
With a brief stop over in Oban, we headed straight for Dublin. Now wind and low hanging Scottish summer clouds.
In Dublin we had to wait weeks for the right weather window. We were heading for Bay of Biscay and one does not do that unless timing is right.
One morning the weather window was ok but not great. We left and headed straight for Baiona in northern Spain. Read about our bumpy Biscay crossing here and se our video here (Season2019/Episode 3).
The replica of la Pinta (Columbus vessel) in Baiona pointed us in the right direction. We were heading for the West but first we had to get down the Portuguese coast, cross to Madeira and make a stopover in Gran Canaria. See out document of Vetle’s crossing at 5yo here.
We left sv Escape in Gran Canaria – Pasito Blanco from August until we returned in November 2019. We did a lot of upgrades to her (read here, here and look at our video here – S2019Episode4).
At the end of December 2019, we headed onwards and arrived Cape Verde just in time for Christmas celebrations and preparations for the Atlantic crossing.
2020; On Christmas day 2019, we left Mindelo, Cape Verde for our Atlantic crossing (see here and read here). It was a peaceful downwind sail. It took us 15 days to do the 2020 nautical miles.
We arrived Bridgetown, Barbados safely after EXPLORING and LEARNING how to do a crossing as a small family.
We arrived the Caribbean just in time for the 2020 season (surprise surprise).
After some days in Barbados, we headed for Martinique (Le Marin), Dominica (Roseau), Terre de Haute, Guadeloupe (Deshaies), Antigua (English Harbour), Barbuda (anchor ), and Sint Maarten (Marigot bay).
In May 2020 we heard about Covid for the first time and decided to cut the season short and go straight for Curacao – 500 nm to the South West.
We arrived Curacao the morning after it was closed for all ships but we got in and sv Escape stayed there for 18 months on land.
2021/2022; We arrived back in Curacao at the end of July 2021, prepared sv Escape for our next chapters. January 2022, we sailed her from Curacao to Bonaire and then turned west towards Panama San Blas islands (Guna Yala), Portobelo (wiki here) and Colon.
On March 8-9 2022 we crossed the Panama Canal, anchored and prepared on Las Brisas outside Panama City until we lifted anchor in April 2022 and set sail to cross the Pacific heading for Pitcairn (Bounty island) or the Gambier Archipelago in French Polynesia.
We arrived Gambier on May 10 after 30 days at sea, stayed there to EXPLORE, LEARN for 3 months before we in August again set sail – this time 850 nm NW to Marquesas‘ island. Here we will stay until end of the 2022/23 hurricane season.
Our travels through the Caribbean, crossing the Pacific and EXPLORING French Polynesia will be documented on our homepage and on www.youtube.com/@escapewestsailing
EXPLORE – LEARN – SHARE