What happens if you put 17 strangers on a boat together for a longggg period of time? An adventure of a lifetime! Happy, tired, and beyond excited we made it safe and sound to the tropics. Last week we arrived in the West Indies after a succesful Atlantic crossing!
In this blogpost some photos & highlights from the Atlantic Crossing. Wifi and tech connection capacity is limited ;). Raw, unedited and randomly selected.
What an adventure it has been!
How special to have crossed the ocean in the beautiful Twister with a boatload full with Ocean Nomads. We were 17 nomads with 10 nationalities. Our youngest being 26 and oldest 68. Pure connection to the ocean and a beautiful mix of ocean adventurers all equally excited about living this adventure together. The phones have been on flight mode for +3 weeks. When does that still happen? Except from some ‘navigating through the boat’ bruises, we haven’t had a single injury, accident, or argument. And still fruit salad on the last day So proud of everyone’s teamwork and dedication!
We made our first landfall in Dominica to ground and embrace greenery on one of the most authentic and pure Caribbean islands after weeks at sea.
Some stats of our Atlantic Crossing
We navigated 3187 Miles
With an average speed of 6.6 knots
We made 10 Gybes
It took us 21 days
We mostly had 6 or sometimes 7 sails up
Deepest water sailed 6090 meter
No accidents
Nothing broke
We’re so proud of everyone who joined and supported for this Atlantic Ocean voyage! Well done land and on board crew! Organizing an Atlantic Crossing in most safe and responsible way takes quite some organization and team work to make it happen! And we did it! It was worth it!
A few highlights of the Atlantic Crossing
Jumping into +4000 Miles deep ocean! ( 4 times!)
Sailing almost all days!
Spotting and identifying Dolphins and Birds
Lots of bucket showers
Dancing under the rain for a freshwater shower
Boat made sourdough bread everyday (Thanks Brianna for this special delivery!) And Jonte & Stefan for the breadmastery and providing no matter the conditions.
Lots of local and organic produce (and cheese). Where we sources lots of our fresh produce, picked from the land on request:
Still fruit salad on our last day
Watching the story of Caribbean tradition, Vanishing Sail, at night in the middle of the Atlantic
Music nights with lead artist Ian
Member initiated happenings like: Sharing the secrets of Story telling with Andrew, to Quiznight with Baluu and Leanne, to massages with Grace, Breadbaking with Jonte and Stefan, and Whale & Dolphin citizen science contribution with Suzy
Lots of chess
Boat made yogurt
5* meals every day
Experiencing living in a confined space for a long time with quite a few people. What a social experiment. And what a human team spirit came out of it! So natural but also challenging sometimes. It made us grow.
The biggest highlight of all: the people! So many beautiful moments, laughs, stories and skills on board. Everyone contributed to the vibes and movement of the vessel. We haven’t had a single argument. We all feel like brothers and sisters. Accepting each other for who we are and all the funky features that come with us individuals. And the transformation this journey has brought to us individually and as a bonding group.
Zipping a coconut on the other side!
A fresh water shower in Dominica under the waterfall
See more pictures at the end of this blog post. More stories will follow. Our on board videographer Jonathan has captured the crossing in video and in 2023 we’ll share with you a capture about the Atlantic Crossing with Ocean Nomads.
For now we are exploring the wonders of nature and Caribbean culture. It’s all about the journey they say, but arriving in the Caribbean after months of preperation and after weeks at sea is quite something too.
We got the flippers, straw hats, SUP, surf and kite board outs and Caribbean exploration modus above and below the surface is ON.
Some nomads disembarked in Dominica to continue exploring the nature island. We connected Grace to neighbouringing ocean nomad Huub Vlogs for onward sailing. And we found our Paulita a homestay with Callaloo soup lady Sandra. With tears we now also said goodbye to our Guido, who has been 66 days on board! Since the Netherlands. What a legend. Our Andrew and Mikey also moved on to the next project. Luckily we can welcome Andrew back on board for the Atlantic crossing from the Caribbean to Europe. The rest of the nomads all decided to stay for more Caribbean exploration and celebrating Xmas together. Here we are sailing south with 13 explorers. After that some continue sail boat hitchhiking to south or central America. Others go boatsitting. And other go hiking in the Caribbean. Some stay on board for longer.
Here’s our ocean adventurers available for onward sailboat travel in the Caribbean:
Would you like to be on this list? Write to one of our Community Captain on the member hub!
If you’re anywhere on our route in the West Indies, let us hear from you! Via a comment here, or say hi on Insta (@oceannomads.community) or on our Member network hub. We’d love to meet and connect as we many nomads, projects and vessels on the way, for more fun, impact, adventure & community
Our travel route:
Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada | Dec 21 – 28 |
Martinique – St. St. Lucia, Vincent & The Grenadines, Grenada, Martinique | Jan 21 – Feb 2 | Focus Kitesurf & Sailing + lots of island exploration!
Martinique – Dominica – Guadeloupe | Feb 4 -11 | Focus: Nature exploration!
Guadeloupe Islands| Feb 11-18
Guadeloupe – Antigua & Barbuda – St. Maarten | 18 Feb – March 4
St. Maarten & surrounding islands| March 4 – 13 |
Atlantic Crossing St Maarten – Azores March 16 – April 5
Azores – Netherlands (Full)
Spots available to join ocean nomads on Twister for Caribbean island exploration above and below the surface & 2 spots left for the Caribbean to Azores.
