Category: 2021

So we finally made it. Monday, 8th of November 2021 we were back in the US.  It was definitely late… no floating dinghy docks in the water and a tide of 7 meters. So you better plan the tide right when you tie your dinghy on a pier otherwise it will be hanging there in the air when you are back (haha…)  Almost happend to us… got a bit destracted in a football session with ARIA on land, but luckily we were just back right on time, before it was completely hanging.

The wind looked good to move on towards Portland the following morning. We left on a beautiful sunny day and arrived Thursday, 11th of November in Portland. We tried to slow down but arrived still a little bit too early, so we were drifting a few hours until daylight as we did not want to motor in the dark through the lobster pots. The sun rose and in the distance we could see Mount Washington with snow on top. If we stay a few weeks longer we can go skiiing…

First we wanted to go to a fuel dock in Portland because there was some nasty weather coming and we did not want to run out of diesel at the anchorage. Our diesel consumption had increased since the temperature had dropped. We needed the diesel mainly for our heating now. The fueling up was a bit of a challenge that late in the season…. the first marina we had tried would have been perfect, but they had a problem with the electricity so they could not operate the fuel dock. The second place – just around the corner – was just for commercial fishing boats, the third place was already closed for the season and in the fourth place we could only enter in high tide… so we anchored nearby and waited until the tide was right. Finally done we headed to Yarmouth. Stephen wrote us that there was one floating dock at Madeleine point in the water on Cousins Island at least until the following week… hurray! The public dinghy dock at his place was already gone.

The hospitality of Andrew’s siblings Stephen and Betsy was simply outstanding! We arrived at the anchorage of Cousins Island and received a warm welcome from Betsy and Joe. They had brought Stephen’s car with all the ordered spareparts and packages inside and it was parked right by the dinghy dock at our free disposal. On top of that we were invited for dinner at Stephen’s house. Both Stephen and Betsy offered us to stay in their houses in case we were too cold on the boat. But we were fine. With the heating on, it was nice and cosy. Just the dinghy rides to go on land got a bit chilly and uncomfortable, especially in rainy weather. In addition we prefered to be on the boat when the bad weather with the strong winds was coming. We had a wonderful evening with Stephen, David, Betsy and Joe. It was great to see them again. Jaël and Amina happily accepted Betsy’s offer to sleep in her guest room and had two sleep overs there. They felt like in heaven as they could have a bubble bath in a big bath tub with a beautiful view- Very cosy especially when it is raining outside. I could not resist to have a bath too when I was doing laundry there on Friday late afternoon. The weather was really nasty and the wind was picking up. The laundry was done but André could not pick me up with the dinghy as suddenly the anchor was dragging. Something that honestly only happened once right at the beginning of our trip during mistral in St. Jean Cap Ferrat, where the anchorage was too deep. Luckily André was on board but it took him a while until he had the situation under control to be able to pick me up. We reanchored again and finally the anchor was holding. The girls were having a lot of fun with Betsy, doing self crafted bath bombs and some Christmas decorations. Saturday evening we were invited for dinner at Kim and Sean’s place (the couple from the racing x-yacht PHOENIX). It was a wonderful evening and we enjoyed their company. Stephen and David had spent two days in Sugarloaf and were heading back Sunday afternoon. We were planning to have dinner together at Betsy’s place and I made lasagne for everyone. Oh how glad we were to have made it back to our friends in Portland. It was a short visit but filled with laughter and joy and beautiful friendships that we will cherish for lifetime.

We continued towards the Cape Cod Canal. Our next stop was Mattapoisett, where Ed and Alison with their kids Zoe, Nolan and Cabot live. We entered the canal around 8 o’clock and the timing could not have been better. We passed Sagamore bridge just before the boys school started. They welcomed us waving and running along the canal. What a welcome! Mattapoisett is a beautiful little town in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts with about 6300 inhabitants. Luckily there was still a floating dock in the water so we could get on land with dry feet. The dinghy ride was a bit long though. In summertime this would not bother us at all but middle of November it is a different story… Jaël and Amina were very happy to see their friends from Mount Desert Island again. We received a warm welcome and had pizza together at their house. Ed showed us the boat with which he circumnavigated alone before he had kids. It is stored safe and dry in a boatshed on their property. The kids did not want to stop playing, even though it was late already so we told them that they can see each other in the library the next day when Cabot and Nolan are back from school. Mattapoisett has a fantastic library with very friendly staff. Jaël was allowed to take a book home if she brings it again the following day (and she did and took another one home on Friday).

On the weekend we had planned a visit in Brewster, where Kristin and Ned lived with their kids Sophia and Sam. We had met them in Camden on our way North and the kids had connected so well, that we absolutely wanted to see them again. Jaël and Sophia had become penpals and had written letters to each other in the past 3 months (which we sent as a photo on whatsapp). Furthermore Ned was in contact with André as he wanted to buy a boat as well and had asked André’s opinion on some potential boats he was looking at. And last but not least we had got our new gennaker delivered to Ned’s address. So we were really looking forward to see them again. Jaël and Amina could sleep in Sam and Sophia’s room while Ned offered André and me to stay in a small cottage they normally rent in summer. It was a beautiful sunny day. We packed some sandwiches and made a nice picnic followed by a small hike around a lake. Afterwards Ned showed us some other beautiful spots in the area. Really not a bad place to live! In the evening we ate some pizza and later Ned showed us the cottage. Jaël and Amina shared the beds with and Sam and Sophia and were two very happy girls.

Ned invited us all to spend Thanksgiving on the 25th of November with them at his parents place. It was not sure yet if André could come too or if he would leave for Bermuda before. Me and the girls would come for sure as our flight to Switzerland was on Sunday the 28th of November. We drove back to Mattapoisett and moved to one of Ed’s buoys in Marion, to have more protection from the winds and a shorter dinghy ride to land. Ed had given us a ride so we could let the car in Marion and then move the boat. Afterwards we met up with Ed & his family for a late aftenoon stroll around the Cranberry Bogs.

André checked the weather again… the first part to Bermuda would be the challenging part. That late in the season it was impossible to avoid strong winds. There would be no perfect weather window, so it was just a question of how long and how strong the front would be… I was nervous about it too… since the beginning of our trip, André had never done a passage on his own and we have always been together on the boat while sailing. I would have been more relaxed if someone would have joined him for the passage but he insisted to do it by himself as a single handed passage was still on his bucket list.

The forecasts was not perfect but probably as good as it gets in late November. So André decided to leave Wednesday early morning. We had already done some provisioning on Monday but the rental car had to be returned, the rigg check to be done, the dinghy to be stored and a lift to shore and a place to sleep to be organised for me and the girls. Ed had already offered before to come and get us with the dinghy While André returned the car, we were packing our bags for Switzerland and cleaning up the boat to get it in sailing mode. With the last daylight André got up the mast for the rigg check and then we stored the dinghy on deck. Later Ed came to pick us up. It was very strange to leave André alone for the passage and I was almost as nervous as he was. But I also knew he was gonna be fine.

Ed and Alison offered us to sleep at their place Tuesday night. Wednesday late afternoon Ned would come and pick us up. Luckily Tuesday was the last day of school before Thanksgiving holiday. Traditionally Americans get their Christmas tree after Thanksgiving but Zoe, Nolan and Cabot wanted to share this special event with Amina and Jaël. So that was their plan of the day on Wednesday: get a Christmas tree and decorate it together. I woke up early and Ed was up too as he dad some work to be finished at the boatyard. We checked AIS and saw that André was just a few miles out, maybe just visible from the lighthouse. So Ed gave me a ride. It was a sunny and chilly morning… the billabongs were frozen… definitely time to move south! I spotted Mirabella and had a short talk with André on Whats App… it felt good to hear his voice… next time we will see eacht other in St. Martin… fair winds my Love.

Back at the house Alison was up and we went for a morning walk with their dog Toby. Later that day we drove to the place where they usually choose their christmas tree every year. It took us a while until everyone agreed on one… Ed put the chosen tree on the pickup and home we went to decorate. The kids had a great time to decorate and we felt very blessed to be part of this special moment. Time passed much too quickly and soon it was time to say goodbye.

Ned, Kristin and their kids had come to pick us up and we drove to Brewster. We agreed that the four kids would sleep together in one room as long as everything went well. If they would stay awake too long and not get enough sleep  I would move to the cottage with them. But that was not necessary. It was great to see how well the kids got along with each other. There was not a single fight and they enjoyed each others company. We were invited to spend Thanksgiving with Ned’s parents and his brother. It was a beautiful day and I will never forget how we were welcomed with open arms. It was a warm and friendly atmosphere. André would have loved to meet these lovely people too. And the food was simply delicious. I cannot agree to all those complaints about dry turkey… three different stuffings were served separately and I loved each of them. After being able to share Thanksgiving with Ned’s family I had the idea of teaching Sam and Sophia some traditional Swiss Grittibänz baking and made some Swiss roesti one evening for dinner. These were wonderful days and once again we were very thankful that we finally had made it back to the US. Thank you to all our friends in Portland, Brewster and Mattapoisett. You made our North American loop so special and simply unforgettable. Hopefully we can catch up again one day!

Kristin drove us to Fairhaven on Sunday morning, where our bus for New York would leave from. It was a long bus ride as the traffic was getting more and more dense towards NYC. But finally, with about 1 hour delay we made it. On the way to the subway station we passed a Wagamama restaurant and stopped for some Edamame and fried noodles. After our early dinner we walked on 5th avenue and could catch a glimpse of the spectacular Christmas decorations. Jaël and Amina were blown away… We made it on time to the airport and everything went smooth. Bye bye North America! You have really made our journey complete. It was like coming home – similar clima, culture and nature – we had never felt that close to home before in the last 4 years.

 

 

 

We had a beautiful sail to Fortune. Everything worked out perfectly. We showed our PCR covid tests from Saint Pierre and got cleared in easily. Annika and Thomas from ASTA arrived at the same time. Just behind the marina there was a small trail and we found a few blueberries, raspberries and black berries… what a treat!

As hurricaine Larry was on his way, we had to leave Fortune early the following day to go West and make it to Grey River. It was a beautiful sunny morning with some foggy spots during the day. The landscape on the South coast of Newfoundland is stunning. We made it into the fjord of Grey River perfectly on time to check our anchorage options for the upcoming stormy days. ASTA and us found both a good spot with plenty of swinging room. We checked again, if everything was well attached or stowed away and were ready for Larry to come.

Everything was fine, it was very windy but we had perfect protection from waves and swell. After two days the wind calmed down and after admiring the mirrorlike water around us we made our way out of the fjord again. On the way out we wanted to stop in Grey River at the ferry dock to do a hike. We were allowed to stay until around 3 p.m. when the next ferry comes. Grey River is one of a couple of outpost villages on the South coast that are only reachable by boat. There is no road connection.

We had a chat with some locals at the dock. One of them was Clive, a very friendly guy. Luckily he repeated most sentences about three times, so we could understand about half of it. He had a very strong dialect which we found quite difficult to understand. We asked about how they make their living in such a remote place. Especially the winter season must be very tough. Clive told us that hunting karibous and moose is a very essential part of their daily life here. As there are no moose in Switzerland we asked if moose tastes similar to deer. “I will bring you some moose!” , he said and after five minutes he came back with a frozen 1.5 kg block of moose in a vacum sealed bag! We luckily had some Lindor chocolate in the galley to offer him in return. What a generous gift! We were looking forward to put that moose on the barbeque! “Wear the rubbers for the hike!”, he told us before he left. That was a good advice as the trail was partially wet and muddy from the rain that Larry had brought the previous days.

Annika and Thomas joined us for the hike. Once we had passed the woods we reached the glacier polished hilltops covered with blueberry bushes. From the top there was a beautiful view. We enjoyed a small picnic and picked blueberries for dessert. We arrived back at the ferry dock just on time to leave before the ferry arrived. Our next anchorage was a recommendation from our friends from Little Cloud, Aviron Bay. You anchor in a pool, surrounded by mountains and a stunning waterfall. I think one of the most beautiful anchorages we ever had. The only downside was that the high mountains seemed to accelerate the wind resulting in heavy gusts and a lot of swinging around. But we decided to stay for one night, as the scenery was simply breathtaking. Annika and Thomas preferred to continue to François (our next stop). It was a magical anchorage and we enjoyed the total remoteness and the views especially at sunrise next morning.

Next morning we continued to François. The small floating pontoon was already occupied by ASTA and another boat but we were allowed to go alongside a local fishing boat. The setting of this small village with 64 inhabitants is simply spectacular. Like in Grey River there is no road connection. The village is surrounded by towering mountain cliffs and only accessible by water.

We packed a picnic and got ready for a hike. Annika and Thomas joined us. We wanted to walk the Friar Trail but as a loop. A local guy, showed us the way. We followed first a small trail alongside the bay and then climbed up a steep path following a dry waterfall. When we reached about 200m above sealevel we were in blueberry heaven…. we have never seen as many blueberries before! The landscape up there was spectacular: glacier polished rocks, small blue ponds and green blueberry bushes as far as you can see. After a nice picnic and lots of blueberries we followed the path westward passing some scenic viewpoints where you can look down to the fjord of François. We ended down at the big pond above the village (and picked some more blueberries) and then took the boardwalk down to our boat. We declared this one of the best hikes we have ever done! We rounded off that fantastic day with delicious moose on the barbeque… Newfoundland we love you!

While ASTA decided to move on we wanted to stay a little bit longer in this paradise.  We moved MIRABELLA to the floating pontoon, made a lovely picnic at the pond and hiked up to Charlie’s Lookout and…. of course picked blueberries again… another day in paradise.

Our next destination was Ramea, a small island off the South Coast with about 450 inhabitants. We were allowed to stay at the town pier just behind a fishing boat. There is a beautiful boardwalk leading almost around the whole island. Everyone was very friendly and we enjoyed our time there. We loved the boardwalk and Jaël and Amina had great fun in flying the kites.

On September 22nd we headed back to Halifax as Karin spontaneously decided to visit us there. We moored on one of the floating pontoons at the Waterfront. Jaël, Amina and me walked to the bus station to welcome her and afterwards we had a nice lunch and stroll around the waterfront together. Sunday was very stormy and rainy. We walked in our complete foul weather gear to the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s market. The market was a bit disappointing. People told us that on Saturday it is much better and it had not yet regained its popularity after Covid. Karsten followed a little later with Luca and Lucia. They were back in Canada and it was great to see them again. Due to the lack of the expected food stalls we left the market hungry and stepped in a lovely pizzeria as it just started to rain again. When we arrived back at the boat it was horrible to watch how the boat was jumping at the floating pontoon. A line was just about to be chaved through and we tried our best to avoid any damage. Being all excited about our visitor we did not focus enough on the weather forecast… but luckily it calmed down in the evening.

We did some beautiful hikes with Karin during her stay. One from Lake Micmac to Shubie Park and back, another one on MacNabs Island and the best of the three around Ash lake and Fox lake with stunning scenic views. Time passed much too fast and it was already time to say goodbye again.

 

After Karin’s departure, we decided to sail to Bras d’or Lake on Cape Breton Island together with ARIA. It was a good sail up there and the timing through the locks at St. Peter’s worked out perfectly. We anchored in St. Peter’s and had a stroll around the village. You could easily spend the whole summer in the area of Bras d’or lake and around Cape Breton island as there are many nice anchorages and small villages to discover but with the late opening of the borders we were already late in the season and focused on Baddeck. It is a beautiful little town nestled along the shore of Bras d’or lake. It marks the beginning and the end of the famous Cabot trail (if you are travelling on land, an absolute must). Baddeck is also known for one of it’s most famous summer residants, Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone.

We arrived late afternoon and had a delicious dinner at the Freight Shed, a lovely restaurant just by the public dock. The next day we visited the Bell museum together with Karsten, Luca and Lucia  and learned all about Alexander Graham Bell and his inventions. Later in the afternoon we checked out the local library. On Saturday morning there was a great Farmers market in town. We had a chat with a Swiss guy selling beautiful wooden chopping boards and he told us where to buy the best Maple sirup. Next to the stall with the chopping boards was a Bavarian guy, who sold handcrafted soaps. Jaël and Amina got curd cheese as a gift on the cheese stall and while we where chatting with the cheesemaker about Gruyère and other Swiss cheese a local guy who knew the cheesemaker joined and started talking about skiing in Switzerland with us. His name was Brock and before saying goodbye he told us we should come to the Lakeside Restaurant this afternoon for some live music. Funny enough that would have been our plan anyway as the nice lady at the tourist office had already recommended this place before. Brock was playing there with his band “the Celtic Cowboys”. When we arrived there later in the afternoon, the place was already full and we had to wait outside until we got a free table. The music was great and after they had finished playing we had a chat with Brock and his wife Nina. He generously offered to give us all (MIRABELLA and ARIA) a lift to get to the Uisge Bàn Falls the next day and in return we invited Nina and him for breakfast on ARIA in the morning.

Next morning (my birthday) we picked up Brock and Nina at the dinghy dock, showed them our boat and then went on ARIA to have breakfast all together. Afterwards, Brock drove us all to the Uisge Ban Falls parking and joined us for the beautiful walk through the colourful woods to the waterfall. We shared a great picnic with homemade focaccia, salami and brownies made by Jaël and André. It was a great afternoon. Later on ARIA Lucia offered me a homemade unbelievably delicious chocolate cake… what a treat!

On the way back to Halifax we stayed in St. Peters for another two nights. We met Xiaolei for dinner and I went for a nice walk with her the following day. In the evening we cooked dinner together in her Air B&B.

Back in Halifax we anchored near the Armdale Yacht Club. There was a nice sailors community in the marina and as we parked our dinghy there we got to know a bunch of really nice people. Some local couples and families enjoyed their last weekends on the boat before hauling out for the winter or moving to the bubbly dock, where it does not freeze. So on the weekends Jaël and Amina always found other kids to play with and André and me got invited to sundowners and lovely get togethers. Nicolas from SELKIE, a boat we had met during our stay in Antigua, sent André the contacts of the pre-owners of their boat, who lived now in Halifax. The sailing world is very small… you always meet people, who have connections to the places you go. Angela and Eric had sold SELKIE to Maggie & Nicolas and lived now with their kids Eliana, Dorian and Anneka within walking distance to the public dinghy dock just behind our anchorage. They invited us for dinner and to our kid’s great delight they foster kittens until they are old enough to get adopted. So cute! Jaël and Amina would have loved to take one on the boat!!! Eliana was about the same age as Jaël so they got along pretty well.  It was a wonderful evening and we enjoyed the company. We felt very much at home in Halifax surrounded by all these friendly people.

Together with Xiaolei and Karsten we had a great day in Peggy’s Cove. The coastline there is of exceptional beauty and reminded me of Newfoundland. We walked from the SR 111 memorial to the lighthouse and back. On another day Xiaolei, André, Lucia, Luca and our kids made the Bluff Wilderness hiking trail. It was an overcast day but still very beautiful with the colorful leaves. Autumn was one of the things I missed during our travel. To explore Canada in this beautiful season made me extremely happy and filled me with joy and gratitude.

The days were still beautiful and sunny but towards end of October the nights were getting chilly though. We still wanted to visit our friends in Portland and Cape Cod on the way South but the US borders did not open yet. So it was getting really late. Sometimes we thought that maybe we should just take the next weather window and pull through to Bermuda. But Jaël and Amina of course insisted and said that visiting their friends in Cape Cod was not negotiable … and of course we wanted to visit them too but the good season to sail South of course was slowly but surely over.

While waiting  for the US borders to open we enjoyed Halifax. Amina and Jaël got all excited about the crazy Halloween decorations and Jaël was looking forward to celebrate her birthday for the first time in a country where Halloween is really something that almost everyone celebrates. After a long period of beautiful weather there was    a storm and torrential rain forecasted for the 31st of October…. so we decided to go bowling with Karsten, Xiaolei (who was back in Halifax in an Air B&B), Lucia and Luca. Xiaolei picked us up with her car and drove us all to the bowling center. It was good fun and we probably made the best out of this really rainy day. After the bowling we drove to Xiaolei’s Air B&B and cooked dinner all together. The weather calmed down right on time for the trick or treat tour in the neighbourhood of our dinghy dock. Jaël and Amina came back all happy and excited about the spooky decorations, their bags filled with sweets. What a fabulous birthday that was!

Finally it looked like the US borders would open on Monday, the 8th of November! To renew our US Visa we had to cross the border on land first (without the boat). Then we would have to go back to Canada (entering Canada requires a PCR Covid Test not older than 72hours) and sail with MIRABELLA to the US.  Campobello Island in the Bay of Fundy seemed like the perfect place for our endeavor. It belongs to Canada and is connected to Lubeck, Maine by a bridge. The Canadian and US anchorage are just a few miles apart. The only problem is, where to get a PCR Test… certainly not in Campobello island as it is a very small place with about 870 inhabitants. After long discussions Captain’s masterplan was the following: Karsten and André will get a PCR test in Halifax, when André gets back from the test we will leave, arrival in Campobello Island will be Sunday, Monday early morning we will cross the border and get our visas. André and Karsten will cross the border back to Canada with their PCR tests (by that time not older than 72 hours) and move the boats to the Lubeck anchorage. We will wait in Lubeck until the captain has cleared in in Lubeck with MIRABELLA and then can go back to the boat.  Quite tricky to get not only the weather window right but also to coordinate it with the PCR test. But yes, it looked like it could all work out if we leave on Friday, the 5th of November. So it was time to say goodbye…. Thank you Rob and Bettyann, Karen & Dylan, Angela & Eric, Sam & Fabian for your great hospitality! You made Halifax very special! Hopefully we will return someday!

 

It all went very well. We left Halifax after André had done the PCR Test and arrived in Campobello island on Sunday morning. There was no dinghy dock close to the border so we had to park the dinghy at Welshpool Landing. It would be about a 50 min. walk to the bridge. But we were curious to see the bridge, where we wanted to cross the border the following morning. It was a beautiful, sunny day – perfect for a walk. After about 500m we crossed a lady and greeted her. She greeted us back and asked us if we had arrived with that blue sailing boat, that is anchored in the bay. We answered yes and she explained, that she can see our boat from her kitchen window, that is why she noticed us.  Her name was Mary. As there are not a lot of boats that time of the year, she was very curious where we came from and where we were planning to go. We explained her why we were here and she generously offered us a lift to the border at 8 o’clock the following morning. She asked us to stop at her house on the way back to exchange phone numbers and confirm the time again.

We headed of towards the border on a beautiful walk through the woods and stopped at Mary’s house on our way back later in the afternoon. She had her sister in law over and both of them where very excited, to hear about our travel. We spontaneously invited them for an afternoon coffee on our boat. They enjoyed the dinghy ride and Jaël and Amina gave them a boat tour.

Monday 8’clock in the morning we parked our dinghy at Welshpool Landing and Mary was already waiting for us. She drove us to the border and we walked over the bridge. About half an hour later we got our visas in our passport… hurray!!! Jaël, Amina and me had a look around  in town if there was somewhere a coffeeshop. The  only coffee I had googled was unfortunately closed a couple of days for renovation works but luckily we found a souvenir shop that had a  beautiful terrasse on the river and served coffee and hot chocolate. In the meantime André walked back over the bridge and passed the Canadian border again to go and get MIRABELLA. After anchoring in Lubec, André cleared the boat in at the customs. Done! We were back in the US. Thank you Canada for these unforgettable two months.

We arrived in Manhasset Bay in the afternoon. It was a beautiful evening and we wanted to meet on land for dinner together with ARIA and LITTLE CLOUD. Andrew and Michelle were already waiting for a table and after a while we got the most beautiful table on the pontoon…. of course the prizes were outstanding too but it is not very often that we go to fancy restaurants and this setting was simply perfect.

The following day we did some provisioning and Little Cloud left already. We were planning to meet them again on Block Island. And we did. Block Island is a place we can highly recommend. It is a peaceful small island with about a 1000 inhabitants, accessible by ferry or private boat. Very close to the dinghy dock there is a bicycle rental place where we could rent a tag along for Amina and a bicycles for André, Jaël and me. We cycled first to the North Lighthouse where we caught up with Little Cloud then had pizza for lunch ) a nice garden restaurant. After lunch we cycled all the way South to see the impressive Mohegan Bluffs. What a great day we had! We all loved it! The following day we wanted to check out the local library with Jaël and Amina. Luca and Lucia joined. As soon as we had arrived in the library, Amina was completely over the moon… the library had an incredible play corner for kids of her age including a diner with a lot of accesories. It was very difficult to get Amina out of the library again. The bar was set high from then on. We visited a couple of libraries since then but the one on Block Island remained Amina’s favourite.

After Block Island the three boats had different plans. LITTLE CLOUD was heading to Boston to visit Michelles family, ARIA wanted to see Newport and we planned to go through the Cape Cod canal and then visit Provincetown. We promised to meet again in Portland.

Provincetown once was known for it’s fishing and whaling industry but now is a colourful holiday destination of the gay and lesbian scene. In the 80ies it was one of the first communities where AIDS patients were treated with humanity and respect. Today you find rainbow flags everywhere and people of every kind living together in peace.

There is a beautiful causeway to walk over to the Wood End Lighthouse and there is a great library very close to the dinghy dock too. It looks like a church from the outside and as soon as you are inside you understand why the building is constructed this way. There is a half-scale replica of the “Rose Dorothea” schooner on the first floor. In August 1907 a cup was offered by Sir Thomas Lipton for a Fisherman’s Race in Massachusetts Bay. Two of the competing schooners were from Provincetown. Despite loosing her fore-topmast in the final leg of the race, the Rose Dorothea won the race and brought the cup to Provincetown. In 1977, as a tribute to the great fishing schooner, construction began in the Heritage Museum, now the Provincetown Public Library.

We enjoyed our days in Provincetown and headed towards Portland as soon as the wind was in our favour. We wanted to pick up our new Lithium batteries. André had ordered them when we were in New York. Our old batteries did not perform very well anymore and it was time to make the move to Lithium. Coming closer to Portland we slowly understood what everyone was saying about Maine and lobster pots… there were already some around Cape Cod but there were definitely more and more towards Portland.

We anchored behind the buoys of Handy Boat and the Portland Yacht Club in Falmouth. Later in the afternoon it was getting very busy around us…. We were in the first row for the Thursday race. The starting point was set very close to our boat. It was great to watch the yachts trying to get the best starting position. There was a blue x-yacht named PHOENIX that of course caught our eyes. 

André picked up the batteries and got rid of the old heavy ones with Karsten’s help. I left the boat on Saturday, 19th of June to meet my 18 year old “godchild” Leyla. After 3 months in Hawaii she was on her way home to Switzerland and we arranged to meet in New York. Meanwhile André was going to install the new batteries. Unfortunately there was some sort of stomach flu going around, which was bad timing… Karsten had got it first and then passed it to his kids. While André was installing the batteries Amina and Jaël had been playing with Luca and Lucia on ARIA so Amina got it Saturday! A day later Jaël got it as well.
Luckily André did not join the flu party this time. There was not a lot I could do for them as I was already in New York when it all started. But I felt very sorry for André for having to deal with two sick girls in addition to the installation of the new batteries. 

It was great to be back in New York. Another two and a half days to explore this incredible city. Saturday afternoon Xiaolei picked me up at the airport. After a city stroll through Central Park and 5th avenue we went for dinner and I could stay in her Air B&B. On Sunday I met Leyla for breakfast in Bryant Park. So fantastic to see her here and explore New York together. After breakfast we left the luggage at the U Hotel 5th Avenue, just two blocks away from the Empire State building. We grabbed a citibike and started our incredible city duathlon. We cycled all the way to Brooklyn, explored the Dumbo area and then cycled and walked all the way back up to the Lincoln Center, had dinner in the Hell’s Kitchen area and walked back to the hotel with a short stopover at Times Square. What a day! Don’t know how many kilometers we had made but it was a lot… we were very tired but very happy! Our flights were both on Monday evening, so we still had most of the day. After a delicious breakfast at the Hudson river we cycled all the way up to 79th Street boat basin and then headed to Central Park. It was a very hot day so we took it a bit slower. After an ice cream stop at Rockefeller Center we walked back to the hotel to get our luggage. We finished our city adventure at Bryant Park, where we had started the day before and then took the metro to Jamaica. These were unforgettable days and I was very glad that I took the opportunity.

When I got back to the Portland Yacht Club it was already about 11pm and the kids were asleep. André picked me up with the dinghy. He had done an incredible job! The batteries were installed and working! Amina had already recovered from the flu but Jaël was still very weak.

On Thursday I went ashore to do some laundry. When André came to pick me up we saw the X-Yacht PHOENIX at the dock. They were picking up crew for the Thursday race again. We walked over and started chatting with them. A very friendly couple, Sean and Kim owned the boat and they invited us to race with them on PHOENIX next Thursday. Doing regattas with Mirabella in Tonga had been a lot of fun but of course you are not pushing the limits when you are racing with your floating home. It is like racing with the breaks on, so we were looking forward to the next Thursday race.
But before, we moved to Yarmouth which was where Andrew’s brother Stephen lived. He had invited us for a real Maine lobster bake and we were all excited about that. Stephen had already prepared the fire at the beach. On top of it he placed an eternit plate and a thick bed of seaweed. On that he put a cheesecloth. On top of that cloth followed first potatoes then lobsters, onions, wet corn cobs, a whole package of eggs, clams and even sausages in a net. He covered all that with a second cheesecloth and covered everything with seaweed again and aluminium foil. So basically the lobster and all the other ingredients get steamed in this package.

When everything was cooked long enough Stephen carefully opened the package and put everything in a wheelbarrow to bring it up to his garden. Before we had quickly built up a party tent with the help of everyone as it had begun to rain. It was a delicious meal in wonderful company. We felt very blessed to be so welcomed by Andrew’s family.

The Thursday race of the following week was moved to Wednesday but then cancelled because of thunderstorms. They rescheduled it for Thursday and André and me were all excited to race with Sean and Kim on PHOENIX with their racing crew but unfortunately there was no wind at all and the race got finally cancelled again. Kim spoiled us with heavenly delicious charcuterie and cheese and we spent a nice evening together with them and their friends. Jaël and Amina were on ARIA in the meantime.

Stephen invited us for the 4th of July parade in his neighbourhood. The color code for the parade was red and blue of course, and after a little brainstorming for ideas together with ARIA we decided to do paint some special T-Shirts. Kim (from PHOENIX) was so kind to drive me to Walmart and some other stores, where I found everything that we needed. We had great fun on ARIA to create our T-Shirts and the result of our efforts was amazing. It was a rainy morning in Yarmouth on the 4th of July, but we made the best of it and were by far the most colorful group. Even our foul weather clothing matched the colour code. Stephen and David had organized coffee with spirit, hot chocolate and donuts. It was a beautiful get together. A neighbour invited us to a live music concert in his barn in the afternoon and we promised to come. Back at Stephen’s place we had a delicious potluck (means: a meal or party to which each of the guests contributes a dish) in his garage. Stephen and David grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, Betsy (Andrew and Stephen’ s sister) brought a delicious salad and garlic bread, we brought focaccia, guacamole, rillette de thon and a chocolate cake it was simply a delicious lunch in great company. In the afternoon we walked over to the neighbour’s barn and enjoyed the live music. It felt so good to dance again and listen to live music after all this lock down period. What a great 4th of July!

We moved over to Falmouth again to invite Kim and Sean for dinner on Mirabella before leaving. They gave us a lot of useful informations and tips where to find the best anchorages and nicest places. We promised to visit them again on our way back South in autumn. Uups… yes I think I forgot to mention that…. we had changed our plan again when we were in New York! Plans of sailors are written in the sand… we had proofed that saying multiple times… As the plan of returning to Europe over Greenland and Norway had become more concrete we realized that coming home in October might not be the best timing for a new start… so we decided to do a Northern loop in summer, then sail back to the Caribbean in autumn and then do an early crossing to Europe end of March beginning of April. So we would be back May/ June.

On the 10th of July we left all these nice people in the Portland area with a firm promise to visit them on our way back South again. With all these islands and bays you have to plan your routing well, as you do not make as much progress. After a ?? mile passage which took us almost the whole day we arrived in “The basin” a beautifully remote anchorage with 360° protection as the entrance is very narrow and with a 90° turn. We went on a beautiful hike there, the Mika trail. The forecast for the next days was not brilliant so we decided to sail to Boothbay, a beautiful coastal town with a nice historic walk to do. That would also be fun when the weather is not so sunny. Stephen and David came up to Boothbay to join LITTLE CLOUD for a short weekend trip and we enjoyed pizza together in a small restaurant in town.

We headed on to Camden, another beautiful town situated in Penobscot Bay, the sailing mekka of Maine. The scenery of Penobscot Bay is stunning indeed and Camden has a fantastic library (to the great delight of the kids) and a few nice coffees, restaurants and breweries. We did a great hike on Mount Megunticook and Xiaolei, Michelle and me did a beautiful hike in the Beech Hill Preserve with lots of blueberries!!! One afternoon we went on land and decided to do a small apero in the public park. Jaël and Amina started playing with two other kids about their age. They were playing so well together that it would have been a shame to stop them. We walked over to their parents and asked if they would be ok with pizza for dinner in the park. It was the beginning of another beautiful friendship. Ned and Kristin told us that they seriously thought about buying a boat and go sailing with their kids like we do. What a funny coincidence that we met them here in this small public park. They came to Camden every summer for camping holidays. Their daughter Sophia was the same age as Jaël and their son was the same age as Amina. They normally lived in Cape Cod. We spent a wonderful evening together and invited them to Mirabella for lasagne and tiramisu on Sunday before they had to head back to Cape Cod. The kids got along perfectly well and we promised to visit them in Cape Cod on our way back South.

We moved on to Rockland  which was just a few miles South of Camden. We were a bit disappointed by the village itself as it appeared a bit run down. Maybe some businesses also had to shot down because of covid 19. There was a nice causeway to the lighthouse though which we explored together with Michelle and Cortland. 

The Fox Island Thoroughfare was a passage that everyone in Portland had highly recommended to us and it truly was one of the most beautiful sailing days we ever had on Mirabella. The sailing in this breathtaking scenery was simply magic and I will want to go back there probably for the rest of my life.  After the beautiful passage we sailed on and passed Stonington. There we realized that the impossible is possible which means you can even put more lobster traps than we thought are possible. We could hardly pass with our boat without touching one and of course did not want to put the engine on. Many of our friends had already had lobster pots around their propeller and we were not keen on making the same experience. The last few miles to the anchorage was a real challenge as we had to pass narrow passages (with lobster pots and changing winds). But we finally made it and anchored in a spectacular beautiful scenery just off a small inhabited island called “Hells half acre”. We dinghyed over to Stonington, a beautiful small town with (another) fantastic library. They had an art program going on where kids could paint a square canvas tile to decorate the walls of the library. What a great idea! This was an excellent Saturday morning program! On an other day we planned a beach BBQ and Jaël and Amina collected wood.

Will, a good friend of Andrew was there with his boat as well and they invited LITTLE CLOUD and us for dinner on their beautiful boat. Andrew and Michelle moved to Deer Isle the next day as Andrew’s sister Betsy was there on holiday. We would have loved to see Betsy again but also wanted to enjoy this beautiful anchorage as it was exactly what we imagined of picture postcard Maine. We still would see Betsy on our way South in autumn.

On Saturday we dinghyed over to Stonington, a beautiful small town with (another) fantastic library. They had an art program going on where kids could paint a square canvas tile to decorate the walls of the library. What a great thing to do! This was an excellent Saturday morning program. In the afternoon we were planning to do a beach BBQ on the small uninhabited island. We brought Jaël and Amina over a little earlier to collect wood while André and me wanted to paddle around the island with the kayak. We invited ARIA too. It became the best BBQ ever! Karsten had brought potatoes but had no aluminium foil. We were just thinking what to do, when Luca suddenly found a thin stone plate. Perfect! We cut the potatoes in thin slices and put them on the stone plate with garlic butter! Delicious! As Luca found another stone plate we decided to grill also the pork tenderloin on the stone plate! It was simply delicious!!! We really loved this anchorage and this definitely was hard to top….

But Maine has many beautiful places to offer. Our next stop, Mount Desert Island, was clearly another highlight of our sailing adventure. We first anchored outside Northeast Harbour. Not the best anchorage as it can be a bit rolly but Northeast Harbour is a charming little town that should not be missed. It is also a very good starting point to get to the carriage roads.

John D. Rockefeller wanted to travel on motorfree byways via horse and carriage into the heart of Mount Desert Island. His construction efforts from 1913 to 1940 resulted in roads that preserve the line of hillsides and save trees, align with the contours of the lands, and take advantage of scenic views. Today , carriage roads have multiple-user groups as they did in the past. Pedestrians, bicyclists and horse-drawn carriages share the beauty of these auto-free roads across the park.

We rented bicycles and made a tour up to the beautiful Jordan Pond, where we had picnic. It was like paradise… the scenery reminded me a lot of the Engadin area in Switzerland. The smell of the pine trees is divine and we loved the blueberries that we found everywhere. I even found a few chanterelles and made a sauce with them later. At some point we bumped into LITTLE CLOUD and ARIA. We had left Northeast Harbour at different times and we had great fun to cycle back all together to Northeast Harbour. It was such a great day, we loved it!! Another afternoon we did a great hike through the woods and ended up in the beautiful Thuya Garden. The woods in Mount Desert are magic. Like out of a fairy tale with lots of green moss, all kind of mushrooms and this heavenly smell of the pine trees. A little bit down the path from the Thuya Garden there was a perfect spot that Andrew and Michelle suggested for a small apero with snacks. All the “three down east musketeers” joined, which means ARIA, LITTLE CLOUD and MIRABELLA. 

Northeast Harbour is beautiful,  but as I already said the anchorage is not the best. Anyway we wanted to explore also the area of Southwest Harbour and especially Somes Sound. Somes Sound is a huge fjord. It is so long that it almost splits the whole island of Mount Desert apart. The anchorage Valley cove looked perfect. A very picturesque spot indeed. From the small beach you could even access the hiking trail. We did a great hike  there getting on the top of Acadia Mountain and then descending down to lake Echo on the other side. Blueberries everywhere on the hike and a refreshing swim in lake Echo made it a perfect day. Being in Maine with its beautiful forests felt so much like home. It made me realize how much I missed hiking in a cooler clima. The tropics are beautiful but for hiking the North is much better. This clima was simply perfect.

We stayed a while in the valley cove anchorage and visited the town Southwest Harbour with the dinghy. We were just about to move to Bar Harbour when a new boat anchored next to us. It was a family from Cape Cod with one girl and two boys. The girl was a little bit older and the boys seemed to be about the age of Jael and Amina. They were on their summer holiday with their sailing boat. The children got along very well and played for hours at the small little beach. They were building two huts and wanted to have dinner there by themselves. They even wanted to sleep there but unfortunately there was rain forecasted so they had to come back to the boat at some point. A fox came out in the dawn and watched the kids playing from a secure distance… Children connect so quickly with each other and nature is their best playground. It offers so many tools and leaves so much room for imagination and creativity. They fell into their beds tired and very happy full of excitement about their adventurous day with their new friends. Ed and Alison wanted to start their way back towards Cape Cod while we wanted to move to Bar Harbour to meet LITTLE CLOUD and ARIA again. We promised to visit them in Cape Cod on our way back South…

Our three months US visa was expiring beginning of August. Canada was opening its border for US citizens and as we had spent the last three months in the US we felt more US citizen like than anything else so we wanted to try our luck if they would let us in. But first of all we had to get a Covid PCR Test and that was not possible on Mount Desert Island. From Bar Harbor there was a public bus to Ellsworth where we could get a test. That plan worked out very nicely. After being told the price of one test (160$ per person) we decided that we do not get the kids tested… that would cost a fortune to get the four of us tested! Back in Bar Harbour we had to say goodbye to Andrew, Michelle and Cortland. They of course had no urgent need to leave the US and had way better cards to get into Canada as they were real US citizens. So we did not really know if and when we would see each other again. But somehow we hoped to see each other either in Canada or back in Portland, when we sail South again. It had been so much fun to cruise together with them.

We had enjoyed Maine and we would have loved to spend more time there. We can highly recommend it as a cruising area. It offers so many beautiful anchorages and great sailing ( just mind the lobster pots) But most of all we met some of the most welcoming and most friendly people there and we will keep so many beautiful memories in our hearts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good crossing but not very pleasant. There were a lot of lightnings around us when we crossed the gulf stream… lucky enough the kids were asleep, so they did not notice the tense atmosphere. On Amina’s birthday on the 16th of May we were still on passage, but had luckily passed the worst. We were not yet in the mood for celebrating with cake and candles but I managed to bake some quick cinnamon rolls and many dolphins were swimming with Mirabella as if they came to cheer Amina. We promised her a nice birthday lemon cake after our arrival in New York.

On the 17th of May afternoon we could see the Verrazzano Bridge and Manhattan Skyline in a distance. We were all very excited. The one and only time I had been in New York was a long time ago. I remember that we did a boat cruise around Manhattan on my 16th birthday. I took so many pictures of the skyline with the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and now, more than three decades later, I was here again with my own family on our own boat. Tragically, as we all know the Twin Towers are not there anymore… but the skyline is still as breathtaking as I had it in my memory.  By the time we had passed under the bridge and arrived in front of Manhattan Island it was already early evening. We anchored next to the Statue of Liberty and enjoyed the moment of the arrival in such a unique place.  It is permitted to anchor there but of course it is not a very quiet anchorage because of all the traffic around there… ferrys, daysailors, sightseeing boats, commercial boats, helicopters and so on… a very busy area of course. But for one night I think it is a must if you sail to New York. Just to have the excitement of waking up with the skyline view to one side and the Statue of Liberty to the other. We thoroughly enjoyed this arrival. Another epic moment on our journey we will never forget.

We continued our way up the Hudson river the next morning. There is a small marina called 79th Street Boat Basin. They have buoys only for smaller boats, but after the buoy zone you can anchor.  You pay a daily charge for using the dinghy dock of the marina but still this is the best and cheapest option you have when you want to explore the city.  There are also showers, a washing machine and a dryer you can use. So perfect for cruisers like us. We arrived exactly on the right time in New York. It was middle of May, covid restrictions got lifted, businesses started to open again and the weather was just perfect to visit the city and thanks to covid-19 almost no tourists around.

Not many boat anchored in the Hudson river. At the beginning it was just us, then ARIA and one or two days later there was a blue boat called ASTA. I met Annika and Thomas, a nice Swedish couple, when I was doing laundry. Funny enough we found out that we had some friends in common. They had cruised together with VILJA in 2020, a Norwegian family boat we had met in New Zealand 2019. VILJA had inspired us to take the Northern route to Europe. They had returned this way back home to Norway in the previous year. The sailing world is really small…. After a nice chat we exchanged contacts to stay in touch. Their plan was to sail up the American East coast and wait for Canada’s borders to open.

We really enjoyed exploring the city. New York offers so much – impossible to get bored.  Jaël and Amina loved  strolling around in Central Park. We rented some bicycles one day and Jaël and André did the big loop in Central park while I walked with Amina doing a few of the shorter loops. She improved with every round and at the end I had to run to keep up with her. Together with Karsten, Lucia and Luca we explored the High Line, an elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan. It leads from the Meatpacking District through Chelsea to Hudson Yards with it’s extraordinary centerpiece “The vessel”. It had 154 interconnected staircases totaling around 2500 steps but it was not yet open to the public. We rounded off this beautiful day of with a delicious meal in a good Italian restaurant.

A few days later a catamaran with American flag arrived. A family from Park City, Utah with a 12 year old boy arrived. They had just started their sailing season and planned to cruise up to Maine. Andrew, the captain, grew up in Portland and Michelle was originally from Boston. They were planning to visit their families in Boston and Portland. Jaël and Amina hit it off with their son Cortland straight away. So with ARIA and LITTLE CLOUD we were already three boats heading towards Maine. ASTA had already left by that time.

We were not yet ready to leave this fascinating city. In addition we also wanted to get a second shot covid-19 vaccination. Jaël and Amina could stay with Cortland on their boat and André and me tried our luck in the vaccination center in the Museum of Natural history which was in easy walking distance.  We had our vaccination cards from Antigua with us, proof of our Astra Zeneca first shot. But we were not lucky… they refused to mix the vaccine from different manufacturers. So they would neither give us a Pfizer 2nd shot nor a Johnson & Johnson single shot vaccine. We left the center and changed our plan… we walked to the vaccination center on Times Square and said we have no vaccine yet. We asked for the Johnson & Johnson single shot vaccine to be fully vaccinated afterwards and everything worked out perfectly fine. We were happy to be fully vaccinated now. This will make our ongoing travels much easier.

On a rainy day we explored the Vessel together with LITTLE CLOUD. It was open now and they gave away a certain amount of free tickets on the internet. We were very lucky to get some of them. It was a lot of fun to explore that unique building. We continued on the High Line towards the “Little Island” at Pier 55. This is an artificial island park in the Hudson river. We had passed it on our way to our anchorage and were wondering how it looked like from land. It has several stages for theater or music performances.  I am sure it will be very popular in summer time.

 

On June 6th we left our anchorage towards the Statue of Liberty again. We stopped on the fuel dock of Liberty Landing Marina and anchored next to the Statue of Liberty again. The plan was to wait there for the current to turn in East River. Our plan was to anchor in Manhasset Bay for the night. It was a great sightseeing tour around Manhattan Island up the East river. We passed the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and felt very lucky to have our very own private Sightseeing Tour on Mirabella. Bye bye New York, city that never sleeps… we will come again one day!

 

 

 

After a tearful goodbye we left la Réunion together with our friends from MILANTO and LOUMARAN. SEA LOVER waited for a crew member to fly in and followed after lunch. As usually on passages friends boats disappear very soon from the AIS because every boat has a different pace and routing but with MILANTO we finally found a buddy boat with very similar speed. We were able to talk to each other regularly on the VHF and once on a sunny morning we even got a short guitar concert from Lorenzo via VHF and we crossed. We sailed together the last day of our passage with 30 knots wind from behind and strong Agulhas current with us and the coast of Africa in sight. It was beautiful sailing and a special and unforgettable day.

We arrived in Tuzi Gazi, Richards Bay and were welcomed by our friends Rudy and Tom who crossed on MONFREID, our neighbour boat in La Réunion. They had left Reunion on the 1st of November. Also Alejandro and David from SEALOVER were there and took our lines. Unfortunately it was Friday afternoon and the PCR test could not be done before Monday. So we were not allowed to leave the boat and could not yet move to the Zululand Yacht Club where our friends from Réunion were. The waterfront was very busy on the weekend. Locals were strolling up and down the pier, taking pictures of the boats. Every morning at sunrise the monkeys came to the boats on the pier and were looking for open hatches to steal some food. We had been warned before so we had closed the windows and the companionway over night. On a catamaran they had found an open window and they managed to steal a few oranges before they were discovered and chased away.

A staff member of one of the waterfront restaurants was very clever. He brought us the menu and offered delivery to the boat. What a treat! On Monday we could finally do our PCR Test but unfortunately it took a while until we got the results. After that we had to go to customs and immigration to fill out some more forms… Mélanie and Romaric had rented a car and took us to the grocery stores. We had heard about the braai culture in South Africa and after we had seen the meat in the supermarket we understood why it was so popular. We have not had meat in that quality at such a reasonable price for a long time…

Finally on Wednesday we could move to the Zululand Yacht Club. There we met more of our Réunion friends again. Mélanie and Romaric were there of course, Fred, Rudy and Tom from MONFREID, Daniel with his crew Marcella, Alejandro and David from SEALOVER, Valerio and Lorenzo from MILANTO and Alain with his crew Jenny and Mia from TEC’HADENN. It was nice to be together again. There was also the Swedish boat DAWNBREAKER. Lars had flown home from Réunion and had the boat on the hard for most of the time there so we had met him just towards the very end of our Réunion time.

Richards Bay was a good starting point to go on safaris. There were a few nature reserves within a few hours driving distance. As South Africa had just opened his borders there were not a lot of tourists yet and the safari lodges offered discount rates. Together with MILANTO, LOUMARAN and SEALOVER we had booked a stay in the Rhino Ridge Lodge in Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve. It is the oldest proclaimed reserve in Africa. Still very wild with a size of 96000 hectares. The last half hour of the drive to the lodge led through the reserve. We already saw some zebras and impalas. The location of the lodge was a dream. It was on a hill looking over the nature reserve With the binoculars you could observe the rhinos and zebras drinking at a waterhole. There was always a morning safari with a coffee break and an afternoon safari with sundowner drink on a beautiful view point. It was beautiful! We saw lots of warthogs, zebras, impalas, nyalas, rhinos, girafes, wildbeests and elefants. Our guide was very experienced. He was very good at spotting also the smallest creatures like leopard turtles along the road, baby crocodiles in a creek or a dung beetle rolling his huge ball of dung to create the perfect home for his future family. He also knew a lot about the plants. He tried hard to show us a big cat like a lion or a leopard. I always had a sharp lookout too if I would spot a sleepy leopard on one of these beautiful amarula trees… but no luck. But also without seeing any wildcats this was a unique and unforgettable experience. After three nights we drove to St. Lucia and visited the Isimangaliso Wetland park there on our own. You think twice when there are some rhinos or buffalos close to the driveway. Should we stop or should we try to pass slowly… or maybe turn around…. it is very different to drive by yourself a normal car and pass these powerful creatures than sitting in a safari jeep with an experienced driver and ranger. These people know so much better how to read the animals signs. But nonetheless we had a great day in the park and in St. Lucia.  We stayed at the Urban Glamping tented village which was a lot of fun. The staff told us to lock the tent because of the curious monkeys… and indeed there were a lot of them all over the place.  It was fun, to watch these clever mammals from the veranda of our tent. The following day we were heading back to Richards Bay.

If you want to sail around the Cape of Good Hope you have to be patient and wait for the right weather window. There are just a few stops on the way where you can hide. The wind is usually blowing full speed North or South and changes direction very quickly, which makes the weather windows very short. There is also the strong Agulhas current pushing South. You absolutely have to avoid having the current against the wind as this can produce high standing waves.
To make things short the passage to Durban did not get very high ratings among the crew but we made it in time to Durban before the wind was turning again. Valerio always said it is not a pleasure cruise it is a delivery that is how you should see it!

Durban is not a very nice town.  People told us it was nice once but now it is very rundown and even on the short way from the marina to the Durban Beach Front we did not feel very comfortable and safe. We were really just waiting for the right weather to head further South. If possible we wanted to skip East London and sail directly to Port Elizabeth. We wanted to visit the Addo Elephant park from there as it is very close and in addition we wanted to visit the parents of a former colleague from work from André.  After 4 days we left Durban and really got a window that took us all the way down to Port Elizabeth.  MILANTO and SEALOVER were with us, LOUMARAN decided to pull into East London.  More boats of the Reunion fleet followed early next morning like Mélanie and Romaric on REDER BRO and Niklas on HAFSORKESTERN.

The marina in Port Elizabeth is in very bad condition. The pontoons are all moving around a lot and the wind blows all the metal dust from the iron ore storage just next to the marina on the boats.  And of course there is a lot of wind and therefore a lot of dirt. Because of that you can not really sit outside in the cockpit and downstairs you get seasick because everything is moving.  For the boatschooling we moved to the nearby restaurant on land and most of our cruising friends were there too because of the same reasons. It is a DELIVERY we were once again reminded from Valerio…  But in spite of the bad maintained marina we had a nice lunch at Donald’s parents place and a great day in the Addo Elephant park together with Mélanie and Romaric.

Our next planned stop was Knysna. The entrance is only doable in settled conditions as it is narrow with dangerous rocks on both sides. It looks spectacular and beautiful but you have to pay attention to get your bearings right. The Knysna Yacht Club is one of the most welcoming Yacht Clubs in the world and definitely the best Yacht Club in South Africa. They let us stay at their dock at the prime spot, free of charge and even brought us a wooden staircase (normally only the superyachts have those)! What a treat after the rocky pontoons and howling winds in Port Elizlabeth! We felt at home immediately. There is a nice restaurant in the Yacht Club, a lively bar and even a small playground just around the corner and the view over the Knysna lagoon is fantastic. Welcome back to the cruising mode… the delivery was done – not yet around the cape but it seemed at least the worst part of it.

While MILANTO and SEALOVER soon wanted to move on to Cape Town we decided to stay a little bit longer. André had found a paragliding school in Wilderness where he could do his licence and I made a few beautiful excursions with the girls. Lars and his crew from DAWNBREAKER asked us if we would like to join them on a excursion to Plettenberg. We visited together the huge free flight bird santuary “Birds of Eden” and the Tenikwa Wildlife Rehabilitation & Awareness Center. Both places we can highly recommend.

Of course we also wanted to see where André was doing his flights. One day we accompanied him to Wilderness and Mélanie and Romaric joined too. We had a great had a great day at on the beautiful beach together and joined André later in the afternoon to watch him paragliding. As the monitor asked me if I would like to come on a tandem flight I spontaneously said yes. It was really beautiful and I could understand André’s excitement about the paragliding there.  You fly alongside the cliffs and you can even spot the dolphins in the clear blue sea!

The amazing thing when you travel with kids is that they make new friends in no time. On Friday, 18th of December, André was back from paragliding and had to do some work on the boat and I went off to do some laundry. When I got back late afternoon Jaël was all excited telling me they got two new friends and as I stepped on the boat there was a woman in the cockpit I had not seen before. She introduced herself as Silvana and was mother of two boys, Michael and Gregory same age as Amina and Jaël. Her boys were invited at a kids birthday party on the Yacht Club terrace. Jaël and Amina were hanging around and kind of joined the party. They told the other kids that they live on that blue sailboat and had sailed all the way to South Africa. So Silvana (she has Italian roots) of course wanted to know if this is all true and asked them for a boat tour…. and there she was 🙂 her husband Warren joined, we offered them a drink on Mirabella. Later on we all moved by dinghy to their holiday apartment for a BBQ. They were from Johannesburg and spent their Christmas holiday always in Knysna where Warren’s father lived. They invited us over to a big family lunch at Warren’s uncle’s place. It was a beautiful afternoon with a lot of laughter and fun. Thank you again Warren and Silvana for inviting us! And of course thank you Jaël and Amina for chatting up these nice people!

 

As most boats of our Reunion fleet were already in Cape town and we wanted to spend Christmas with them we thought it was time to move on. André had accomplished his paragliding pilot licence and there was a good weather window ahead.  On the 21st of December we passed the heads of Knysna and left for Cape town. We rounded the Cape Agulhas, the most southern point of Africa the following day in settled conditions.  What a mile stone of our journey! We arrived in Cape town on the 23rd of December.  One of these moments that I will never forget… arriving in Cape Town on our own sailing boat, seeing the famous Table Mountain in the morning sun.

We decided to stay in the V&A Waterfront Marina as you can discover the town on foot.  Andre’s sister Karin was supposed to visit us and therefore it would be much easier to explore if we do not need a car. The other option would have been the Royal Cape Yacht Club which is less expensive and very cruiser friendly with a nice BBQ area. But it is located near the industrial harbour area and from there you do not get anywhere without car. The location of the V&A marina is simply unbeatable. It is well protected and very calm. From the boat you can watch the sealions swim around and at night you find them sleeping on the pontoons. Within a short walking distance you can reach supermarket, shops, restaurants and also a playground.

Our French friends from Reunion were all in Hout Bay so we spent the 24th of December there together with REDER BRO, SOLEDAD, MONFREID and TEC`HADENN.  The 25th December we celebrated together with the boats who were at the V&A Marina, like MILANTO, SEALOVER, LOUMARAN, SEABISCUIT, OSPREY and ANNA CAROLINE. As the Covid-19 cases were rising the gouvernment implemented a night curfew and selling alcohol was prohibited in restaurants and supermarkets. Normally we  would not have cared about the ban on alcohol but being in South Africa with all these great winerys and not being able to go on a winetram in Stellenbosch was a bit of a shame… Most of the restaurants closed earlier as everyone was supposed to be home at 9 p.m.  But during the day everything was open, so no need to complain.

One day André took the kids to go climbing near Hout Bay with Charles, Fanny and Tom. We arranged to meet at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in the afternoon. Mélanie, Romaric, Charles and Fanny would join for a visit too and I would take the kids while André would go back to Mirabella. I had a nice city stroll in the morning,  I walked to Greenmarket square, the Company’s garden and the Bo-Kaap area. Cape Town is a beautiful town with a lot to discover. The history lays still heavy on it though and you still rarely see black and white people together. Too many things have happened and still happen. The call for redemption was so loud that now things seem to turn the other way around which is not good either and will only cause more hate again. You can not make things undone but you can learn from mistakes. It is never good to legally favor a group of people. I do hope that South Africa will find a way to solve these difficult conflicts. Naturewise it is a beautiful and very rich country.  We cought a glimpse of that beauty in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. The location is a winner already and the variety of protea flowers (South Africa’s national flower) is incredible. On New Year’s eve we made a small get together with all the cruising boats in the Waterfront marina. By the our French friends were all in the Cape Town Yacht club and because of the curfew we could not celebrate all together.  Instead we made a BBQ at the Yacht Club early January.

 

Karin had booked a flight to come and visit us in Cape Town but things had become quite complicated with the new South African variant of the virus. Her flight was firsts cancelled, then put back on schedule and finally postponed by a day. We could hardly believe, that she managed to come and visit us in these circumstances . But there she was – she arrived on January 1st! The last time she stayed with us on the boat was from Niue to New Zealand in September/October 2018, that was a while ago. So nice to have her back again. André managed to rent a car for a few days so that we could also explore the surroundings  of Cape Town with her.  There were plenty of things to do and see .  One day we drove to Simons Town. It is famous for it’s colony of African penguins at boulders beach. This picturesque area, with enormous boulders dividing small, sandy coves is home to a colony of some 3000 African penguins. Fascinating to see those funny walking creatures that close. They can make quite a noise…

On another day we booked the Cape Canopy Tour near Grabouv. We left Cape Town early morning and had a late breakfast at a cool Sunday market,  the Elgi n Railway Market. There was a big selection of delicious food stalls located in a beautifully restored old apple warehouse.  What a great start into a beautiful day. We continued our drive to to the Canopy tour location. We got equipped with helmets, harnesses, gloves and the zipping device. A 4×4 jeep took us on a 45min. mountain trip to the starting point of the Canopy tour. All in all there were 11 slides and a suspension bridge all beautifully hidden in the mountainous scenery. It was a lof of fun and we would highly recommend it!

The Elgin Railway Market is just one of many cool weekend markets in and around Cape Town. In the waterfront area there is the Oranjezicht City Farm Market. It is a great location and the perfect way to start a Saturday or Sunday. There is a huge variety of food stalls and it is difficult to make a choice.  The Old Biscuit Mill is another cool place we visited one weekend. Valerio was with us that day and there we met Maurizio and Catherine, who were selling delicious salami on one of the numerous market stalls. Maurizio is Italian and if an Italian sells salami you can be sure that it is really good! We bought some for our next passage and Valerio exchanged phone contacts and invited them over.

While Karin was still with us, André and me could go on a hike together without the kids. We normally wanted to hike up Table Mountain but unfortunately there was too much wind that day so we decided to hike up to Lion’s Head instead which offers a beautiful view on Cape Town too and you can walk down Signal Hill afterwards, where they still shoot the gun at 12 o’clock midday. Karin had to head back to Switzerland after 8 days. We had had a great time together!

Maurizio and Catherine visited MILANTO and came to see us on Mirabella as well.  We suggested to go on a hike all together and Maurizio and Cathering picked the hike to Suther Peak. What a great choice. There were some friends of Catherine joining as well and so we met Nina from Geneva, Elena, a very experienced sailor, and Sylvie, an English Teacher. It was an unforgettable and beautiful hike with stunning views. Nina and Sylvie wanted to see our boat as well, so we invited them over another day. Maurizio and Catherine joined as well and also Alessia, who had two kids, Aline (10 years) and Conrad (8 years). It was just great to meet all these people. The longer you stay at one place the more connections you make and the harder it gets to leave. Alessia invited us over at her house (by the way a really cool house) and the kids had a lot of fun to play together in the pool and in their tree house.

Our friends from SOLEDAD; REDER BRO and MONFREID had already left for Brazil early January. St. Helena whose borders had been open all the time suddenly closed the borders because of the spreading South African variant of the virus.  What a pity! We had been looking forward to stop on that interesting island in the middle of nowhere… Frank from MAXIM had decided to sail directly to Martinique, many others decided to stop at the northeastern tip of Brazil. Cruising friends recommended us a marina in Cabedelo where they would let us in even if Brazil was closed. We were not yet ready to leave. André had helped Valerio with his engine problem and after what he had seen there made him think that maybe he should take a closer look on our engine as well….  It is like opening Pandora’s Box… What he discovered was not so good. The turbo was completely stuck. To get the turbo cleaned he litterally had to take all the engine apart.  A quite adventurous thing. Luckily he found a good Diesel engine specialist, a very relyable guy named Werner (with German roots) who could clean all the parts. It was a challenging two weeks project. But at the end André had put all the cleaned parts back together and the engine worked! Well done Captain!

While André was busy with the engine project we focused on boat school and bicycle practice. Very close by there was a bicycle rental where. We went there several times in the afternoon and rented a bike for one hour. It was not a very busy area and Amina and Jaël could do rounds  and practice their bicydle skills. At the beginning I had to hold Amina and run along with her but she quickly made progress.  At the end she just needed a little help to start.  We also went on a short bike tour in Stellenbosch, that was fantastic. There André rented a shadow bike for Amina .

 

As soon as the engine project was finished we were getting ready to leave. We ordered some first class parmiggiano and more salami from Maurizio for the passage which lasted by the way until Antigua and was a real treat! Best cheese on board since a long time!!! Thank you Maurizio! Nina brought us some Ragusa chocolates and Jaël and Amina got two heart shaped boxes with Lindor chocolates from Maurizio and Catherine which they both kept like a treasure. Before we left we had a lovely dinner at Maurizio and Catherine’s place and farewell drinks with all our cruising and Cape Town friends on LOUMARAN. When we left Cape Town for Brazil we even got escorted by MILANTO with Lorenzo singing a farewell song. It had been a lot of fun cruising together. MILANTO, LOUMARAN and SEALOVER were not ready yet to leave beautiful Cape Town and we where not sure if and when we would see each other again. Thank you South Africa for a wonderful time!

 

Ice on the sprayhood at the end of November was the final reminder that the sailing season in North America is well and truly over. It was high time to head south.

Our second visit in New England was later then originally planned. This time we came in from Canada. However, due to US travel restrictions, travelers from Canada were not allowed to cross the border to the US on land or water until 8 November 2021.

Why so late?

So instead of an October visit to see our dear friends in Maine and Massachusetts again, it turned out to be a November visit. November in New England is beautiful. The automn colors are still there, the days are often sunny and cool and everything is in a very nice light. The nights were getting really cold, but thanks to our forcefull diesel heater, we never had a cold cabine.

The thing that remained was the thought of when to escape to the Caribbean. An old salt in Halifax told me that there is no weather window before mid December. I wasn’t convinced and consulted the pilot charts instead. They were very clear. November is not a good month to cross to Bermuda, but December is definitly worse.

Additionally, Eva Maria and the kids wanted to visit Switzerland to see family and friends again. The grandparents were asking more and more often.

Shall I try it alone?

I thought this might be the best opportunity to have a go at single handed sailing. This is something I always wanted to try and I felt that both Mirabella and myself were ready for it. We booked flights to Switzerland and return to the Caribbean for Eva Maria and the kids at the end of November. And I watched the weather closely.

On the 24. November, there was an acceptable weather window. Strong  NW winds till Bermuda, forecasted mostly around 20kts, increasing to 25-30kts when the front passes, gusts forecasted in the 30+kts. Not great, but by far the best for a long time and probably as good as one can expect at the end of November. I spoke to Ed, our friend who has done the crossing to the caribbean in November/December multiple times. He agreed, yes, this is an ok window.

On the eve of the departure Eva Maria and the kids left the boat, it was freezing cold and I planned to leave at first light the next morning. After a good but short sleep I got the boat ready at 5am and slipped the mooring line shortly before sunrise.  

It is happening

Ice cold wind blew in my face as I made my way out of Buzzards Bay, the diesel furnace blew hot air into the cabin, but outside I was exposed the the elements. I needed to sail upwind for the first 20 miles before I could turn south towards to sun. It was a challenging sail against the wind and it gave me a queasy stomach that wouldn’t go away for a day. After 3 hours I happily turned the bow south, getting the wind over my starbord stern. Much better.

First time alone on the ocean

The feeling of sailing alone was very strange. After 45’000 miles with the family, it was an unnatural feeling to be alone on the boat.    There was no one to talk to, no discussion about the sail plan or weather routing. No kids that demanded my attention. Only me and some less then ideal weather.

The first two days were broad reaching in 25kts of wind and maybe 3m of wave. Not very comfortable but managable. It was the anticipation of the front passing over us on the 3rd day that occupied my thoughts. 30kts steady wind, gusting to 40kts was forecasted.

I kept Mirabella moving quickly, I wanted to be south of the gulfstream when the front hit. The gulfstream can be treacherous place to be caught out in bad weather. This strong current quickly creates waves that are much higher then normal. Luckily, the wind was in the same direction as the current, this should keep the waves to a more normal level. But still, better to be out of the current.
On the evening before the front would hit, I took the main sail down completly and tied it down. This way it could not accidentially open up again. My plan was to weather the front under genoa alone. Just in case I needed to reef further. 

The strong front passes

The front arrived as predicted the next day and quickly we had winds gusting into the 40s. I observed the spectacle from the companion way when I saw a large mean looking cloudbank arrive. Heavy rain and even stronger winds were coming for Mirabella! The wind started to gust up to 54kts, it was loud, wet and uncomfortable. The genoa was reefed to a few m2, we surfed down the waves with up to 16kts. It was freightening but everything was stable and all I had to do was hang in there.

After an hour the winds reduced to 30kts again.  Coming from 50+kts this felt already normal again. I gradually unfurled more genoa and continued on my path to Bermuda.

When the wind pipes up like this, it feels good to be on a well maintained X-Yacht. Luckily, nothing got damaged, no water came into the boat and all systems just continued as normal.

Bermuda

After 4 days I arrived in Bermuda after sunset. Bermuda is very professional and everything is well marked. They have the worlds best radio operators and a very efficient customs. One hour after my arrival, I was cleared in. I dropped the anchor in the Powder Hole bay and was ready for a long sleep.

Together with Aria, I enjoyed 5 days of relaxed life in Bermuda. Then a nice looking weather forecast came up. 5 days / 880nm of beam reaching to Saint Martin. Yes, that sounds like me.

Most beautiful sailing to the Caribbean

The second leg was everything the first wasn’t. The wind was great, the weather was warm and it didn’t rain. I managed a very good 180nm per day. Alone! Sailing was just great. I started to really like this way of sailing. When the going is great, I found the solitude beautiful. I was busy keeping Mirabella moving, checking all the systems and cooking. But there was enough time to watch the dolphines and read a book in the cockpit. If it wasn’t for the interrupted sleep pattern I would have wanted to sail on for much longer.

We arrived in Saint Martin at lunch time after 5 days. Marigot bay, the French side, was too rolly so I moved on to Simpson bay on the Dutch side and anchored there for the night. On arrival I spotted Patrick on Ostrika. He gladly helped me to get the dinghy in the water.  

Together with Patrick and some of his friends, I spend the night at Lagoonies. A great evening with very good food and a nice beer. What a way to arrive, Caribbean I’m here!

‘You and your crew have been cleared to enter the U.S.’

was the answer that followed shortly after we filed the arrival with our yacht Mirabella in New York. In the end, the whole story how to enter the US by Pleasure Boat turned out to be fairly easy.

I wasn’t too sure about it for a long time and maybe some of you fellow sailors can/will benefit from our experience.

Sail to the US as a non-US resident, what is the challenge?

The visa rules that apply if you arrive to the US on a private yacht are different then when you arrive with an official carrier like an airline. For most european citizens and many other countries traveling to the US for tourism is not too complicated. Thanks to the Visa Waiver Program the need for a visa for short term visits is, as the name suggests, waived.  One needs to obtain an electronic travel authorization (ESTA) before starting the journey and on arrival you get a 90 days visa waivered stay.

If you arrive by a private pleasure boat, however, you are not eligible for the  Visa Waiver Program. In this case you need a B1/B2 Visa, an actual visa. This requires a bit more planning as the process can take some time and involves an in-person interview at your nearest US Embassy.

Cruising friends of ours have done this in the past and we were prepared to go down that road as well. Due to Covid, the waiting times at the  US Embassies in the Caribbean (Barbados, Grenada, Bahamas, Bermuda, etc…)varied a lot. Mostly the waiting time was many weeks, possibly months. Not practical for us.

Bermuda however, had a waiting time of one week only. Great, the decision was made quickly, we sail to Bermuda!
Unfortunatly, during our sail from Antigua to Bermuda a new Covid-19 wave hit Bermuda and everything went into shut down. By the time we arrived in Bermuda, the embassy stated the waiting time as ‘maybe 6 weeks’. Bummer.

The Visa Waiver program option

So, we searched for alternatives and found various information of cruisers who entered the US with just a Visa Waiver. They all did this in the Caribbean and the story goes like this: You sail to the BVIs with your yacht. You complete an ESTA. Then, from the BVIs, you take a normal ferry to the USVI, get your Visa Waiver for 90 days and return to the BVIs.

Next day or later you sail to the USVI with your own boat. As you posses already a Visa Waiver everything is in order and no B1/B2 Visa is required. The stay is limited to 90days from your first entry.

As we were in Bermuda when the problem with the closed Embassy arose a simple sail to a US Port of Entry with a ferry was not possible. However, we could fly to the US and return to Bermuda within days and then sail to New York.

Unsure if this is really a correct way of entering I asked the US Embassy in Bermuda and they pointed my to the official Customs and Boarder Protection website. But the website was not overly clear and left some room for interpretation in either direction.

How we actually did it

We decided to give it a go anyway. We filed in our ESTA, got it approved and flew to Atlanta for two nights. Visa Waiver and corresponding I-94 optained. A weather window to sail to New York opened shortly after we returned back  to Bermuda and so we set sail immediatly.

Before we left we filled in the electronic Notice of Arrival/Departure (eNOAD) and once we arrived we reported our arrival via the Customs and Border Protection App ROAM. Everything as per the book. 
Within hours after arriving we got the information from Customs and Border ”You and your crew have been cleared to enter the U.S.’