Christopher Columbus once said “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore”.
Its been a while since i left the boat now, and i think it is slowly sinking in that this adventure actually is over for me.. Leaving your home, family and friends to go live on a boat with some complete strangers and cross an ocean definitely has its challenges, But in my eyes its worth it! I had the time of my life!
The first thing most people asked me when I told them what I was up to was; "How can you do this?" and "I wish I was as lucky as you! I wish i could do something like that myself!" If there is something that i`ve learned during this trip, it is that if there is something you really want to do, just do it. It might sound cliche to you, but my mindset changed. I mean, there are so many excuses to make up, but life is too short guys! If there is anything you wish to accomplish, work for it, and get it done!
So, this trip was a whole different experience to anything i had ever been close to earlier. We started our journey in Fort Meyers, Florida. This is where our captain had been working on the boat for the last 1.5 years. Before leaving for the big seas, we had some stuff to do. Provisioning, cleaning and a tiny bit of getting to know each other. Despite everything none of us really knew anyone else than Helga Marie... (I know, sounds like a great idea- Hey! Lets go sail an ocean with a bunch of people we have never met before!) We spent about a week in Florida before we eventually set off for the big seas, or not... our first leg turned out to be only a couple of hours, with WiFi the whole time, as we had to stop somewhere along the coast to get fuel. Well well, we did start, and slept on anchor that night. Highly unknowing of what was expecting us out on the big seas.
The day after we were heading down to the keys, which is located on the south end of Florida, when we got the weather reports, and understood that we could expect a week of waiting down
there before we could set sails for the Bahamas. Naive as we were, we said "Let`s go to mexico!", and so we did. The first day went alright, but the rough seas that awaited us was no joke. With 3-4 meter waves and up to 40 knots a wind. Damn! seasick as i was, laying there in the front bunk, never having been on a sailboat before, this was a pretty uncomfortable couple of days. And even though i do not remember this, I was told that I went up three times during the first night, asking if we were dying.. Very funny:P
However, reaching Isla Mujeres, Mexico on the international womens day was a even
bigger relief!! The first thing we did? We went straight to the pool, which accidentally had a bar that we had to try out.. Also here we spent about one week. One day in Cancun,
as our dinghy motor fell of during the storm
we met from the US. We found this amazing breakfast restaurant called Aroma Isla among other nice dining places, and all the iguanas! We had a great time here, and i also got the chance to use some of my not-the-best-but-definitely-understandable spanish!
When we got the boat all fixed up from the storm we had crossing the golf, our next move? Crossing the golf, again.. This time we were aiming for the Cayman Islands. However this did not go 100% according to our plan either... Unlike our previous leg, we did not have any wind, and burned all of our fuel before we got halfway to Cayman.. Our option? Cuba. Well.. Breaking into Cuba, illegally, Hoping that they would let us buy fuel and leave.. When we were within reach of Cuba, we got the message that the punishment for doing this would be 10 years of prison, 20 000 dollar fines as well as them taking our boat. IF WE GOT CAUGHT;) And as you probably understand, we got out.. luckily:)
Being the history nerd that i am, i spent some time researching the history of the
Cayman islands, only to understand that it was no other than Christopher Colombus who discovered them in 1503! He described the islands as "two very small and low islands, full of tortoises, as was all the sea all about, insomuch that they looked like little rocks, for which reason these islands were called Las Tortugas." At some point the islands were also called Lagartos, which means alligators or large lizards. This shows that the islands always had a big wildlife, and they still do! Among turtles and stingrays there was a bunch of hens everywhere we went! Even in the streets, and along the highways. However what i found most interesting about these islands was how the turtles made them very attractive to the pirates of the Caribbean in the 16th and 17th century! (the real ones;)) The islands served as a stopping point for the pirates when they ran out of provisioning. Here they hunted down, and cooked the meat. The Cayman islands, even with the changes made for the large cruise ships arriving every year, turned out to be one of my favorite destinations!
Here is a link to the government if you want to read more of the history from these islands! https://www.gov.ky/about-us/our-islands/history
During our stay at this very exiting island, we did some free diving down to this very cool shipwreck. Supposedly it is a russian war ship from the cold war, and the only one that is
possible to dive down to on the western hemosphere. We also went down to the mermaid Amphitrite, who according to greek mythology was poseidons wife; personification of the sea as a whole, mother of all dolphins and seals. A bit for the more interested? Maybe.. Cool? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!
After all of this diving we were told to go see something called the bioluminecent bay. And boy, am i glad we did! That was such a cool experience!!!!! This was a bay where, at night, the alges lit up with movement, and we could see it so clearly. When we first arrived, we had some trouble finding it, until we snuck into someones backyard, and jumped into the water. Woops😅😅 Well... We did escape Cuba, so it could not get much worse, could it?;)
After the Cayman islands we set out for what was going to be my last leg. Cayman islands-Panama. A week long leg, with some challenges. Seasickness, waves, and the fact that we had been on a 37ft boat together for a month.. But we got there! And do you know who took us into the country? Yes, you guessed correctly.. The child;)
Panama was an adventure as well, especially with all of the animals that lived so close to the marina! only a few meters outside of the gates was this wild jungle, where we saw wild monkeys and other really cool animals 🤩
All in all, this was a very cool experience, and i would have done it all over again a million times! Yes, even the Cuba thing;) I am so grateful for the opportunity, and being able to do something like this at such a young age. So.. until next time- thanks to all of my fellow kooks- we are always gonna share a special bond<3
-Emma, the muscle and child<3
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