Text: Thomas Kiær and Mads Barner Christensen
The text is translated from Danish and edited
Preparations
During winter 2009, the dream about crossing the Atlantic Ocean was born. Our background is a life's experience with sailing - crusing as well as yacht racing.
My connection with X-Yachts started in 1990 - at this time, we were racing actively, looking for a fast boat connected to a class organisation; We found it all in an X-99.
After many years of pure racing, the desire for cruising started again - and already being a member of the X-family, the choice was easy: An X-412 was the optimum choice!
After some years of racing and cruising, we switched to an X-46 - a fine yacht for use in Scandinavia.
When the dream of the big oceans came to my mind, I decided to consult X-Yachts again: What do you need to be able to make such a trip - what are the requirements and does the X-46 meet these requirements?
We ended up with an X-50.
The fuel tanks were rebuilt for ocean cruising, the rig was changed, etc. X-Yachts were involved in the project with enthusiasm and in July 2009, the boat was ready. As all my other boats, she was named Xpense.
At this stage, we have decided to participate in ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) starting on 22nd November 2009.
In the period from July to November, the X-50 is sailed from Denmark to Gran Canaria in mixed and at times hard weather. The trip was planned with 2 relatively long breaks to Denmark during these 4½ months.
Atlantic Crossing
Food...lots of food..
In the days up to 22nd of November, the quay was busy; The ARC management has strict rules and regulations for safety equipment. Apart from that, obviously some commotion as all participants were provisioning at the same time.
I was a bit nervous: Can I handle the rally, will the weather behave well, is boat fit for fight, will we get scared out there...? soon it was time to go!
Our start was impressive - the largest and most ambitious boats were 20 minutes in front of the main field - but our racing expert from North Sails says "a long-distance race is not won from the beginning".
Navigation
Already on the first night, there were reports about two wrecks. One of the boats tried to sail back under emergency-rig - the other was forced to may-day the float. We felt sorry for them and tears came to my eyes thinking about the sexy 25 meter Hall-Spar carbon mast soon to be found on the bottom of the ocean.
So, we were careful..
Already on the next day's afternoon, we took the risk and decided to let the spinnaker stay up the second night - in order to explore the limitations of the boat.
At sunrise, the SSB radio announced that we - out of 230 participants - had covered the largest distance! Who would have thought that about a humble X-50 stuffed with tinned food, canned beer, bicycles and frozen steaks?
Our speed was in average between 9 and 11 knots with a wind of approximately 15 - 20 knots. Sometimes there were wind gusts of about 35 - 40 knots. Top speed on our trip was 17.5 knots - a decent speed for an overweight X-yacht filled with provisions.
The pantry of the sea
"You can forget all about fishing", the man in the fishing shop in Las Palmas said. "At a speed over 6 knots, nothing takes the bait."
This did not prevent the unofficial steward of the crew to buy the most expensive fishing rod in the shop.
So, the level of expectation was very low, when he on the third day started fishing in spite of the high speed. 20 minutes after, something swallowed the bait! The catch was drawn in and after a one-hour struggle, a large 35 kilo king mackerel shows up - nobody expected that.
In the dusk, we ate well-made mackarel steaks, rice and delicious red wine - and we reminded each other of the fact that life is lived right NOW, right HERE.
PANIC
We solve almost every problem we bump into. But... then the watermaker broke down.
The first days, we had been drinking from the Coca Cola stock and the bottles with water were gradually emptied... When the water maker (extremely bad timing) stopped working, we were suddenly very conscious about the distance to the nearest Seven-Eleven. I have never been so thursty as in the minute when I was told about the watermaker...
We survived 3 days on hot canned beers..
Stay on board
I had brought along several books with a view to the boring spare time periods - but in reality, I read 10 pages. There is always something to do on a speedy boat under spinnaker. Minor repair work, siesta, cooking and talking. The days and nights went amazingly quickly and much too soon the race ended....
We reached goal as number 9 - the fastest of the small boats. A funny combination of an IRC-system and an ARC-calculation found the result: We were placed number 31.
13 days, 23 hours and some minutes from start to goal.
For soul as well as body, the crew was happy, tanned and well-fed.
You do not defeat the Atlantic Ocean. That is a stupid description. You are allowed to pass if you behave decently and respectfully to the sea. All Danish sailors are able to do it, if they are well-prepared. And when you have done so, you are allowed to wear red trousers. Cool...
The Caribbean
The dream about doing something else and to be together with the family, became a reality in December meeting the family at St. Lucia. The winter was in front of us - at home it was cold this year, but in the Caribbeans the temperature is always approx 30 degrees with lots of sun and wind. The wind, the spirit and new friends led us to new bays and new islands - a whole new world opened for us and the Caribbean Ocean is any sailors dream. It was an indescribable journey full of impressions.
Several times, we dreamed about going to the Pacific Ocean - rumour tells that it should be even more fabulous..
Sailing with children was always a positive experience. Our worries before leaving about activating our 4-year old daughter was replaced by surprise about her ability to make new contacts in spite of language differences. She attracted attention wherever we went. We met new friends and sailed together - there are undreamt-of possibilities for social life when you are sailing. Sometimes we went 6 - others 2 and sometimes I went on my own - it was wonderfully relaxing and without conflicts.
The simple life
Time quickly became a diffuse concept. We got up when it was hot in the boat, and we went to bed when it was dark. We had lots of time and this was a real luxury. We followed the cycle of the day and our basic needs. Days passed with sailing to new bays, new islands, snorkelling with turtles, exsotic fish and corals.
Sometimes we went back to places several times and some places needed extra exploring time. We learned that a shopping list was a waste of time - you had to buy what was available on the shelves - sometimes the expiry date of canned food had passed several years ago - nothing to worry about here.
On the French islands, we could buy everything - it was like being back in Europe. The Grenadines were the most Caribbean we met - the more north, the more civilized. The contrast is extreme - from poverty and primitive life at Dominica and Barbuda to western luxury and "high end life" at Mustique and St. Barts.
No matter where we went, though, we met only kindness and a positive attitude. The islands are an adventure of experiences of many sorts - from vulcano islands to luxuriant vegetation where we picked grape fruits from the trees and bathed in the ice-cold waterfalls.
After 4 months in this paradise, reality knocks and we have to go home to our everyday lives. The journey ended at St. Thomas where we met a Freighter - a special transportation for yachts. Xpense was loaded directly from the sea and transported to Holland.
A really big sailing experience ended.
The X-50 lived up to our requirements and expectations during the whole journey - it was fantastic to live in this boat for so many months - and she was admired everywhere in the world for her beautiful lines.
The dream about the Pacific Ocean keeps us alive...
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