Anguila Cay

Just dropped our anchor at Anguila Cay, a little uninhabited island from the Bahamas. We immediately jumped in the water and snorceled around. It is beautiful clear water and on our little 30 min trip we already saw lots of little fish including two barracuda and a shark! Tomorrow we will have a rest here and explore the island, then we are of to the Cay Sal, our last unspoiled island on the "Big Trip".
Axel

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The day has dawned...

.. and what a beautiful sunrise it was this morning but not much wind so we have had to put the engine on, unfortunately. It was a much less rolly day yesterday and a comfortable night last night since we are now sheltered from the North Atlantic rollers/swell by the Bahamas. In another 4 hours or so we will be entering the Old Bahama Channel a fairly narrow channel which separates Cuba from the Bahamas, where all the traffic converges.

And the end day is looming. We have our flights booked from Miami to Europe, thanks to our sisters. The end of the epic voyage is nigh!!
Hope you´re all keeping well.
Em xx

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Cuban news...

Top of the Morning All
We are now sailing between the southern Bahamas, on our starboard side, and the north coast of Cuba, approx 30nm to port. Last night we passed Great Inagua Island, Bahamas and could see the glow of Matthew Town on the horizon in the distance. It was another dark cloudy night but thankfully with only a couple of squalls and a few ships.

Our new plan:
Yesterday we decided that we would give Cuba a skip on this occasion. It´s a big and interesting country for only a 3/4 day visit, after which we would end up beating in a NNE direction against NE Trades to get up to Key West. Instead we are going to stop at a couple of the uninhabited southern Bahama islands in Sal Cays Bank namely Aguila Cay and Cay Sal, only accessible by boat, for a last taste of paradise before hitting the real world and the Florida crowds. From these islands we will have a much nicer sailing angle to Key West where we will have our official Round The World party. Who´s coming??? Ahhh go on, go on, go on...! ;-)

The wind has dropped from around 20k yesterday to about 10k today and we have slowed to 5k speed, its going to be a partially sunny one and feeling smoother...

Ciao for now
Em xx

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Haiti

We are just passing Haiti and tomorrow we should be of the cost of Cuba. Around 600 NM to go to Havana. We should arrive in Havana on the 1. of Mai.
Pretty rough passage, the roughest one for us in the Atlantic Ocean. Wind is around 20-25 knots from ENE and we are sailing with around 7 KN for the last 2 days.

Everybody how wants to come to Key West on the 5th or 6th of May is happily invited to stay on Freefall and to join us for our
"Around the World Party".

I hope to see some of you guys,
Axel and Emma

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Dominican Republic

Just passed Puerto Rico and are of the cost of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The weather is cloudy and sometimes rainy. Got a nice Wahoo today and I had a big Fish Burger, Emma Sushi....
Everything is fine, 740 NM to Havana.
Axel

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On the Way to Cuba....

1045 NM to Havana! If everything is fine we should be there in 7 days...bit bumpy and windy right now, so we moved to the back to sleep!
Axel

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Rainy day & mainsail on the way...

Hi All
Took Axel too the US VI ferry at 0630 this morning in the pouring rain - it was a nice freshwater shower and all this rain is a great chance for us to top up our water tanks. The islanders generally are happy to have the rain. Axel´s back this afternoon with the new mainsail- Yippeee!

Yesterday we had a nice day at Smuggler´s Cove beach. Believe it or not, its unusual for us to laze on a beach so it actually felt like a novelty! Got chatting with a Brazilian lady who was able to help remind us of how to cook some of the traditional Brazilian dishes we loved when in Brazil so when we came home we cooked a yummy Black Bean dish with pork ribs.

Must go and take the old ripped mainsail off in preparation for the arrival of the new one...
Em x

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