A little over a week ago, we finally landed in the Caribbean. The elation I felt upon arrival in Barbados was unmatched by any other arrival in our three and half years of cruising. Even though we remain 1,000 miles or so from the coast of Florida, it feels like we’ve made it home—the big miles are behind us. When we left New Zealand for the last time in May 2023, I thought to myself “we’re heading west now and we’re heading home.” Arriving in the Caribbean almost two years later was wonderful and surreal, the culmination of a lot of work, worry, sailing—and absolutely amazing experiences along the way. I wouldn’t trade any of it.

Our final passage across the Atlantic began in Namibia. We left December 27, taking short breaks in St. Helena, a tiny UK island territory in the middle of the Atlantic, and Fernando De Noronha, a Brazilian island national park reserve 200 miles off the coast of Brazil. We arrived on February 5 in Barbados, having traveled 4,973 nautical miles over 34 days at sea. It was just as intense and tiring as we had expected that many miles in such a short time to be. Over the last two years, we averaged about 5,000 nm every six months. This time, we did it in six weeks.

For much of the three legs of the passage, we had calm, pleasant conditions. So calm that we worried about conserving fuel and sailed much slower than we normally would have tolerated without turning on an engine. Some days we only made 120 miles in a 24-hour period, whereas our typical passage planning puts us at 180-200 mile days. This allowed us, though, to cook fresh meals (versus warming frozen casseroles and soups), play daily rounds of Rummikub in the cockpit before dinner, and even get school done—something we’ve never done on a passage before.

Unfortunately, that changed dramatically—and not unexpectedly, seeing the forecast and receiving reports from friends ahead of us—about four days into our last and longest leg of 2,000 nm. We began sailing a beam reach in confused and building seas. We were then managing 180-200 nm days, but at the expense of comfortable conditions. The waves built into some of the steepest we’ve seen, 12-14 feet at a short 7-8 second period, compounded by the current against the wind, and we saw winds regularly up to 38 knots. These are the conditions that saw us the rest of the way into Barbados for the most part—save about the last 18 hours of the passage when seas flattened, the counter current dropped, and we had epic, fast smooth champagne sailing, arriving an hour before sunset.

It was hands down one of the worst passages we have ever had. Our only consolation was that others before us and after us, all in different “weather windows” had experienced similar conditions. It just seems to be a rough passage, that final stretch of 5-7 days off the coast of South America. Unlike the Mozambique Channel and the Cape of Good Hope, though, no one had really warned about that particular stretch of water ahead of time and we weren’t psychologically prepared for it to be that difficult for days on end. Or maybe it’s not, and this season is particularly difficult.

Thankfully, the passage difficulties almost immediately receded into the distant past upon arrival, assuaged by warm Caribbean breezes, white beaches, and swimming off the boat in crystal clear water. We’re looking forward to a couple of more months soaking all of it up, shared with both boat friends and friends visiting soon from Toronto. We made it and we couldn’t be happier!