Sailing Tranquila Takes on the ARC
By Alexandra Leite
The final countdown echoed across the bay, a long-anticipated moment: “5… 4… 3… 2… 1…BEEEEEEEEP!”
Just like that, a flotilla of 140 yachts was off, sails hoisted all around, headed across the Atlantic, a 2,800 nautical mile navigation towards the Caribbean. Our crew shared mixed emotions: excitement, apprehension, and a touch of relief that we had finally reached this moment.
Most sailors here had their own tales of getting to this point, so let’s rewind a bit and share ours!
Hi everyone! We’re the Tranquila crew – Antoine (36), Alex (32), Max (8), and Maddie (4) – a mix of Portuguese, Mozambican, French, and Australian, who swapped our “land life” in Sydney for the ocean in June 2024. Having purchased our catamaran, Tranquila, from its previous owner in Denmark, we sailed from the Baltic Sea, through the Western European coastline, and down to the Canary Islands, where we joined the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) departing for St Lucia late November.
Getting there on time was a challenge in itself. Even though we had previous experience from chartering catamarans over the years, this was our first time as owners, and we only had a few months to get familiar with our boat and get it ready to cross an ocean. Meanwhile, we were sailing an average of 50 miles per day, over 100 days, to reach the Canaries in time for the crossing! While the Baltic Sea was very friendly with calm waters and plenty of beautiful anchorages, the lock opening into the North Sea revealed rough seas with shallow sandbars, strong currents, and heavy cargo traffic. Then, our stop in the northwest of France offered some respite with charming islands and fishing towns. Although a difficult-to-diagnose electronic failure on one of our engines made it tricky to navigate some tight marinas. A stopover to install new batteries, solar panels, and other liveaboard upgrades was a welcome break, but it took longer than expected and got us stuck in port for several days when the first autumn storms roughened up the Bay of Biscay. We rushed through the scenic Spanish coast, then straight into the exposed Portuguese shoreline, with some strong headwinds forcing long days of motoring between marinas. Finding respite proved difficult, as significant swell rendered many marinas inaccessible. Nazaré offered a welcome exception, and is the only marina on the coast open all year round – lucky for us! On top of all this, we needed to remain vigilant about potential orca interactions that had plagued the area!
We timely pulled into Las Palmas Marina the day the ARC check-ins and social gatherings were kicking off! After taking our crew photos for our official passes, we made it to the first sundowners that night, which, looking back, was the very first day of lifelong friendships with fellow sailors. Our additional crew for the crossing, Antoine’s two brothers, and our friend Julia joined us the next day.
The marina was alive and buzzing with hundreds of crew running around the docks and chandlery to gather spare parts and provisions before the big day! Evening drinks were thus a perfect opportunity to catch up with everyone after full-on days of boat work. The ARC then thoughtfully organized a Family BBQ, which was brilliant for connecting with other sailing families. It was instant camaraderie for the little ones, who took off playing together like they were old friends!
Click to read the rest of this story and see more great photos.
