In the news

Katadyn have recently sent out press information about our world tour in their latest newsletter. Check it out here. If you can't read German, here's a translation:

"Taru and Alex who got to know each other in Barcelona, left in the end of October on a sailing adventure around the world. Aboard their Hallberg Rassy 352, they have also installed a Katadyn Power Survivor 80E, to be able to have fresh drinking water on the long Atlantic crossing. When planning a cruise, the daily supplies of fresh water is absolutely essential for survival and the ability to produce drinking water itself has a huge impact on the comfort on board. With their Internet blog Taru and Alex have already achieved celebrity status within the sailing community. They cleverly combine the harsh life at sea with lifestyle elements such as good food (and fresh drinking water), expensive wine, and fashion clothes. The duo have just left Morocco and is now heading west. Make sure to follow the journey and love story of this extraordinary couple."

Nice!

We have by the way just started to use our watermaker and we've realized that it is even easier to use than it seemed from the beginning and the unit uses less amps than expected. Good! We'll post some information of the machine later on, if you guys are interested in knowing how it is possible to transform salt water into fresh (drinking) water. /T

What's your fear

Beautiful summer nights are spent here in the Canaries, although we are dying to get over to the tropical Caribbean asap. We still have a few things to sort out here on the European side before we're ready to go and some final work on the boat and other necessities will be finalized this weekend. We will also need to fly to France later this weekend for a super short stay before we get back to prepare the last things for the crossing. This is something that freaks the hell out of me for some reason. Yeah flying. Not much in this world frightens me but flying is one. Might sound strange as I've travelled the world back and forth in both large jumbos and tiny passenger planes about a thousand times by now, but this is a phobia I've developed during the last two years or so. Nowadays, I am always convinced that I have the last minutes of my life in front of me when I board a plane and the thought of leaving my destiny and life in someone else's (the pilot's) hands is totally freaking me out. Call me a wimp, but that's a fact and I can't seem to get over it. The worst part is that it gets worse with time and age, and definitely now when we have so much beautiful things to look forward to. It would be a beautiful, tragic love story no? "Couple in love, just started their dream voyage, died in a plane crash before they even crossed the Atlantic". But do not get sad if you don't hear anything from us after Sunday, at least you know we were prepared for it. Jesus Christ. /T

Where are we?

Our SPOT tracker is back in business. You're now able to follow our tour once again, over here.

The blue line on this map is the actual route we made during the time the SPOT wasn't cooperative, however it is now right on spot where we are located in this very moment. You'll be able to follow us over the Atlantic and over on the other side, once we leave this marina in a few days. 

Looks also like our journey now is the most visited on the Spotwalla trip rankings in the world. It's great to have you all following, dear readers. Hope to have you along with us for a long time to come! /T

One simple apple dessert

One of the easiest desserts there is to be made (I did mention I love everything in terms of cooking involving the word easy, no?) is a simple fried apple dessert. If you, just like me, think that you've been eating too much over the holidays but still need something sweet after dinner, this is a good choice. Delicious and healthy, if you can resist the temptation of putting together a vanilla sauce to it, that is. 

All you really need is: 1 apple for two people, little bit of butter, brown sugar, ground cinnamon and that would be it. Panfry the apple in a tiny bit of butter, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top and leave it on the stove till it's golden brown. The firmer the apple, the better in my opinion. Granny Smith's has always made it for me with it's acidic taste, but also a traditional sweet Gala or Honeycrisp would be good for this type of frying. It's quick, healthy and delicious. Just how we like it. /Taru

Route updated

You might be interested in knowing how far we've travelled so far. Almost nine months have passed since we started this circumnavigation from our hometown Barcelona on the 31st of October 2010 and around 9000 nm have been sailed through three continents and eleven countries so far. 

The red mark on the map is an indication of what we sailed the first summer we spent together in Barcelona, before the official circumnavigation started. You'll find tons of stories and photos of that first year further back in the blog if you're interested in seeing how we spent our time in Corsica, Sardinia, the French Riviera and the Balearic islands (Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca etc).

The blue line on the map indicates the actual world tour trip which we've accomplished so far and shows the trip made from Europe, the time we spent in Morocco, the long passage across the Atlantic to our new temporary home in the Caribbean sea where we're dropping our hook wherever it might suit us for the day. We are planning on staying around here and discover the beautiful Caribbean island chain at least until March next year. The plans are thereafter to transit the Panama canal and to enter the Pacific ocean for further adventures in the South Pacific and South East Asia in 2012.

We're located in lovely Antigua at the moment and we'll be staying here for a couple of more weeks. We will then probably sail towards St Lucia, Grenada, Tobago Cays and Barbados in the beginning of July.

On the other side of the world

Although it is wonderful and amazing and fulfilling in so many ways to live this different life we've chosen, I do miss my closest friends at times. Therefore we're ultimately happy for Skype's existence. Home feels instantly so much closer, just what is needed in small doses now and then. Tonight I had a four hour (and four glasses of wine) session with one of my best friends in Sweden over the Internet. A wonderful energy kick delivered straight through the screen. /T

Departures

The two days after NYE are the days when hundreds of boats leave Las Palmas for the long Atlantic crossing. On the 1st of January it was Swedish Marta, Magnus and their 14 months old son Fox's time to departure for new adventures across the ocean with their boat Mazarin, a Bianca 27. We wish this little family all luck and we're hoping to see them again in some weeks when it's our time to land on the other side. /T&A

P.S: Can you see that they also have the Sailomat windvane?  Good stuff!