Kumbaya - Live from The Atlantic Ocean!

Who: Juliette, Hubert and their 4 children: Louise 11, Agathe 8, Paul 6 and Bertille 3
Where: In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
Multihull: Nautitech Open 46
www.laventuredekumbaya.com

It’s my turn for the watch. I go outside, clip on, and observe the stars, the waves and the foam that whitens in the night; especially on moonless nights where the depth of the darkness is almost frightening. I quickly go back inside, read a few pages of my book, fall asleep, wake up, go around again, sit back down, fill in the logbook, study the route, go back to sleep, wake up and adjust the sails in this east wind that is pushing us north. Our direction could take us to Cuba, Florida, Bermuda and occasionally Montreal. The waves have fun with the boat. To fight against sleep, I start baking a loaf of bread, in the half-light of a flashlight and without making any noise; it’s 4 o’clock. That’s the baker’s hour isn’t it?

I read again to fall asleep, go outside to get some fresh air, scan the horizon: nothing, nobody, no light. Just waves, foam, stars, wind, and fluorescent plankton. In the early morning, the children emerge one by one from their cabin, adding their laughter and games, and erasing the calm of the night. The day passes quickly, between the preparation of meals, cakes, naps and games interrupted by the fishing rod that had hooked a beautiful mahi-mahi. It has already been a week since we left. Given our «lockdown» on the Atlantic, we had robbed the whole of Cape Verde of its eggs and flour, so that we would be able to hold out. The bread is good. But before tasting it, we have to collect all the flying fish that landed on the deck and the trampoline early in the morning. And then there’s school time. It’s like home school: one child in underwear coloring a Christmas tree at 82°F (28°C), the second in pajamas doing geometry in 3 meters of swell, the third, dressed, looks reasonably concentrated. As for the fourth, he has decreed that he doesn’t want to work, but he has still understood that it’s a good idea to learn how to read so he can decipher the names of friends’ boats on the AIS. At least he’ll know how to sail. We’re having a great time though: mahi-mahi in the oven, mahi-mahi brandade, mahi-mahi lasagna, mahi-mahi pasta, mahi-mahi rillettes. And just to shake things up a bit, we make the same recipes again, but with bonito!