Pom 3: On course for Trinidad

Who: Dominique, Mathias, Nicolas and Gilles (who’s written this postcard)

Where: Between Saint-Martin and Trinidad, West Indies

Multihull: Outremer 5X

Blog: www.levoyagedepom.com

The sails are ready and we set off for Aves, with just one idea in mind: to set foot on this sandbank claimed by Venezuela. The boat is well trimmed and is running well. She always performs to the best of her ability whatever the conditions. The feeling of gliding is there, sailing above 11 knots on a beam reach, with barely 18 knots of wind. It's magical. During the first meal on board, I try to compensate for my low sailing level with my cooking skills instead. Just to show the others that I'm not there to make up the numbers. I've never found it so easy to cook at 10 knots. It's like being at home. Placemats, cutlery, plates and glasses behave themselves and have the decency to stay put in front of each guest. What about the watches? I'm more of a morning person, I like to be on deck before daylight to see the magnificent sunrises. In just a few minutes, blue makes its appearance and everything changes. We go from shades of gray, from the twinkling of the moon and stars to the blue, pink and orange of the sun's reflection on the clouds. It is beautiful. By mid-morning, Aves is in sight. You can see a sort of platform with a few containers stacked on a large sandbank. There is also a military ship anchored in front. We are heading towards them at 10 knots, with our black sails fluttering like those of a pirate ship. We decide to anchor next to the boat as there might be a small wave behind this big sandbank. I can already imagine myself inflating the paddle to go and catch a wave or two. That's when the VHF calls out to us! A female voice with a strong Hispanic accent questions us in English: "The boat with the black sails, what are your intentions? "We told her that we wanted to make a quick stop for one or two hours, and the answer was clear: "That's not possible, we're going to carry out live fire testing.” A few minutes later, Aves disappeared in our wake...