They are living their dream: sailing across the ocean on the Shark 24. After their windy and fast transfer of the boat to the Canary Islands last July, André Kurreck and Tim Wolf (both 37) from Schwerin set off for the Caribbean last Sunday. "The Shark has held up amazingly well over the four months that she has been waiting for us in Graciosa," explains André Kurreck in the blog www.lebemeer.de. "Except on the lower deck, where some algae have settled. We've already tackled them with a cleaning sponge."
After seven days of provisioning and preparation, the duo moved their ship to the starting harbour of Las Palmas on Gran Canaria in mid-December. Shortly before Christmas, the time had come: off to the Caribbean!
The first 200 nautical miles on the 2800 nautical mile route to Barbados were also a windy debut for the two friends, who had spent the previous months at home working. Now, with the start of the Atlantic crossing season, they are continuing the journey they began last summer. After the long stay on land, it is not surprising that Kurreck and Wolf have to contend with waves up to 3.5 metres high. But the seasickness gave way the very next day to the thrill of the adventure of crossing the Atlantic in such a small ship. Especially when a lower shroud breaks, but can be repaired with on-board equipment.
On the second day, the two report an encounter with a freighter: "The ship we were aiming for came towards us from astern and Tim woke me up," Kurreck writes in the blog. "We observe the situation for a while and then we feel uneasy as the ship is heading straight for us. I grab the radio, give the position, name and course of our boat and ask if we've been spotted. We receive a prompt reply with a counter-question asking if everything is all right with us? The boat then visibly changes course and overtakes us on the port side." A great experience. "I felt like a little puppy being nudged by its mum with its snout to see if everything was OK," writes Kurreck.
The third day makes it necessary to correct the quick temporary solution of the repaired lower shroud once again. "Instead of the patch, we now have a replacement shroud made of Dyneema," writes Kurreck. "Tim had to go up the mast for this, but he quickly lost his laughter in the swell."
Both are surprised by the speed at which the heavily laden Shark is travelling. "In the first four days, we've always had five or six knots on the log," Kurreck explains to YACHT in an email - and immediately improves: "On the GPS, I mean. We haven't had the log on yet. We actually only use the iPad for navigation." True sailors of the 21st century - but travelling from a boat from the seventies.
"Our Etmal was always over 120 nautical miles, measured by GPS, which I can't understand at all with our payload," Kurreck explains the progress of the journey. "But the Shark, which is usually so snappy, finds it difficult to get her body out of the water. If she starts to slip, it's unfortunately only for a brief moment." The immense additional weight is clearly noticeable, although the crew has already limited itself. In addition to tinned food, pasta, fruit and vegetables, there are only around 200 litres of liquid on board. "When there's little wind, the Parasailor helps us to get going," writes Kurreck. "Otherwise it would be very boring at times." That's why the two athletes are already looking forward to the second part of the Atlantic crossing, the last thousand miles to Barbados. "Then we'll have less ballast on board and will be surfing more often again!"
The journey can be followed on the blog at www.lebemeer.de or here on YACHT online.
