In Cannes, this fall, a crew of 5 persons got on board of the SEVENTY 8. The challenge? Reach Fort Lauderdale to exhibit the yacht at the boat show. Crossing the Atlantic with a motor yacht stays an audacious adventure. The crew tells us about the transatlantic:
“We crossed the Atlantic from Las Palmas at Gran Canaria, to Antigua at Caribbean, but our journey truly started at Cannes. After the Yachting festival, boat show that unveiled the new Lagoon’s motor yacht, we set sail to Las Palmas. These few nautical miles enabled us to grasp this SEVENTY 8, to understand how she sailed, and to familiarize with the layout, which will be our home for the next dozen days. Once we reached Las Palmas, the real adventure started: we got full tanks and foodstuffs to be ready for the challenge. And that’s how the whole adventure began!
Actually, we enjoyed nice conditions, with slight wind and calm sea. If we met some squalls, it was anecdotal. These ideal conditions allowed us to enjoy beautiful landscapes. Amazing sunsets and a glittering sea, sometimes smooth sometimes wavy.
Thanks to this nice weather, we could organize watches of 2 hours each, with one person in charge of one particular task: cleaning the inside, washing the deck, etc. With 5 members in the crew, each watch moved up from 2 hours every 10 hours rotation. The switching between watches lasted 5 or 10 minutes, except for particular case.
We thought to be alone in the middle of the ocean, we were wrong! Dolphins often surrounded us, diving around the hull, flying fishes seemed to follow our direction and some seabirds, driven by curiosity, came to visit the deck. Furthermore, we were lucky enough to meet whales. Unfortunately, they promptly changed their direction, leaving us in the immensity of the Atlantic.
After several days on board, admiring the blue of the sky and the sea, we needed to distract ourselves differently! We started to do puzzles, we took turns (between two watches) doing our part to finish the puzzles before the arrival at Antigua. We wanted also to do workout. We set yoga sesssion, sometimes on the Flybridge, to challenge our balance, sometimes in the saloon when the sea was too rough.
Another important element during a transatlantic is food! With a full refrigerator, we were doing kitchen shifts, which enabled us all to elaborate delicious meals! We were honored to taste a barbecue dinner, prepared by the captain on the flybridge. It was delicious! Moreover, like all good French people, we decided to share a tasty “Sunday chicken”, all together!
After 12 days, and 18 hours at sea, we reached Antigua. It was the occasion to get full tanks and to enjoy a swim into the Caribbean Sea. The rest did not last long, because the SEVENTY 8 had to be exhibited at the boat show of Fort Lauderdale.
These last nautical miles allowed us to assess the crossing. Between Las Palmas and Antigua, we had 2,800 nm (or 5,185 km) to sail. For the 11 days of the crossing, our average speed was about 8.5 kt. The boat’s consumption was about 11 liters per engine and per hour. Amazing figures with an amazing boat! We were glad and proud to realize a successful Atlantic crossing, without any issues, on board of this exceptional motor yacht.
The Lagoon crew, SEVENTY 8 N°1