fbpx

Crossing the Atlantic on a Vaan

17 Dec 2024

Enjoy some photo’s and reflections from the crew during an Atlantic crossing on a Vaan.

Recently a Vaan R4 made the crossing from Europe to the Caribbean. The owner and crew have provided us very kindly with some images, quotes and a blog and we hope they may serve as inspiration.

One of the crew members, Emma, kept a blog which reads like a diary. Very genuine and well written. She ends here last post about the trip, titled ‘Landfall’, as follows:

 

“We’ve come such a long way… About 2200 NM since Cabo Verde. Then 800 NM before that from Tenerife. We’ve spent 4 weeks together now, 17 days of which are attributed to the Atlantic crossing itself. On the Atlantic crossing, we motored for maybe a total of 3 hours, otherwise our mileage was entirely powered by wind. As far as our generator? We only ran it a handful of times, using a mere 8% of our available fuel. Otherwise, we generated energy with the electric motors and solar. What a ship. What a ride.”
Enjoy Emma’s entire blog here >>

Another crew meber, Jan, posted some updates on his private Facebook during the voyage as well that he kindly allowed us to share:

“We have caught and eaten a tew fish… In land-life, I’m vegetarian, and I have an internal struggle about our killing and eating fish. Partly – it seems natural – part of the life on the sea… and partly I’m still uncomfortable killing these lovely creatures who have done me no harm. I feel immensely grateful to have two engineers on board… like we can likely sort out most issues that we might encounter (e.g., the watermaker). And to be on a boat as nice as this one… rugged, with many comforts and luxuries (watermaker, showers, nice bed, lots of space, StarLink to stay connected, clothes washer etc). It is also super cool to be on a boat that is almost a Net Zero boat, with it’s electric motors, solar panels, and when sailing greater than 6 knots, propellers that spin backwards to charge the batteries.”

 The journey was very pleasant and beautiful we learned from their stories. Below are some images and video’s from the trip, courtesy of the owner. They say it all: Sail the Planet!

OTHER POSTS: