19/10/2025
Have you seen the TV format "Over the Atlantic"? It's a show where a bunch of celebrities sign up for an Atlantic crossing on a sailing yacht.
During their voyage they encounter all kinds of personal and other problems. It's a bold reality TV format where people feel physically sick until they vomit and bruise themselves to the extent the show almost turns into a masochistic display of self torment. Watching it makes you wonder why people make such decisions, to hop onboard on a voyage so hard and demanding?
The explanation reveals itself when the program progress and usually by the time of final crew statements you can see a complete transformation of mindset and many participants express their emotions and gratitude on the time spent out on the ocean.
What is then the thrill of doing an ocean crossing? Is it the adventure? Is it the appetite to push your own boundaries? Is it because of the sailing aesthetics? Maybe it can be the wildlife experience? Perhaps it's the camaraderie and the fact that in a tight spot you usually became really close to your crew and make friends for life?
In our mind it's ALL of the reasons mentioned. It's just an overwhelming experience that change you and a day or so of seasickness is not going to make much of a difference.
All that said an ocean is a hostile place for us land based mammals. If you are not prepared and have the necessary skills and equipment it will kill you. You need a good boat, a reliable skipper with good leadership skills and an extensive kit of aid, both for safety, communication, navigation and more.
During our many years out on the ocean we have seen the most. Good boats with good skippers, bad boats with bad skippers and everything in between. It's not very recommendable to join a boat without knowing it has the properties of a solid ocean going vessel, or if you don't know the skipper and/or the owner. There has been many cases when interests don't meet or the setup is wrong for the whole journey. These are things that shouldn't be taken lighthearted and might lead into life threatening situations.
After 14 ocean crossings with Eira we possess the relevant skills to make a trip across an ocean. If you think you are up for a TransAt voyage and believe you have the stomach and social skills for it you might be the one we are looking for our Antigua - Portugal West to East crossing in May. What we offer is a solid run operation and a good boat to minimise risks and bring about tons of experience needed out there. Don't hesitate to drop us a line and ask more.
The itinerary for the trip:
This is the trip of your life. The southern trade wind routes have very little to do with the northern route back to Europe and you can prepare to meet the wild forces of nature. We have done it many times and every single trip jumps out of the script to become something of its own. The weather can....
