It has been my dream since the first day we got on board the Search Projects sailboat. Like any new challenge, I was excited to start from level zero and keep getting better; learning how to sail to reach a point where I would be comfortable enough to set sail and cross the Atlantic Ocean by myself.

We were enjoying the Caribbean waters, but the month of June was approaching, and that only means one thing: hurricane season. Being in Antigua & Barbuda, we did not want to be stuck somewhere our boat (and ourselves) would be exposed to such risk. However, crossing the North Atlantic is already challenging enough and Sofia and I decided not to make this harder by sailing all the way back to Europe with Jack onboard (15 months). Therefore, Sofia & Jack managed to fly back home and I took this chance to accomplish my dream: cross the North Atlantic solo.

It has been one of the greatest experience of my life. During the whole crossing I felt calm and happy to be there. The fatigue was something I was used to manage, and after a couple of days I was caught up in the rhythm of the day and would only sleep through short periods of time throughout the day. The difficult part was the weather and the sea. I’ve had very strong conditions all the way to the Azores. The sea was rough and the constant noise was hard to get used to.

Once I arrived in the Azores, frontiers were still closed. Fortunately, a friend of mine was sending his boat back to Belgium with a crew on board. They were also in the Azores, waiting for the next good window to set sail and go up to Belgium. I managed to leave my sailboat at the Marina and jump on board their boat and after 12 more days at sea, I finally made it home to my family.

Total amount of days spent at sea: 30

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