Roger Family Sailing Adventures: CASA

I met Martin and Johannes on board CASA shortly after they arrived in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia after crossing the Atlantic from Kiel, Germany via Cape Verde.

What an amazing trip. They are from landlocked Bavaria... way in the south of Germany. They had no prior experience (with no ocean nearby) but were at a point in their lives (finishing Masters degrees in Engineering) where they could put aside the time to take on an adventure. Their families were supportive but worried at the task that these two accomplished but inexperienced young men were taking on. Moms were greatly relieved when they knew the boys had arrived safely.

They left from Kiel, which is to the right of Denmark - so if you want to avoid the trip up and over Denmark, you take the Kiel Canal across to Western Germany and then on to Holland. From there they learned to sail… as they sailed down to the English Channel and then south past France, Spain, Portugal and down to Cape Verde off Africa.

That's just the Europe part

After more than 20 days from Cape Verde they arrived in Rodney Bay, right next door to Blue Pearl. I met Johannes and Sabrina and later Martin and Caroline - Caroline and Sabrina are the namesakes of the boat - CASA.

Not a lot of room!

Their plan was to take 3 months to sail south to Grenada and then up to Florida where they would sell the boat and get on with their lives in Germany. I enjoyed some time with them before they headed off to go south. A few days later, I headed home for Christmas and to collect Pam for our return to the Caribbean.

When we arrived back I was surprised to meet Martin and Caroline at the dock. It turns out that Johannes has been offered a dream job in Germany and their Caribbean adventures have come to a crashing halt. Instead of 3 months of exploring the islands here and north they are faced with selling the boat now and heading home. They are heading 20 miles north to Martinique hoping to get a quick sale in an expanded market.

Adventure Seekers

They are disappointed that they will miss the islands. But really - what an adventure. To sail all the way from northern Germany to Cape Verdes and then across the Atlantic. What an epic journey. They’ve done something that will shape the rest of their lives.

I guess that they will return to explore here someday … but in the meantime… they have achieved something that very few of us will ever do.

That is the beauty of this cruising lifestyle. You get to meet the most amazing folks.