Back in time

Nov 24th, Position: 20°24.230N/26°20.046W

Yesterday we set the shipsclock another hour back so the first watch, mine, was an hour longer. But that was okay since it was only one hour... The new system is a bit more complicated but we all feel it works better. We all get to sleep some more during the night and that does make a difference :-)

Taking sightings is going better too. Yesterday Marc and I did took two sightings and plotted our position. We came as close as 8 nm! Also Rutger took some sightings and his plotting was very accurate too :-)

In the mean time, our average speed has gone up to 7.5 kts. That's good for over 180 nm  in 24 hrs!!
We haven't seen any ARC yachts yet. I guess most of them aren't fast enough to catch up our head start.
What we did see though were two whales. Jur spotted them as they were cruising about 200 m behind us. Rutger tried to film them but on the camera you can't really see them :-(

We also get to see a lot of stars at night. Most of the time it's very clear. The good thing is that you can point on a star. That's way better then looking at the compass the whole time :-)
With help of  'Stellarium' on my laptop we now know where Betelgeuze, Rigel, Aldebaran and Capella are :-) I could steer at Sirius for quite a while last night. And of the planets, Jupiter is always there.

Last night Marc also saw a huge freighter or containership coming at us with over 20 kts... They also saw us according to the sea-me.... They had to give way but didn't seem to do so. So Marc called Jur and me on deck to get ready to gibe. Then they sort of stopped but still holding course... and gave me 5 flashes, meaning: alert, wake up!! We gibed ..  What had happened probably, is that our echo was misinterpreted. On radar we look like a freighter too with the sea me.... As a freighter we should have give way but we didn't... so they stopped their engines... getting a bit pissed too I guess. Being a yacht and sailing however, they should give way but since they had no clue on what we were, they didn't... They could have known though. We didn't have a steaming light and our speed was 'only' 7kts. Anyway, after they passed they went full throttle to make up the lost time...

Early this morning Rutger spotted a – empty –  horse shoe, probably lost by a yacht ahead of us. So we might have been caught up after all...

Energy....

Tuesday, Nov. 22nd , 18:10 UTC. Position 23°55.585 N/23°07.216 W

The log reads 428.6 nm so you can say we're well underway :-) We're steering 210° heading for the trade winds and doing about 160 nm per day. The weather is still very fine and also the nights go good too. With help of the manual espresso machine Marc brought as a present and the energy drinks we took along, it's not too hard to wake up for the night watch. Still, we decided to change it to a 3 hr schedule with 2 hrs overlap so we all get to sleep at least an hour more.

This morning we had some bad luck with the genaker. We had just set it when the wind picked up. We were already on our way to drop it when a gust came and ripped the genoa. We could get it back in and it's not badly damaged but we can't use it anymore before we make landfall. We still have the one from Marc and also the spinnaker, so we're still fine.

Then the genoa didn't want to furl in. The leading eye the rigger fixed in Puerto Calero was gone ?
Anyway, this time Marc went up the mast and with a little slack in the halliard it works fine again.

Later we all used the shower I made. That works really fine and is very refreshing although the water is quite warm. Showering with salt water is something you have to get used to though. The first few times it itches after a while :-)

This afternoon I wasn't feeling too well so I had a good sleep and that helped a lot. Marc in the mean time shot the sun and worked out a position. After some recalculations the YES !! was there... meaning he was right on target. After I woke up I took a sight too but I didn't get to do the calculations yet …

Anyway, the plan is to take daily sights and get some more practice. If it works we will use them to navigate going west.

HeySailing the ocean :-)

Monday, Nov. 21st, 14:30 UTC. Position 26°20.540 N/21°11.360 W

We're 2 days at sea now and are having a great time! The weather is nice, warm and sunny although the cockpit is a good deal of the time in the shade because of the course we steer.
The wind is about 15 to 20 kts which gives a very gentle breeze if you sail down wind :-)

Life on board is starting to get into a rhythm. We do 4 hr watches from 7 pm to 7 am having 2 of us on deck. During the day everybody can steer, sleep, read or whatever else like playing with the spinnaker or sextant.
After lunch we have boat check and do a daily cleaning of the galley, heads and cockpit.

We all cook in turn and the one who's cooking also does the dishes so whatever mess you make, you clean it yourself :-) To prevent dehydration we all have our own water bottle that we have to drink each day.

So far everything works okay although the wind direction meter decided to go his own way. Most of the time it gives a random direction … :-o Instead we now sail on the wind vane at the top of the mast.

It's really nice and peaceful and we very much enjoy the sailing. The motion, the sound of the water  and the boat …. :-) Last night we saw another yacht going the same direction of course, but also a freighter that was going East. Apart from those  two we only see dolphins, not that many so far, but it is always fun to see them.

I guess we'll have to start fishing again in a week or so. By then the fresh meat will have run out or gotten off .. Well, we'll see, we have plenty of other stuff we can eat. So far we've been too busy :-)

PS Mascha and Leonie, Jur did get your text messages on the sat phone

La Palma continued...

After Jur and Rutger stowed 18 boxes of food, drinks and other stuff, we sang for Laurens :-)

In the mean time, Marc and I got the last things and had the meat frozen. That took a while to explain but with the help of a dictionary it all worked out.

After lunch we toured the Island a bit. It was a great trip all the way up to the top, Roque de los Muchachos., 2426 meters high and bloody cold, 5°C.

The road had the most hairpins I ever saw but the view was great... from time to time that is.

We drove through a pack of clouds too and then we could only see for 10 meters max.

Anyway, la Palma is for sure the most beautiful Island of the Canaries. Forests of pine trees palm trees and a lot other combined I never saw before. Also the rocks of granite and lava were astonishing.

After we came back and returned the car, we cleared the last few things, topped up the diesel and had a bite to eat.

And now we'll slip the lines and are heading for Tobago :-)

So the next updates will be with no pictures but as soon as we have a decent internet connection I'll add some …

La Palma …. happy birthday Laurens

The sail to la Palma was great. God winds and nice weather. So for Marc and Jur a god trip to get used to the boat.

The marina at la Palma is owned by the same company as in Puerto Colero and as good, with lots of room :-)

The next day, Marc and I did some shopping while Jur and Rutger cleaned the boat and reorganized the lockers. It took us 5 hrs to get all the stuff except for the meat, we'll get that today.

Luckily they will deliver it to the boat. Otherwise we would never be able to get it all there. The car we hired is way to small.

Today is Lauren's 19^th birthday :-)

So after he gets back from work we'll have a skype session and sing for him :-)

Then, when we stowed all the supplies, we'll have a short trip around the Island and after dinner we'll set sail for the Caribbean. Last night we talked through the plan and the way we'll organize the watches, cooking, cleaning and stuff. We all feel very comfortable and are more then ready for it.

Nov. 15th... waiting for Marc ..

Yesterday Jur arrived and this morning Marc would fly in but he decided to take the evening flight :-o

Anyway, we're about ready to take off. We'll go to La Palma first to let Jur and Marc used to the boat before we do the crossing.

In the mean time the technician that would have a look at the windlass was able to fix it so that's great news :-)

We also had a SNARC-event. All the sailors from the boats in the bay went to the beach to have a So-Not-the-ARC drink. That was really great. There are people from all over the world. Most of them started a trip for a year or so but that was 3 to 7 years ago :-)

It's nice to talk to those people and listen to their story's. We had our own story too of course, about the rescue in A Coruna..

Anyway about all the jobs are done and when the last item I ordered comes in tomorrow, we can set off for the next leg :-)

Nov. 11th Las Palmas

We left Gran Tarajal and sailed to Moro Jable just another 20 nm south. We had a sort of race with Mike and Alexandra. The wind was kind of light and they were overtaking us... So we set the genaker and were catching up fast. Then we entered an acceleration zone and we sort of took off :-) still, we had to drop the genaker, the wind was to strong. With one reef and the genoa we still made over 10 kts. Mike and Alexandra had to much canvas and had to bare away, so we won :-)

Next morning we left for las Palmas, Gran Canaria, a 60 nm trip. It was a great sail, sunny, warm and with a great 15 kts of wind. I knew there was little chance we would get a berth in the marina because of the ARC. Actually there was no chance at all... :-o

Just north of the marina is an anchorage though. That too was kind of crowded but we found a nice spot. The anchor seemed to think differently though... it dragged. So after Rutger hauled the anchor by muscle power, cheered by the crew of the next by boats, we found a better place also according to the anchor... it held perfectly.

Next morning we rowed to the marina and found a place to fix the outboard. You can row in a dinghy but that's just for emergency... Manjana it would be ready...

Next thing was to find someone that could fix the windlass.. Also I needed to have the gascanister filled.... well first things first. One thing I learned is that you just have to take things as they come nothing gets to be planned.

Anyway, next day we went to pick up the outboard and it was fixed. It make's a lot of noise for some reason but it works. Getting the windlass fixed was another thing though. Because of the ARC all the mechanics were too busy.

We spend the time to reorganize the boat a bit more. We need to stow a lot of stuff for the crossing, stuff that needs to stay dry too.

We also had the chance to clean the outside of the boat from the dinghy. After I finished I could use a bath too so I jumped out of the dinghy and had my first swim :-o The water was great, clean and warm but, has it's own inhabitants like ... jellyfish... This one was just a tiny one but stung like hell. I got out of the water and put a sponge with vinegar on my arm. Since we had just reorganized the whole lot I knew were to find it :-)

Getting the gas canister filled too turned out to be not possible. There is this Disa company that does gas but the filling station is about 20 miles south. You can't take a gascanister in a cab and if you'd rent a car there's still no guarantee they can or will fill it...

According to the pilotbook there should be a service station in las Palmas also. So next day Rutger and I spend the afternoon exploring the town in search of this station. We had a great walk through the place and did actually find the station. The manager told me to bring the canister so he could have a look and if possible it was no problem to fill it. Since it was already 4 pm we aggreed I'd come back next manjana. When I did, he wasn't there and the others had no clue. If I would come back in an hour they would get in touch with the guy I spoke to yesterday...

Anyway I had to get to pick up some stuff at the chandler y, which hadn't come in yet... manjana or worse.. Monday, because manjana is Saturday... Being there though I ran into the mechanic and if I would leave the windlass at the shop he would pick it up and check it.... :-) Well, we'll see.

Anyway after I returned to the gas station, they couldn't help me. They weren't allowed to transport my canister because it's not a local one … If I would bring it myself... to the airport they would see if it was possible to fill it but.. no guarantee . Well whatever, I'll use the camping gas I also have.

We'll just have to take things as they are and happen. Maybe the windlass gets fixed after all.. manjana... :-o