Cape Verdes
At Sea 28-31 December 2007
31/01/08 20:03
28 December 2007
We left our berth at 11:10 and after a quick stop to top up with fuel were clear of San Sebastian harbour by 11:40 with the engine off and full main and yankee up.
Leaving San Sebastian astern
A last view of El Teide
For the next few hours we wallowed slowly down the coast of La Gomera in variable F3 winds.
I had some concern when 2 hours into our passage a key link on Dame Kiri (Aries) seemed to break.
Close examination revealed that a securing bolt had come loose due to an under tightened grub screw. Ah well another item to add to pre trip checks. It was quickly fixed and we continued.
By 18:00 the wind was E 15-20 knots and we were flying along in a moderate swell with confused seas.
29 December 2007
Throughout the night windspeed increased to around 25 knots and by morning we had 2 reefs in the main with 1/3 yankee. Tomas had an unfortunate initiation into ocean sailing by spilling hot coffee over himself and most of the galley and sustaining a nasty burn in the process. To add to his morning he then suffered a bout of seasickness.
During early evening we furled the yankee and continued more comfortably under the main with 2 reefs. A small leak dripped water onto the skippers bunk. On his head to be more precise.
30 December 2007
In the early hours we experienced E F6 gusting to 28-30 knots. At daylight we put another reef in the main and deployed the staysail.
A large bulk carrier passed us well inshore heading south. At noon our days run was 112 miles with 585 miles to go. During the evening the wind eased to F5-6 and our motion become more comfortable allowing us some good sleep.
31 December 2007
The wind backed a little to ENE and settled down to around 20kn, sometimes easing down to 15kn and at others gusting to 25kn and for a short time during the morning 30kn. We continued under main with 3 reefs and varying amounts of staysail.
Despite the roughish seas we had a lot of dolphins in attendance and I saw a smallish turtle. Tomas seemed to have got over his sea sickness.
We were now off Mauritania and a phenomenon known as the Harmattan deposited large amounts of fine reddish brown dust over the boat. Our running rigging, so carefully cleaned in La Gomera was now covered in a sticky mixture of salt and dust.
We left our berth at 11:10 and after a quick stop to top up with fuel were clear of San Sebastian harbour by 11:40 with the engine off and full main and yankee up.
Leaving San Sebastian astern
A last view of El Teide
For the next few hours we wallowed slowly down the coast of La Gomera in variable F3 winds.
I had some concern when 2 hours into our passage a key link on Dame Kiri (Aries) seemed to break.
Close examination revealed that a securing bolt had come loose due to an under tightened grub screw. Ah well another item to add to pre trip checks. It was quickly fixed and we continued.
By 18:00 the wind was E 15-20 knots and we were flying along in a moderate swell with confused seas.
29 December 2007
Throughout the night windspeed increased to around 25 knots and by morning we had 2 reefs in the main with 1/3 yankee. Tomas had an unfortunate initiation into ocean sailing by spilling hot coffee over himself and most of the galley and sustaining a nasty burn in the process. To add to his morning he then suffered a bout of seasickness.
During early evening we furled the yankee and continued more comfortably under the main with 2 reefs. A small leak dripped water onto the skippers bunk. On his head to be more precise.
30 December 2007
In the early hours we experienced E F6 gusting to 28-30 knots. At daylight we put another reef in the main and deployed the staysail.
A large bulk carrier passed us well inshore heading south. At noon our days run was 112 miles with 585 miles to go. During the evening the wind eased to F5-6 and our motion become more comfortable allowing us some good sleep.
31 December 2007
The wind backed a little to ENE and settled down to around 20kn, sometimes easing down to 15kn and at others gusting to 25kn and for a short time during the morning 30kn. We continued under main with 3 reefs and varying amounts of staysail.
Despite the roughish seas we had a lot of dolphins in attendance and I saw a smallish turtle. Tomas seemed to have got over his sea sickness.
We were now off Mauritania and a phenomenon known as the Harmattan deposited large amounts of fine reddish brown dust over the boat. Our running rigging, so carefully cleaned in La Gomera was now covered in a sticky mixture of salt and dust.