Month: December 2019

Hello again Boatbloggers ® ,

We have just completed the second leg of our second Transatlantic! Now this isn’t going to be a huge long blog, because as you know we did the Atlantic in 2014 and to be honest, it hasn’t changed that much.

This is the view from the front…

…and this is the view from the back. Or to use the correct nautical term, the patio.

We only put the mainsail up once, before quickly realising it was a mistake and pulling it down again. Most of the time we used twin headsails – the screecher out one side, and the genoa on the other.

We call it “goose-winged,” but for once the Germans are more poetic and call it “The Butterfly,” which we’re going to use from now on.

It doesn’t feel like sailing. Basically you just put them up and are more or less blown across The Atlantic. But it’s very comfortable, and very easy, so what’s not to like.

Of course there are the usual mega sunsets…

Some amazing clouds…

A squall or two…

Which look even worse on the radar..

And one night we sailed by the light of Jupiter, Venus & Saturn.

OK, so it looks like a little white dot, so you’ll just have to take our word for it. That is Jupiter. And it was pretty amazing.

It took us 14 days and 11 hours from Mindelo, and we came 38th arriving just before midnight.

This is crossing the finish line. Ju looks like he’s just been beamed down.

So just time for a gratuitous selfie…

And to thank St Lucia for their fabulous welcome.

Oh – I can’t resist. One more sunset.

That’s all for now Boatbloggers ®,

Merry Christmas!

Ju & Lyn

Welcome back Boatbloggers ® ,

And so we set sail for the first leg of our trip across The Atlantic.

900 nautical miles to Mindelo, Sao Vincente in the Cabo Verde islands. It took us about six days. The first two days were quite rough with strong winds…

True Wind Speed of up to 86 knots – hurricane force – but at least it meant we went fast at over 33 knots, which should put us in the running for the Americas Cup. Either that or there was something wrong with the instruments.

But by day three it had calmed down a bit..

…and we were able to start collecting the flying fish that kept landing on deck overnight. 

Five in one night! Not quite big enough to eat, but not so small that they don’t make a horrible slippery mess where they land.

Land ahoy! – We arrived at Cape Verde just after sunrise.

So time to send the crew forward to sort out the ropes.

While the captain attended to more important matters.

Pretty soon we were moored up in Mindelo Marina. 

And while it was nice to be back on land, Mindelo Marina is the windiest marina with the biggest swell we have ever been to. The pontoons were rolling all over the place – walking along them felt like you’d had ten pints. We were more seasick on the pontoon than ever we were at sea! Three people along from us actually fell in – and these are experienced ocean navigators. Still, at least it meant we kept our sea legs for the next stage of the journey.

Sao Vincente is a beautiful island and the people are really friendly and welcoming. We did a little island tour – first stop, the beach.

Where we tried the local grog.

Strong enough to knock out a camel. So up into the mountains to the tea bar to sober up.

One day we took the ferry to Sao Antao, another of the Cape Verde Islands, where we tried the traditional food…

 

Saw the traditional cottages…

And watched farmers collecting yams in the traditional way.

Next we got in a minibus to go up into the mountains. We went at breakneck speed up these little cobbled roads with sheer drops either side.

It was quite terrifying. This is Ju trying to not look scared.

Not doing too bad a job of it, but he’s holding on to that wall with both hands. What you can’t see is that behind that wall is a thousand foot sheer drop. It is all unbelievably high. We’ve been in many minibuses, but never one where we’ve had to worry about turbulence.

But once you dared to open your eyes, the views are spectacular. 

The photos of course don’t do it justice.

But here’s a few more anyway.

You’ll just have to come and see it for yourselves.

But back to Mindelo, where Lyn enjoyed the street art…

…and Ju enjoyed the cultural events.

Some of the wall art is amazing. This picture is not painted on the wall, but chipped out of the plaster.

We had a great social life with the ARC while we were here in Mindelo. Here we are with the crew of Zan eating the bruschetta (which they serve by the metre.)

Just time for the arty farty prize, which has only one entry called “Street Scene,” and that is from Ju – so he is the winner!

And of course it wouldn’t be a proper Boatblog ® without a gratuitous sunset. Though actually it’s a sunrise.

That’s all for now Boatbloggers ®

Ciao Cape Verde. Thanks for having us.

Next stop St Lucia.

Ju & Lyn

X

Yes Boatblog ® Fans, that is not a typo…

We are planning a full circumnav – that’s circumnavigation for you landlubbers; sailing round the world. So once we’re across the Atlantic, it’s through the Panama Canal and then to….. Infinity and Beyond. Well – Darwin anyway.

We have just signed up to do the first leg of the World ARC, which is very exciting.

We were sorry to leave Madeira, but all good things must come to an end.

It’s two or three days sailing to get to Gran Canaria and we had a pretty good run, though we arrived in the middle of the night and it was quite scary manoeuvring among all the massive ships and oil rigs when we got there.

It was great to be back in Las Palmas. We’re doing the ARC+ this time which is Las Palmas to St Lucia, but it calls in at Cape Verde instead of going straight across like the regular ARC.

We spent our time there doing last minute repairs, stocking the boat up with provisions, spare parts and tools and everything else we could think of that we might need for a round the world trip.

One thing you really have to have on board is an angle grinder…

…just in case we ever need to cut away the rigging in the event of a dismasting. Now those of you who are aware of my DIY skills will probably be horrified to think that I would ever be let anywhere near such an awesome power tool.

Do not worry.

I’ve never used one before and I don’t want to use it for the first time in an angry sea and accidentally cut my leg off, so I found the time to practice.

It’s actually really good fun.

Though once you get started it’s quite hard to stop.

WARNING TO OUR YOUNGER READERS. We are trained professionals. Do not try this at home.

We also needed a new drill, which came with a fantastic selection of gadgets.

I wonder what they’re for.

And we had SSB installed.

SSB stands for Single Sideband Radio. It’s the big radio type thing with the microphone attached that you can see underneath the computer screen. It’s quite a miraculous piece of kit. By bouncing radio signals round the globe you can talk to people in Australia or Tokyo or anywhere in the world from right out in the middle of the ocean. It doesn’t use satellites or anything so fancy, but it just bounces the signal off the ionosphere, back to the ground and up again, right all the way round until it gets to where you want. It’s quite amazing.

Though it’s a bit weird because whenever I hit the transmit button, the lights come on and the electric winch goes round. But you soon get used to that. It reminded me of Nick’s house in Cape Town. The electronics were incredibly sophisticated but didn’t quite work, so every time someone rang the doorbell the toaster popped up.

But apparently that’s quite normal with SSB. The power that the transmitter puts out is massive, so its bound to interfere with the electrics. There’s not much you can do about it apart from switch everything off before you use it.

So far all I’ve really heard people say is things like…

Hiss crackle FX

“Hello this is Mike Echo India November Niner, do you read me? Over” 

More hiss crackle FX

“Mike Echo India November Niner, this is Zulu Tango Yankee Bravo Fower, you are a bit faint, but I read you. Over”

Hiss crackle FX

“Thank you Zulu Tango Yankee Bravo Fower. This is Mike Echo India November Niner. I read you loud and clear. Over”

Hiss crackle FX

“Thank you, Mike Echo India November Nine. Over”

Hiss crackle FX

“Zulu Tango Yankee Bravo Fower out.”

And that’s about it. No one seems to have actual conversations; they just ask each other if they can be heard. And then move on to see if someone else can hear them as well. But I expect it will come into it’s own when we are at sea.

Jan and James (Lyn’s sister and brother-in-law) came to visit with their daughter Lizzie.

I did try to find a photo of us all that wasn’t eating, but we don’t seem to have one. I think eating was all we did.

And very nice it was too.

But enough of this messing about. We’ve got a rally to do.

No 338 Domini. You can track us at…

https://www.worldcruising.com/arc_plus/eventfleetviewer.aspx

Next stop, Cabo Verde.

This is Domini – Out.

Ju & Lyn

X