Day 7 – 0800 UTC location: 21°12.30’N by 027°38.40’W and 808 nm from Las Palmas. Yesterday’s average speed was 5.8 knots.
Conditions:
By morning, the wind had calmed down to 6 10 knots apparent on the starboard beam. The seas followed suit, with swells at 4 feet and wind waves at 1 – 2 feet. Overall it was Continue reading
Day 5 0800 UTC location: 23°01.90’N by 023°07.30’Wand 531 nm from Las Palmas. Yesterday our average speed was 5.9 knots at 1600 RPM.
Conditions:
The seas continued to pick up all night and by morning were back to being on the verge of “uncomfortable”. The forecast said that seas the would calm down in evening, a hope we clung to all day. But instead of getting better, it only got worse. By evening, we had sharp swells at 7 8 feet from two directions — behind us and from the port side. It doesn’t feel good when the swells collide. The wind was 10 20 knots apparent from the port aft, and wind waves were 2 3 feet. It officially hit the “uncomfortable” mark, and we were rocking and rolling. It is difficult to Continue reading
Day 3 0800 UTC location: 25°42.20’N by 018°48.20’W. Yesterday we only averaged 5.6 knots at 1600 RPM. We are sad about our speed being down by so much.
Of course, the calm couldn’t last forever. By 0800, the seas had definitely picked up. Swells were now 4 feet and a little closer together, with 1 2 foot wind waves on top of that. Wind picked up to 12 18 knots apparent, still on the port aft quarter. It was still a nice ride overall, but noticeably lumpier and rollier than it had been. At the 0900 radio net, one of the boats told a joke. Q: What did the Atlantic say to the Pacific? Continue reading
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria to Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe – Days 1 – 2
Yesterday morning the weather was erratic. It was sunny for a while, and actually got warm enough to remove all coats and sweaters, then suddenly a big cloud blew in and it was cold and rainy. We went through the usual get ready to go routine, which went by incredibly fast with Neil and Colin helping. With the long passage and potential for rough seas, we really needed to batten down the hatches especially well, and we probably would not have left until sunset without their help.
When we were ready to go, we went for a last lunch on dry land. We have realized there is a palpable air of resignation amongst the boaters here. We already mentioned that everyone is friendly, and in the boating world, usually friendly and social go hand in hand. We have noticed there Continue reading
We woke up pleased to see that the day was mostly sunny with scattered clouds. The wind wasn’t as strong and it was and noticeably warmer than yesterday. Good news! Here is sunrise in the marina.
At 0800, we pulled out of our slip and headed to the fuel dock to top off. A big, custom passagemaker power boat and a small sailboat, both American flagged, had just beat us to the dock. The passagemaker was loading up with fuel for their crossing and would be there for a long time. Fortunately, they let us raft up next to them. The hose was long enough to reach our boat. We only took 1200 liters, but it took a long time because the pump wasn’t very fast. We put in every last drop we could fit in there. Fuel was 74 Euro cents a liter ($3.91 USD a gallon). We always put biocide into the fuel, and this time we also added Stanadyne fuel conditioner, as well. We brought the Stanadyne from San Diego and have been dragging it all around the world with us, only using it for the three big ocean crossings and after our Egypt fueling where the fuel was going to be sitting for a long time. Here is a shot of the marina from the fuel dock.
After we were done fueling, we headed over to the anchorage so Christi could clean the bottom. Despite the fact that the water in the marina is crystal clear with lots of schools of small fish swimming around, she refuses to get in the water in the marina. Since the water here isn’t nearly as warm as in the tropics, she covered every inch of her body for warmth, and even put on two hoods.
The waterline has a layer of green algae growth on the strip of bottom paint that sticks out above the waterline when we are not weighed down by fuel/water. In the front it came off reasonably easy, but in back it is thicker growth and stuck on like glue. She focused on the Continue reading