Adios Europe!

Time has come to leave Gran Canaria!

Friday - Monday

My dad flew down here to spend our last weekend with us (18-21 October), he met us in the marina of las palmas and he got to see Colon in person. We went out for dinner the same night and after it we went to Sailors bar as the tradition says on Fridays to say goodbye to all the Swedish people that are out sailing.

The morning after Ludvig went to the marina office to check us out while I went to the grocery store to get the last things. When I was done I met my dad as he was going to sail down to Puerto Rico (Gran Canaria) with us.

We were waved off at the docks by some fellow Swedes when we left the marina.

It was a perfect day of sailing and we averaged 6.5 knots all the way down with the wind in our back. The marina I Puerto Rico had a very cool location as it sits in a bay surrounded by hotels and cliffs.

We got to hang out by the pool of my dads hotel which is an uncommon luxury for us.

It was great to see my dad again, and probably last time in a while.

Time had come for both him and us to leave on Monday he had an early flight and our plan was to leave In the afternoon. He met us on the dock to say goodbye, and it was tough. It was really nice to have him as company during the weekend and I think he enjoyed the sailing very much.

We left the marina later that day (15:00) and the course set to Cape Verde 6-8 days away. It was time to get back in to our 3 hour shifts until we set anchor. But our trip didn’t start to good, as the engine and R2D2 (the auto pilot, sounds almost exactly like him) was going about their business Ludvig realized that we had forgot to set up the wind pilot. And it was to much waves to set it up now. That meant we had to use R2D2 for a while, problem with that is that he eats electricity and during nights and evenings we don’t generate anything back into the battery bank. Wind autopilot on the other hand uses only the wind.

It was a bumpy first 24 hours and one of our bookshelf’s decided crack in its attachment to the wall, so out of nowhere we now have books and board games on the floor. Great start...

Tuesday

While I was a sleep Ludvig was able to put the wind autopilot to work and R2D2 to sleep. Finally silence, except the wind, waves and the boat it self. This made it much easier for us to be able to sleep. We had the wind coming in at around 120 degrees from port side and we were making around 6-7.5 knots. Not always on course but on long passages like this it doesn’t matter to much as we still had plenty of time to correct it as we get closer to cape verde.

I cooked us our first real meal in 24 hours after eating sandwiches and oranges, pasta with tuna (not caught unfortunately) with a tomato sauce.

During my watches I spend my 3 hours reading almost exclusively except when I look into the horizons looking for other boats and ships.

Current position : 26°0'24" N - 16°36'50 V



Wednesday

Both of us had a great night and both of us were able to sleep quite good when our time came to rest. That makes everything so much easier on a passage like this when the shifts works out great. At the time of writing its approximately 552 nautical miles left, give and take 4 and a half days until we should see Cape Verde.

Current position : 24°30'43" N - 17°50'18 V



Thursday

The night shifts into Thursday morning went good for both us, there was a few moments when we had about 20 knots of wind and we had to help the wind auto pilot so that we kept the right course. We were doing between 6-7.5 knots through the night and we now have 398 nautical miles at the time of writing. Both of us are reading the same book which works out great since we’re not awake at the same time.

We must have had a big fish on the tackle since it ripped a 1,6mm fishing line clean off. The line should be able to hold for a 50kg fish..

No fish meant that it was time to cook food again. Pretty much exactly the same pasta as last time except that I changed the tuna for dried chorizo. We have now done half the passage and hopefully we should set anchor on Sunday if the winds persists.

Current position : 22°8'16" N - 18°58'58"



Friday

During the night from Thursday to Friday around 4 am in the morning we got out of luck with wind. From 15-20 knots of wind to less than 5 knots. We went from averaging 6.5 knots to less than 1 knots. When you can walk faster than the boat then you know you’re in for a treat. Around noon we decided it was time for a bath, around 3000 meters of depth and off the coast of north west Africa and around 380 nautical miles away from Cape Verde. It was probably 20 degrees in the water, but it was terrifying to dive into, even though we had the ladder in the water and a long line drifting after the boat for extra security. Even though you know that the odds of a shark attack is very low and I’m quite sure it’s to warm for great whites. The distance from the bow of the boat to the ladder was less than 5 meters, I’ve never been more afraid of jumping into the water and it probably took me 5 minutes before I just said "fuck it". I’m glad I did it and after the first jump we brought out the shower gel and we jumped in again, refreshing and terrified at the same time..

the dead winds kept us company for a long time so we cooked some tacos since it was Friday (Sweden’s taco day) and that is now as Swedish as meatballs.

It was quite nice to get a day off from sailing as we just were spinning in circles and after 20 hours we had made 10 nautical miles drifting...

Current position : 20°55'54" N - 19°42'55" V



Saturday

Around 7 am in the morning I was on my last two hours of my shift and it was still pitch black outside. We still had no wind and the Atlantic Ocean was as still as a sheet of glass. I was reading the last chapters of my book when I heard waterspouts somewhere around the boat. I took my headlamp and switched from red light to bright white to see if I could see whom had joined me. And there they were, our friendly neighbors the dolphins, chasing their breakfast. Just at the surface going after mackerel like torpedoes.

When I woke up again around 11 am Ludvig had hoisted sails and we finally had enough wind to make 2.5 knots!! Wohoo, we’re blazing through the water compared to doing 0-0.5 knots drifting. We still had over 285 nautical miles left to Cape Verde and it seemed like the last stretch would take us 4-5 days instead of 2 days. But one thing I’ve learned so far is that anything and nothing can change out here, quick, or not at all. At least we have water and food for a couple of months and books to read.

Around 5 pm in the afternoon my friends were back for another round of mackerel and I got to see one dolphin next to the boat with it’s catch in its mouth, it was like the dolphin was bragging about it and like the dolphin knew that we had lost two fishes already.

Current position : 20°26'53" N - 20°6'22" V



Sunday

Still not really any wind but at least we’re doing 2.5 knots and the distance towards Cape Verde shrinks sloooowly but surly.

One thing I can say about having no wind is that it’s very peaceful on the Atlantic, nearly a single sound and you see nothing at a 360 degree point of view.

Later that day.

Finally we got some wind, we were doing 5 knots of speed! This means we actually have a chance of getting there in two days.

We had lost another tackle on our fishing line the day before and it seemed like the fish was to big for our gear. But then, Ludvig said we had fish on and I jumped back to haul it in... well something was on hook, a fish? Nah more like a alien snake.. at least something eh?

We have less than 200 nautical miles left and we hope that the winds will keep carrying us!

Current position : 18°50'27" N - 21°25'25" V



Monday

Less than 100 nautical miles left, last 24 hours to try to catch a fish. We’re doing 3,5 knots so the distance closing isn’t what we were hoping for. We wish that we will set anchor before 3 pm Tuesday and that seems to be doable.. unfortunately we have lost 2-3 days because of no wind so it seems we’re only staying on Cape Verde to Friday before setting off towards Brazil. I forgot to check position, I got caught up in an old Russel Crowe movie (the insider)..

Current position : 17°50'59" N - 22°34'69" V

Tuesday

Today could be the day! 2.5 knots of speed and only 6 knots of wind. Less than 30 miles left, can’t see land because off fog that builds up during the moist and damp nights. The goal of anchor at 3 is still possible and we still got some leftovers to eat, which is nice so that we don’t have to cook until dinner.

We made it! Around 2 in the afternoon we had our anchor in place and it was time get the dinghy (rubber boat) into the water and find customs and immigration. It was a very small town so it took us about five minutes to find the police station. We’re only able to check the boat in and we’re asked to come back in the morning for immigration.