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| Leaving Mindelo |
What's the best thing about cruising??
One of the best aspects of cruising is the comradery between
cruisers in port. We had the great
pleasure of meeting a fantastic group of people. We met a family from California on “Lola”, a
group of friends and hitchhikers on “Fat Susan”. Boat names I don’t remember: Deiter, Claudia, Charlie, (baby), and dog
Rocky from Hamburg, Germany; three Irish guys on a boat; some English and South
Africans; and an amazing character called Craig Wood or “Woody” from
England. Now I have to say a few words
about Craig and strongly recommend you Google this amazing guy or search for
him on Facebook. Please do this – his
story is amazing. I will not try to tell
it here as I can’t do justice to it. But
Craig is a British veteran in his 20s that lost both legs, an arm, and
sustained other injuries while on active duty in Afghanistan. He is
know sailing around the world on his Beneteau 45 as an inspiration to
other veterans. [post note: Deiter’s
boat name is Whitebird]
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| Beach at Mindelo |
Feb 1/2 – Day 1
We departed from Mindelo, Cape Verde at 3pm local time. One cruiser we met said that this town should
be called “Windelo” He was right. It has blown pretty hard since we arrived and
as we were leaving, we measured steady winds at 33 kts. However, we were convinced that this was a
funneling effect between the islands with peaks rearing up to around 3-4,000
ft. Sure enough, this was the case. We sailed on jib only for a few hours and
then were in the wind shadow of the adjacent island, Ilha De Santo Antao. Then suddenly the wind died to just a a few
knots. We were about 7 miles behind the
island. We switched to the Code Zero and
tried to sail, but an hour later there was no wind. Reluctantly we motor-sailed as we were
definitely in fuel saving mode, but drifting towards land. Two hours later BAM….back to 27 kts! And a
quick sail change needed back to jib.
The seas built and winds stayed in the low 20s all night. The next day, we were still in the 20s and
seas 8-12 ft, so we stayed on jib only for most of the day. When the waves became more organized we
decided to raise the main and picked up some speed as we moved into our second
day. Miles made towards mark – 125. Not bad
Feb 2/3 - Day 2
Winds have lightened a little. Now 18-20 and almost behind us. We have steered up a little to maintain
speed. We have been on starboard tack
since leaving. (winds from NE). We have
lost track of the two boats we left with “Lola and Fat Susan”. But we kind of expected that would
happen. We have all agreed to try radio
contact at 8am and 8pm, so will continue that.
So far we have seen 2 ships – and that’s about all! Miles made towards the mark – 160 miles. A good day
Feb 3/4 – , Day 3 ( we have decided our running days go 3pm
to 3pm, based on our departure date)
Last night we had light winds. One ship seen that I think was a fishing boat
around 100 ft long. He was not showing
on AIS, and would not respond on VHF. We
got far too close for comfort. His decks
were lit up making it difficult to determine his direction. We approached him fast and he still would not
respond. As we got close I saw his green
light (starboard side). Normally a
higher white light at the stern would
determine his direction, but with flood lights on deck it was uncertain. I aimed for the highest white light (stern). We had to gybe and control sails making this
a more difficult maneuver (code zero was up).
Still unsure whether he was underway or drifting, I started engines and
put some distance between us before I crossed his path and resumed course. Amazing how you can have a close call like
this in the middle of nowhere! In the
morning, winds filled in. Distance made
towards mark – 137 miles.
Feb 4/5 – Day 4
Last night winds popped up to mid 20s. Boat was making 11kts, but I was concerned
about Code zero, so we switched to main and jib. Needless to say we slowed down and the wind
also dropped, but we decided to stay with the conservative sail plan until
daylight. In the morning we switched
sails back to Code Zero and main to keep up sped in lighter winds. Due to wind direction we are now steering
high of the mark by anything from 10-30 degrees, putting us about 50 miles
north of the rhumb line. We tried jibing
for a few hours, but our VMG went way down, so we are now back on starboard
tack, with NE winds at about 14 kts. Not
expecting today to be a spectacular VMG day.
Miles made towards the mark – 137 miles, again.
Feb 5/6 – Day 5
Weather and conditions are about the same today. We are making good progress. Wind piped up a little at night (seems to be
a pattern), so we switched from Code zero to jib, then back again this
morning. Passed one ship at night headed
for Brazil. Miles made towards the mark
– 149 miles
Feb 6/7 – Day 6
162 miles winds were
fresh! Our best mileage day so far on
this leg
Feb 7/8 – Day 7
143 miles, winds lightened, and seas flattened, but
otherwise similar conditions. During the
early evening, we passed the halfway point and also the “less than 1,000 miles
to go”. Since it as after dinner, we
decided our celebration dinner would be tomorrow.
Feb 8/9 – Day 8
133 miles* We are
continuing to veer north of our mark (originally set as St. Lucia). To get south, we need to either jibe or go
dead downwind and lose speed. We have
decided to revise our planned landfall to Antigua, rather than try to get
south. In terms of distance to the mark,
this moves our waypoint about 16 miles farther west. Our celebration dinner for passing halfway
and less than 1,000 miles to go was steak, baked potatoes, English garden peas,
and green beans. I think that’s the last of the potatoes!
Feb 9/10 – Day 9
As the sun comes up, winds have again gone light, but with
stronger winds forecast for tonight. To
be honest, that is a pattern we have been seeing – winds lighter during the
day, particularly early morning; then building after dark (of course!),
typically between 8-10 pm. Miles today –
132
Feb 10/11 – Day 10
Another beautiful day on the Atlantic. So far today, winds have been in the pattern
we have become used to – picking up a little overnight into the low 20s, and
backing off to about 73-78 degrees true (making for good speed and direction),
then as the son comes up, dropping to low to mid-teens, and clocking into the
80s true. Probably the least clouds we
have seen so far today. Miles today – 135
Feb 11/12 – Day 11
The night was a
little squirly with winds up and down from 8 kts, to 22 kts and a couple of rain showers thrown in
the mix. This morning we saw a couple of
thunder heads pass us and now we have another blue-sky day with scattered
cumulus clouds. Just a note about our
mileage – although it seems our daily mileage is reducing, it really is not. The trade winds are moving in direction from
about 75 degrees to 110 degrees – while generally from the east, sometimes ENE
and ESE.this makes moving east slow when dead downwind. So our distances reported are all “distance
made towards the mark”. Our sailed Miles today
- 132
miles
is always greater than this.
Feb 12-14 - Days 12, 13
Very similar conditions; 140 miles and 143 miles....but nearing our destination!
Feb 14/15 - Day 14
the night was probably the squirliest night of the trio with wind shifts and squalls up to 34 kts. However, the worst one only lasted 30-45 minutes.....Run with it and hope there's nothing in front of us! The boat performed great. 150 miles
Arrival!
We arrived at sun up on the 15th - 14 days, 19 hours and made out way into Mamora Bay for a say at St. James Club resort - a little advertised marina at an all-inclusive resort. Not really geared up for cruisers, but definitely geared up for R&R! We plan to stay 4 nights to recoup.
2,075 Miles as the crow flies....sailing miles, about 2,200
