Our blogging hiatus is over! We have new electronics and a new video!
Early this year we had an great passage from Brava, Cape Verde to Salvador, Brazil. The first minute of our new video shows clips from day one of an 18 day voyage. We set sail on a very wavy day, and had fresh winds for three days. Continue reading Video: Sailing from Cape Verde to Brazil
Monday-November 28, 2016-Sao Vicente, Cape Verde
Before expiring visas forced us to leave the Canaries, we crammed in as much hiking, swimming, and birthday party-ing as possible. Much of it was nostalgic as we remembered the same anchorages and walks from 2 years prior. It was then that Deb flew to meet me aboard Dawn Treader and assess what exactly she might be getting herself into. It was fun retracing our steps and we felt we were leaving a bit too soon, but there is no negotiating with immigration officials.
The Sail to Sao Vicente from La Gomera was fast by Dawn Treader’s standards. The wind started out light but filled in during the night and pushed us 113 miles the first day. The Northeasterly wind steadied at 20 knots the rest of the way and we saw daily runs of 141, 131, 128, 134, and 126 nautical miles.
The seas continuously grew and a handful of 15 footers rolled under our keel toward the end of the passage. We measure seas by standing in the cockpit and while in the trough we stare out to where the horizon should be. If the horizon barely disappears below the wave crest, we figure that’s about a 7 footer (I am 6 foot and standing 1 foot above sea level). If we stare out and only see halfway up the wave, then that’s about a 13 footer. We had a couple waves splash into the cockpit and fill the footwell with seawater. One wave even found its way into the cabin through the small hatch under the dinghy. That night I made a note to find a way to better shield the hatch from waves in Mindelo, as if I was going to forget the waterfall cascading onto my bunk.
The sailing was fantastically easy. Two weeks ago we arrived in Cape Verde and I can still clearly recall each time we made a sail or course adjustment on the entire passage. We set the Jib deeply furled on a pole to starboard and did not touch it until arrival. We jibed the triple reefed main only twice which is super easy with our dual boom vangs to port and starboard. As far a course changes go, there weren’t any. The windvane auto pilot course control gearing broke early in the voyage making it somewhat inconvenient to adjust course. So we left it as it was, and it steered us straight to Mindelo.
Once in Cape Verde, we were immediately taken by the vibrant people and their unique and beautiful music. Then I became ill with a stomach virus and Debbie cared for me aboard the Dawn Treader for 4 days. Slowly we are venturing out again and also squeezing in some chores and projects. Debbie cooked a wonderful and bountiful Thanksgiving dinner which we shared with friends Matt and Amy from SY Florence. Next we have our sights on Santiago to obtain our Brazilian visas.
Our Atlantic crossing was a proper shakedown. We experienced a wide range of conditions, and we were able to put our refit modifications to the test. Some of the improvements have exceeded our expectations. We are pleased overall, and we kept a list of notable benefits and drawbacks: Continue reading Shakedown
Over the last 2 months, we have sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. We acclimated to living amongst the waves and wind during our two passages. The passage to Bermuda took 10 days, the passage to the Azores, 21. We sailed a total of roughly 3,000 miles (well more than that, if you count going backwards and zigzagging). As we sailed further away from family and friends, we captured short video highlights to share; we miss you all! Thank you Jason McIntrye and Junior Tutweiler, good music seems to make any video exciting!
