Ana
Atlantic Crossing - Last leg - Fernando de Noronha to Recife
I explained we couldn’t go much more to the shallows and that we were just waiting for the night tide to come in although we were having tro
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Ana
- Feb 12
Transat - the Hydrovane and the jury rig
Despite being back at steering with the Hydrovane quite successfully, the failure of the autopilot presented a huge problem.
Ana
- Feb 5
Transat - Breakages and risk mitagation
When we set about on this passage we knew that this was not just yet another long passage. This was a challenging route driven by three mome
Sailing The Dream
- Jan 30
Brazil, Fernando de Noronha - checking in
Everyone already knew we had arrived before we dropped anchor, not because of our AIS or some fancy monitoring system.
Ana
- Jan 29
Transat Diary - Day 10 + 5 hours and 40 minutes - Land Oh Brazil!
It’s quite an interesting experience to hand steer a 50ft through a mooring field of 30+ft boats after spending more than 10 days at sea
Ana
- Jan 29
Transat Diary - Day 10 - We caught a fish!
We look at our beast! It is gorgeous and will keep us fed for really long time, nothing will go to waste.
Ana
- Jan 28
Transat Diary - Day 9 - Bye bye Northern Hemisphere!
A lot of discussion of our track and decisions and we still think our planning was the best bet that involved minimal time in the doldrums
Ana
- Jan 27
Transat Diary - Day 8 - The Doldrums
After a near sleepless night going through what it felt like the deluge of a lifetime we needed to complete the installation of the tiller
Ana
- Jan 26
Transat Diary - Day 7 - Could it be that we are free?
After a few hours rest we start working on John’s plan to sort out a structure to mount the tiller Pilot we bought specifically for this
Ana
- Jan 25
Transat Diary - Day 6 - Acceptance
We did a quick test of the autopilot now that it had cooled off but it seems it’s dead. It was just too much pressure from the sea weed
Ana
- Jan 24
Transat Diary - Day 5 - The butter has melted and maybe also did the autopilot
No matter how we trim the sails we seem to be doing less speed than before, can only imagine how much of this seaweed we are trailing
Ana
- Jan 23
Transat Diary - Day 4 - Caught in the evil golden claws of Sargassum sea weed
Since we lost the 240v on the first day the menu consisted of room temperature seafood paella twice, room temperature
Ana
- Jan 22
Transat Diary - Day 3 - Loom and gloom
For some reason I’m not being able to settle the hydrovane on an angle of 110AWA but I can 120-130 and even 80-90AWA but not what we need. (
Ana
- Jan 21
Transat Diary - Day 2 - No 240v, no hot meals or drinks…
We spent the entire first half of the day trying to catch up on our sleep but not very effectively, too many things going through our minds.
Ana
- Jan 20
Transat Diary - Day 1 - A rough start
More discussion, after all there was no fat chance to get it fixed in the Cape Verdes so we decided to proceed and shut the raw water intake
Ana
- Jan 16
Transat - the last day, the last preparations
With all that done it was time to relax in the cockpit.
My mind however had different plans and was constantly going through lists
Sailing The Dream
- Jan 5
Cape Verde, Mindelo - checking in, out and about
He explains he will keep our boat registration documents and that before moving on to another island we need to come here to get a clearance
Ana
- Dec 31, 2022
Mindelo, São Vicente Island, Cape Verde - the wrong turn
That’s when we came to full realisation of our mistake. We should have made landfall on the most Eastern island of the archipelago, Sal.
Sailing The Dream
- Dec 29, 2022
2022-12-17>23 Passito Blanco, Gran Canaria, Canaries, Spain > Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde
Logbook extract for the sailing trip from Canary Islands, Spain to Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde 849 nautical miles in 152 hours
Ana
- Dec 26, 2022
First trade winds of many - Gran Canaria to Mindelo, Cape Verde’s
We kept the two sails poled for a short while and until after sunset when the wind decided to pick up more than we felt comfortable with
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