Atlantic Part 1: Next stop Mindelo
The next big leg is coming up for us, namely approx. 1000 nautical miles from Lanzarote (Canary Islands) to Mindelo (Cape Verde). We expect this first Atlantic leg to take around 9 days. It is the first leg for the three of us, as our good friend Stefan will be accompanying us from here to the Caribbean for the next 2 months. It is the longest route we have ever sailed. Stefan's longest crossing so far was 75 nautical miles in Croatia, which we also sailed together.
What's more, Ines had a fever shortly before departure and therefore won't be fully fit for the first few days. But the conditions should still be very calm, especially at the beginning, and we are well prepared.
Here is a summary of our crossing. We recorded the whole stage in detail in our sailing diary and uploaded it daily to PredictWind. Here are the entries with pictures.
Conclusion of our first Atlantic stage
All in all, we had great conditions. The fact that we only had to motor for 24 hours on an almost 9-day trip underlines this even more. We had a great time and had a lot of fun chatting, cooking, playing games and enjoying just looking at the water for hours on end (we're quite good at looking stupid). The mood of the crew was good at all times, apart from the rare and very brief dips due to the weather or sleep. We would do this crossing again at any time - luckily we don't have to wait too much longer, as the leg from Cape Verde to the Caribbean starts in 5-6 days. Until then, we will be exploring the islands of Cape Verde and will certainly experience a lot here.
Our crossing from Lanzarote to Mindelo in figures:
Distance: 1020 nautical miles, of which under sail: 904 nautical miles
Engine hours: 24 hours
Time: 8 days 18 hours 10 minutes
Average speed: 4.9 knots
Number of sunsets seen: 6
Escaped thunderstorms: 2
Thunderstorms we did not escape: 1
Wildlife: dolphins accompanied us twice
Fishing: a Mahi Mahi
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 1
Mon Nov 18 2024 18:17:00 GMT+0100
We've just weighed anchor and are finally on our way south! This is the start of our first Atlantic leg. From now on, the three of us will be sailing as far as the Caribbean, as our good friend Stefan will be accompanying us for the next two months. 965 nautical miles to Mindelo and we expect the crossing to take 9-10 days. There is hardly any wind at the moment, so we are still under engine power. We head towards the sunset and enjoy the calm evening atmosphere.
Distance to Mindelo: approx. 965 nm
Food: Tortilla española, homemade by our friends Sailing Marlin - thank you!
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 2
Tue Nov 19 2024 18:42:00 GMT+0100
It was a calm night and also a calm day. We had to motor a lot as the wind was very light. But there were hardly any waves, which made the trip very bearable. In the afternoon we unpacked the gennaker, which made us even faster. However, the breeze only lasted a short time. We took advantage of the moment and all jumped into the water. The Atlantic was still pleasantly warm and the sun's rays warmed us up again after the refreshment. The highlight was seeing a few dolphins in the distance, after which Stefan and Ines played the guitar and sang - luckily we still had enough time to perfect our repertoire and we started the engine again just before sunset. It doesn't take long and suddenly the boat vibrates - everything feels a bit unbalanced and so we stop the engine. And a look underwater with the GoPro confirms our suspicions - a plastic bag has wrapped itself around our propeller. So Peter takes his second dip in the cool water of the day and is able to free the propeller again quickly. After sunset, we see the last outlines of Gran Canaria, which will also be the last view of land until we arrive in Cape Verde.
Distance covered by 12:00 noon: 94 nm
Distance to Mindelo: 874 nm
Food: pre-cooked chili con carne
Entertainment night from day 2 to day 3
Wed Nov 20 2024 11:37:00 GMT+0100
The second night is now well behind us. Ines took her time to recover, as she was a bit ill before departure and hasn't fully recovered yet, and slept through the night from midnight onwards. We had excellent sailing conditions and were able to sail with Genoa and main in 1st reef all night long at about 6 kn (wind from diagonally behind, pleasant). Nature had a light and sound show up its sleeve for us so that it didn't get too boring. Below are the reviews of the participants:
Peter: Spectacular show with rich bass, a little too close to reality, almost made me wet my pants.
3/5 stars
Stefan: Excellent sound design, bass was deep and not overdriven. You really had the feeling that you were in the middle of it instead of just there. The only drawback was that the hall was somewhat overexposed due to the sometimes very bright lighting, which caused an overstimulation of immersion. A little tip for anyone who has not yet seen the performance: To enjoy the show even more, I recommend reserving a few rows of seats further back. I would recommend it to anyone with good nerves.
4/5 stars
Ines: The preview before midnight was not too exciting. The sound was delayed by about 2 minutes compared to the picture. I then fell asleep and don't regret having missed the supposedly nerve-wracking spectacle. Not worth the money.
0/5 stars
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 3
Wed Nov 20 2024 20:20:00 GMT+0100
After a bright night, the day got off to a productive start. As the wind died slightly compared to the night, we set the gennaker (our light wind sail), with which we made good progress - perhaps a little too good when the wind picked up again. The male crew was particularly pleased with the speed, which was well over 7 knots in places, while the female crew would have liked to have taken down the gennaker three times already. The female intuition proved to be right, because a gust caused Vaquita to lean heavy to the side. So we recovered the gennaker and set the Genoa, but otherwise the day was pretty uneventful. It rains a little from time to time, the wind is fairly constant and we are all a bit tired, and at one point the alarm system on our fishing line (a can on a rubber line that hits the side of the boat as soon as there is a pull on the line) sounds briefly. When we reel it in, we realize that there is nothing on it and only see a fish swimming after it. So instead of fish, we have homemade vegetable sugo with noodles. We're watching the sunset and haven't quite finished eating when the can rings again. This time it sounds serious and we see the fish on the line. Our first catch! We quickly get everything ready: Peter hauls in the line, Stefan puts on his shoes and gloves and arms himself with a knife, Ines rinses the teak deck with water and closes the companionway. Stefan quickly kills the fish. For our first catch, everything went very quickly and professionally. On tomorrow's menu is a 60 cm long mahi mahi (dolphinfish).
Today's Etmal: 124 nm
Distance to Mindelo: 752 nm
Food: Pasta with homemade vegetable sugo
Fishing: 60 cm long mahi mahi
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 4
Thu Nov 21 2024 13:13:00 GMT+0100
After dark on Wednesday, we were again able to observe thunderstorms in every conceivable direction. We feared another nerve-wracking night, and the mood was correspondingly tense. To everyone's delight, the night sky cleared and the thunderstorm cells all dissipated. We sailed through a starry night at a pleasant 4-5 knots and observed luminous plankton in our wake. The only thing that sometimes got in the way of a peaceful night was the radio. Someone had apparently made it their business to keep all the boats on their toes via Channel 16 (the radio channel for emergencies) with cat noises, songs and other annoying radio messages - about bananas, for example.
At daybreak, the Atlantic showed its best side with a half-wind of around 10 knots and a calm wave that rivaled even Lake Neusiedl. Dolphins come to visit us before breakfast. There are 15-20 of them swimming past behind us. To our delight, three dolphins swim with us for about 10 minutes and play in our bow wave. They are clearly having fun and we enjoy the show from the front row right on the bow.
Otherwise, the day passes with sometimes more, sometimes less wind and we make good progress on the whole, mainly under sail. We pass the time with a game of cards and for dinner we have the fish we caught the day before. We dine like royalty in the middle of the Atlantic! Even Peter, who doesn't really like fish, enjoys the Mahi Mahi he caught himself. Luckily there is still a little left over for tomorrow.
Today's Etmal: 117 nm
Distance to Mindelo: 639 nm
Food: Ceviche and Mahi Mahi fillet with fried potatoes
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 5
Fri Nov 22 2024 13:02:00 GMT+0100
Conclusion of the day: we're going like crazy!
The wind had already been kind to us during the night and made good progress. Under Genoa and gennaker, we were heading for Cape Verde at an average of 6 knots. At around 16:00 we reached the halfway point of our almost 1,000-mile journey. Otherwise, the day is very uneventful. The only other ships in the vicinity are a Chinese fishing boat and a 36-foot sailing ship - and even they are so far away that we can only see them on the map via our AIS system. We have a good chat and pass the time cooking and playing cards - exactly what you want on such a long crossing.
At sunset there is action again: dolphins! Suddenly 8-10 marine mammals are jumping around us. Just like a few days earlier, they play in our bow wave. There are so many of them that we don't even know where to look and the sun is setting in the sea directly behind us. It's kitschy and beautiful and we enjoy the natural spectacle right on the bow.
For dinner, we have Spanish tapas with the rest of the Mahi Mahi. Unfortunately, the matching red wine will have to wait until we arrive in Mindelo, but it will taste particularly good then.
Today's Etmal: 132 nm
Distance to Mindelo: 520 nm
Food: Tapas including pimientos de padron, Mahi Mahi fillet, grilled vegetables, chorizo and cheese
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 6
Sat Nov 23 2024 11:26:00 GMT+0100
We are still very fast at night. We have decided to sail under gennaker at night too. We normally take down our light wind sail at night or generally sail with less sail area so that we don't have to leave the cockpit if the wind picks up and can sleep more comfortably. However, as the wind is only forecast to be constant or slightly less, we leave the gennaker set. We are making around 6 knots, which is good, because the low pressure area a little to the north of us is supposed to cause the wind to calm and we try to get south as quickly as possible to avoid a dead calm (update 18:00: it didn't work, we still got into the calm and are sailing along at 3-4 knots).
From midday the wind drops considerably and we are slower accordingly, but we are still sailing. The day is just as comfortable and calm as the sailing conditions. Peter starts up the watermaker, which has been sucking in air again and again. We take the opportunity to take a shower, rinse the cockpit and fill 15 liters back into our water tank, otherwise we make ourselves comfortable on deck for a while, play another round of The Game and enjoy the peace and quiet.
We've always eaten very well since we set off on Monday, but Peter still wanted to get closer to the taste of home. That's why today's snack was brown bread (packaged, of course, and not at all comparable to “real” bread) with pate of roasted pork from Inzersdorfer (famous canned food brand in Austria) and horseradish from a tube. The whole thing tasted semi-good, it's just not a Heuriger.
Today's Etmal: 135 nm
Distance to Mindelo: 390 nm
Food: Pita bread with grilled vegetables
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 7
Sun Nov 24 2024 13:01:00 GMT+0100
The last night was actually one of the more restless ones, not because of too much wind, but because the wind was too weak. At first we wanted to sail through with the gennaker, just like the night before. By midnight at the latest, however, the wind was so weak that the sails regularly collapsed, causing a lot of noise. So it was time to retrieve the sails and start the engine. 2 hours later the wind picked up again, so we hoisted the sails again only to find out 1 hour later that the wind had dropped again, and in the morning we had to decide whether we would try to arrive on Tuesday evening in a sporty manner or take it easy on Wednesday morning, as we preferred to dock in the light. Ambitious and thirsty (we have enough beer and water) as we are, we decide on Tuesday. So gennaker up and full speed ahead. Peter and Stefan are already noticing the lack of movement and put in a little sports session, while Ines tries to cure her cold with sleep. As a motivational meal, we have loaded nachos from the pan with all kinds of fresh vegetables, beans, cheese and homemade guacamole. The wind and waves are picking up, so we lower the gennaker, set the Genoa instead and reef the main for the night.
Today's Etmal: 100 nm
Distance to Mindelo: 296 nm
Food: Loaded nachos with homemade guacamole
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 8
Mon Nov 25 2024 12:17:00 GMT+0100
In our last entry, we reported on our ambitious goal of reaching Cape Verde on Tuesday evening. One night's sailing later, the situation is once again very different. After a mixed and generally very bumpy night, we realised that the winds in the north-east trade winds were not as constant as we had hoped. A mixture of weak winds and poor wind angles meant that we made much slower progress than we had hoped. But no problem, as arrival on Tuesday evening is now out of the question, we take it easy and finally arrive on Wednesday morning. There are worse fates than having the African sun shine on your belly for an extra day on board.
Apart from that, we are mainly very tired today and a little marked by the sometimes very bumpy night. That's why the day is quiet. The ability to simply stare stupidly at the water for hours turns out to be a superpower. Fortunately, all three of us are pretty good at it. We call today SPA day because we decide to do nothing for a change and try to catch up on the sleep we missed last night.
In the afternoon, we discuss whether we should head for the island of Sal instead of Mindelo, which is further east and which we could reach tomorrow afternoon. We would only reach Mindelo during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday and would then have to sail a diversion to arrive at the next daylight. In the short term, heading for Sal seems like a good idea - obviously we are all ready to arrive. However, after careful consideration, we decide against it, as it would make our stay in Cape Verde stressful in the long term. We would only have 2 days on Sal, would then have to sail a 24-hour leg to Mindelo and would only have 2-3 days there again. So we'd rather pass the time and go straight to Mindelo.
Today's Etmal: 108 nm
Distance to Mindelo: 189 nm
Food: Italian bread salad and mini pancakes with local jams
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 9
Tue Nov 26 2024 13:01:00 GMT+0100
Topic of the day: Snail raceWe have to cover quite a short distance in quite a long time so that we arrive in the morning. As we are still going too fast despite having the mainsail in the 1st reef, we reef it around midday today. Hence, after almost 48 hours, we adjust the sails for the first time. We now sail the remaining nautical miles under a heavily reefed genoa, as we don't want to be faster than 4 knots. The attentive reader will realise that there was little to do sailing-wise, so we spent the time reading, playing, singing and showering. The sun is already pleasantly warm here, it's a bit like a bumpy beach holiday. The crew are happy and in a good mood, even if it feels a bit strange to deliberately slow the boat down so much.
Around 18:00, after more than 8 days on the high seas, the time has come - land ho! Shortly before sunset, the island of Santo Antao with its almost 2,000 metre high mountains appears on the horizon. We slowly but surely realise that the first Atlantic leg will soon be behind us. Now that we are slowly realising it, we are looking forward to the next few days of exploring the African island state, but we haven't arrived yet, so the first thing we do is cook dinner and prepare for the last night's journey of the passage.
Today's Etmal: 116 nm
Distance to Mindelo: 79 nm
Food: Curry ramen
Lanzarote - Cape Verde: day 10
Wed Nov 27 2024 09:38:00 GMT+0100
We made it!
After a rocky night with partly flapping sails and little wind, we are rewarded with the most beautiful sunrise yet. The sun is big and red and bathes the islands in a golden light. So this is Cape Verde, and the last 10 nautical miles are just under Genoa. Now we are looking forward to exploring this new country and we get a place in the marina between all the catamarans. Instead of mooring lines, there are buoys to which the bow lines are attached to. Peter skilfully steers us backwards between the buoys into our box. Stefan hands over the bow lines to the marineros, who pass the lines through the rings on the buoys, while Ines ties the stern lines to the floating dock. And so, after almost 9 days at sea, we are moored up again in a marina and thank Neptune with a sip of rum for the pleasant conditions during the crossing and, of course, treat ourselves to a manoeuvre sip.
