Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Corralejo - Corralejo

Tropical storm Patty has sort of messed up the whole Atlantic weather system, and so on the “Island of Strong Winds” we’ve had a calm for a week.

Today finally the forecast had some hope, and so we took our friends sailing. In the morning the wind wasn’t quite strong enough for the swell, and so we motorsailed to Lanzarote. Anchor down, swim break, and a lunch.

Then in the afternoon the wind filled in, and we had quite the perfect sunny sail back to Fuerteventura. Main on the first reef and staysail.

In addition to a few turtles, we spotted the first flying fish of this trip.

• Distance today: 16.1NM
• Total distance: 4276.8NM
• Lunch: Couscous salad
• Engine hours: 2.2

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Playa Mujeres - Corralejo

The days in anchor proved to be a bit more stressful than anticipated. Our anchor trip buoy attracted multiples of rental motorboats trying to use it as a mooring ball. Two of them managed to tie themselves to our thin line and drag our anchor… After the second incident when we had to reposition the anchor, we decided to remove the marking buoy completely. Apparently the rental places tell the boats that there are free moorings in the anchorage, but they don’t tell the boats not to tie next to other vessels or how to make sure you are on an actual mooring and not on someone’s anchor marker…

Our friends from London had arrived to Fuerteventura, so we hoisted the anchor in the morning and enjoyed a lazy sailing day towards south. The multi-day calm had calmed the sea to a smooth state. Even the 3 to 5 kn wind was enough to push us along. Just like the lazy summer days in Havel, thought we had way less of traffic to pay attention to.

At the wave break we finally could hear the marina on channel 9 and were advised to go to the second pontoon. There is a lot of empty boxes here. This is a municipal dock, so no showers or toilets on land, but as soon as our registration for the app goes through, we have access to electricity and water.

• Distance today: 8.4NM
• Total distance: 4260.7NM
• Lunch: gazpacho
• Engine hours: 1

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Arrecife - Playa Mujeres

A week went by quickly on Lanzarote, getting to know the volcanic landscape and hanging out with some fellow cruisers. But now forecast has a week of calm ahead, and so we thought it would be more fun to spend that in an anchorage.

With some careful boathook work, we were able to back the boat to the opposing box, and then motor out of the really narrow corner where the marina had placed us. We stopped by the fuel dock, as the last fill-up on Isle of Man has been a while ago. To our surprise, our (officially) 80l tank could fit 104l of diesel.

Then sails up and south, following the eastern coast of Lanzarote. Desert landscape, some resorts, and a few sailboats. The Spanish coastguard also gave us a short-distance drive-by.

We had to motor the last hour as the wind died, but now we’re tucked in the bay behind Cape Papagayo, in front of a series of scenic beaches. If weather is as forecasted, we’ll likely spend the next week here, hanging out and snorkeling.

• Distance today: 17.9NM
• Total distance: 4252.3NM
• Dinner: feta salad
• Engine hours: 1.9

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Playa Francesa - Arrecife

After few days in anchor and ten after the latest grocery run, it was time to move. We motored against the wind and current between La Graciosa and Lanzarote and hoisted main and reefed genoa when we could turn to first a beam reach and later to wing on wing.

The large swell, small current and nice 15 to 20 kn of wind pushed us fast towards Arrecife. Marina Lanzarote doesn’t take any reservations during the high season (September to December). So when we were 1 mile out from the wave break, Bergie radioed in and we got our spot assigned. Arrecife harbour has a good map of the place allocation on their website, so we had the luxury of knowing which side to prepare and exactly where we were going. Something that is surprisingly rare.

Well stay here for a week at least and do some boat projects, sightseeing and hanging out with the Finnish friends we met in Viana do Castelo.

• Distance today: 27.1NM
• Total distance: 4234.4NM
• Lunch: lentil coconut curry
• Engine hours: 2.1

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Playa Francesa, 275NM SE of Quinta do Lorde

Right after dinner the wind picked up, and we could finally sail again. First on a tentative wing-on-wing, and soon we put in the first reef and moved the staysail to the same side.

What followed was a fun fast 24h of sailing on a beam reach. Wind vane steered, and despite the large waves hitting us on the beam, the boat moved like on rails.

The cloudy night didn’t give many stargazing opportunities. But the full moon gave everything this quite surreal look, like the boat and the sea had stage lighting. Realisation hits: at 29°N we’re now closer to the Equator than to Shetlands.

Land was sighted in the beginning of the first afternoon watch. The first islands of the Canaries rose from the horizon. We reached La Graciosa in the evening, and dropped anchor to a bay between it and Lanzarote just as the sun set.

Now time for that well-deserved anleger. Kippis, Martina!

• Distance today: 136NM
• Total distance: 4207.3NM
• Engine hours: 0.4

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Atlantic Ocean, 139NM SE of Quinta do Lorde

In the evening sky we could enjoy the comet making its pass. The moon was up, so the darkness didn’t set in properly, what a joyous feeling.

As the night drew on, the wind dwindled down to 4 knots. That was the moment to switch from sail power to engine. Weather forecast from Tuesday morning had us sailing the whole way. We got new weather on Wednesday morning and there was an update.

No wind till Wednesday evening, what a bummer. Now we are still motoring and hoping that the wind will pick up soon so we can yet again glide into the night in silence.

• Distance today: 98NM
• Total distance: 4071.3NM
• Lunch: mushroom and tomato börek
• Engine hours: 12.1

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Atlantic Ocean, 41NM SE of Quinta do Lorde

Much of the last week was spent sheltering from the tails of old hurricane remnants that were making their march east towards Biscay or Portugal. The nice Madeira season was clearly coming to a close.

And so, in the morning we prepared the boat for offshore, turned it around with ropes on the pier, and then left the marina.

In the wind acceleration zone behind the island of Madeira the conditions were quite blustery, gusting up to 30kt. So we first hoisted the staysail and a double-reefed main. Then we’ve been progressively increasing sail, as the winds have been getting lighter.

• Distance today: 41NM
• Total distance: 3973.3NM
• Lunch: feta salad
• Engine hours: 0.8

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Porto Santo - Quinta do Lorde

Now that we are out of the orca area, sailing can yet again be decided upon best winds. So the alarm rang at 3:30 and at 4am we hoisted the anchor and motored into the darkness.

As we got out of the wind shadow of Porto Santo, we enjoyed a steady 10 kn wind on the beam. The swell was big but far apart, so the sails weren’t flapping too bad.. though our optimising lead us to figure out a new way of attaching the lee side main sheet. By removing it from it’s usual place in the cockpit coaming and setting it up at the genoa track, where we have an extra attachment point. Now the boom was secure against the swell and we got a knot of more speed as the moving boom was spilling wind out of the sail. We absolutely love the versatility of the double main sheet!

As the dawn broke, wind became more variable in strength and direction. As we came closer to wind shadow of Madeira, we tacked and motored a bit. Now we are securely tied in to the pier in the marina waiting for the gale to come over the weekend. Getting a spot here required help from a German sailing couple we met in Viana do Castelo. Already many larger boats have been turned away, but a small Lille Ø fitted right in!

• Distance today: 33NM
• Total distance: 3932.3NM
• Engine hours: 2.1

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Porto Santo, 650NM SSW of Aveiro

We again set up the poled out headsail for the night watches in order to be able to get further downwind and towards our target. Just an hour later, a 22kt gust came through, and the whisker pole buckled with a “snap”. We scrambled to roll the genoa in and to lash down the broken pole. Oops. Thankfully we carry a spare.

We carried on through the blustery night with just the full main and staysail. The night was quite humid, and so the light on Ilheu de Cima became visible only at around 20NM distance, shortly before sunrise.

With the brightening day, the mountainous island of Porto Santo itself appeared from under the horizon and the mist. Very different landscape than what we’re used to!

The marina didn’t answer on VHF. But as we had a contact to some sailors that had arrived earlier, we were able to learn that the marina and the moorings were all fully packed. So options were either the very tight anchorage inside the wavebreak, or the more spacious and scenic but very rolly anchorage outside.

This was another moment to be happy having a full-keel boat with a relatively shallow draft. We were able to squeeze ourselves to the far corner of the protected anchorage. This was made somewhat more exciting by the fact that our depth sounder wasn’t working. So we went old-school, scoping out the swing radius slowly and carefully with a lead line.

By now the depth sounder is already fixed, and it is time for some bubbly to celebrate the completion of this ocean passage. Tomorrow we can start exploring the island.

• Distance today: 78NM
• Total distance: 3899.3NM
• Dinner: Caesar salad
• Engine hours: 2.4

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Atlantic Ocean, 572NM SSW of Aveiro

In the night we saw a light without a corresponding dot in the plotter. A boat without AIS so far offshore, that is something we haven’t seen on this trip. After about an hour the light was identified as a green position light, so a sailboat then. Few hours after that we passed the sailboat from the bow and could further deduce that the light we see is most likely a mast top tricolor, so we could see it from afar.

As the dawn broke and the sails could be spotted in the distance with binoculars we could confirm our night time deductions. We are seemingly both heading to Porto Santo, so an open ocean regatta is under way! We seem to be losing though as the other boat keeps getting nearer. From light, to sails to also occasionally seeing the hull.

Lille Ø is contently bringing us forward and our rhythm at sea has found its groove. Days have lost their meaning and the watches are what matters. One day watch for handcrafts and a night one for listening podcasts and books.

• Distance today: 101NM
• Total distance: 3821.3NM
• Dinner: feta salad
• Engine hours: 1.8