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Friday, December 20, 2024

Atlantic Ocean, 151NM SW of Las Palmas

After a bit of sailing we again found the calm in the southwest corner of Gran Canaria. We motored through that, and were then able to start sailing properly. Soon we could switch to windvane steering, and gybe to the port tack that we’ll likely keep all the way to Cape Verde.

Night watches were quite uneventful with some shooting stars. The first full day at sea dawned with mostly clear skies. Wind direction has stayed constant, with speed fluctuating between 15kt and 30kt. The first reef and staysail seems a good combination for this range, and aided by current we’ve been making good progress.

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Our fishing efforts suffered a slight setback, however. First catch of the day was a plastic bag that we’ll dispose properly. Then half hour later some bigger fish bit the line clean off, taking our lures with it.

As we approach the original route line, we now prepared the whisker pole for going wing-on-wing.

From the logbook

Time Position Course Speed Log Weather Remarks
20.12. 0:00 Z 27°50'22"N 16°0'46"W 235° 5kt 7695.6NM wind 4.8kt 288° sea state 3/10 clouds 1/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1029 hPa Bergie on watch
20.12. 0:09 Z 27°50'1"N 16°1'31"W 230° 2.9kt 7696.4NM wind 6.4kt 345° baro 1029 hPa Motor stopped, sailing with Main (1st reef), Staysail
20.12. 1:00 Z 27°48'25"N 16°4'7"W 220° 3.6kt 7699.3NM wind 10.7kt 12° baro 1028 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 2:00 Z 27°45'56"N 16°7'30"W 234° 5.2kt 7703.2NM wind 19.3kt 354° baro 1028 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 2:12 Z 27°45'10"N 16°8'19"W 230° 6.2kt 7704.2NM wind 15.9kt 14° baro 1028 hPa Autopilot deactivated, windvane steering
20.12. 3:00 Z 27°42'3"N 16°11'58"W 246° 5.7kt 7708.7NM wind 18.9kt 20° baro 1027 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 4:00 Z 27°38'32"N 16°17'7"W 247° 6.4kt 7714.6NM wind 22.5kt 10° baro 1027 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 4:54 Z 27°35'41"N 16°22'5"W 183° 5.2kt 7720NM wind 20.2kt 37° baro 1027 hPa Gybed to head south
20.12. 5:00 Z 27°35'7"N 16°22'8"W 171° 6kt 7720.5NM wind 21.1kt 43° baro 1027 hPa Watch change. Suski on duty waiting for sunrise
20.12. 6:00 Z 27°29'57"N 16°22'42"W 196° 4.8kt 7725.8NM wind 16.5kt 59° baro 1027 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 7:00 Z 27°26'6"N 16°24'58"W 202° 4kt 7730.3NM wind 12.5kt 68° baro 1027 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 7:06 Z 27°25'43"N 16°25'16"W 216° 4.8kt 7730.7NM wind 14.4kt 66° baro 1027 hPa Pan pan from Coastal Radio. Couldn't understand what or where. We start to be outside of VHF range
20.12. 7:48 Z 27°22'35"N 16°27'2"W 196° 5.2kt 7734.3NM wind 12.9kt 82° sea state 3/10 clouds 1/8 visibility 6/10 baro 1027 hPa Sun nearly up.
20.12. 8:00 Z 27°21'40"N 16°27'31"W 189° 5.4kt 7735.3NM wind 17.1kt 61° baro 1028 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 9:00 Z 27°16'19"N 16°29'58"W 212° 6.5kt 7741.1NM wind 21.2kt 82° baro 1028 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 10:00 Z 27°10'51"N 16°33'44"W 201° 6.8kt 7747.6NM wind 22.9kt 88° baro 1029 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 11:00 Z 27°5'8"N 16°37'8"W 192° 8.4kt 7754.1NM wind 27.3kt 58° baro 1029 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 11:24 Z 27°2'52"N 16°38'12"W 199° 5kt 7756.6NM wind 18.6kt 76° sea state 4/10 clouds 4/8 visibility 6/10 baro 1028 hPa We are ahead of weather routing .
20.12. 12:00 Z 26°59'40"N 16°39'26"W 207° 6.5kt 7760NM wind 18.5kt 59° sea state 4/10 clouds 6/8 visibility 6/10 baro 1028 hPa Bergie on watch
20.12. 12:16 Z 26°58'23"N 16°40'12"W 209° 5.6kt 7761.5NM wind 16.4kt 75° baro 1028 hPa Could still hear the MSI securite advertisement from Tenerife, but not the actual contents
20.12. 13:00 Z 26°55'15"N 16°42'36"W 208° 5.3kt 7765.3NM wind 17.3kt 83° baro 1027 hPa Caught and collected a plastic bag with the fishing lure
20.12. 13:29 Z 26°53'7"N 16°44'11"W 219° 6.1kt 7767.9NM wind 19.4kt 92° baro 1026 hPa Somebody snapped our fishing line. We need a metal leader from now on. On the rebound, the line wrapped around both the hydrogenerator and the servo rudder. Managed to clear it
20.12. 14:00 Z 26°50'53"N 16°45'57"W 216° 5.4kt 7770.6NM wind 17.3kt 65° baro 1026 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 15:00 Z 26°46'10"N 16°48'29"W 190° 5.1kt 7775.9NM wind 18.9kt 64° baro 1025 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 15:28 Z 26°43'53"N 16°49'26"W 187° 4.9kt 7778.3NM wind 17.9kt 59° baro 1025 hPa Enabled AIS "dangerous vessel alarm" on the Tritons now that we're well offshore
20.12. 16:00 Z 26°41'1"N 16°50'12"W 176° 4.4kt 7781.3NM wind 20.1kt 71° baro 1025 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 17:00 Z 26°35'45"N 16°51'56"W 186° 5.6kt 7786.8NM wind 18.9kt 64° baro 1025 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 18:00 Z 26°30'28"N 16°53'19"W 177° 5.7kt 7792.3NM wind 19.4kt 64° sea state 4/10 clouds 4/8 visibility 6/10 baro 1025 hPa Watch change. Suski on duty. Pole prepared for wing and wing later.
20.12. 18:51 Z 26°25'56"N 16°54'11"W 226° 6.2kt 7796.9NM wind 14.2kt 45° baro 1025 hPa Wing on wing.
20.12. 19:00 Z 26°25'20"N 16°54'45"W 236° 5.4kt 7797.7NM wind 15.6kt 51° baro 1025 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 20:00 Z 26°21'19"N 16°58'6"W 218° 4.1kt 7802.8NM wind 17.8kt 57° baro 1026 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 20:42 Z 26°18'36"N 17°0'40"W 232° 5.6kt 7806.4NM wind 13.7kt 57° baro 1026 hPa Its 20 degrees outside and I just got myself a jacket. On top of the woolen shirt and hood.
20.12. 21:00 Z 26°17'29"N 17°1'46"W 217° 4.5kt 7807.8NM wind 18.8kt 72° baro 1026 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 22:00 Z 26°13'19"N 17°5'32"W 215° 6kt 7813.2NM wind 20.7kt 53° baro 1026 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 23:00 Z 26°8'21"N 17°8'52"W 218° 5.7kt 7819.1NM wind 25.2kt 68° baro 1026 hPa Hourly position log
20.12. 23:43 Z 26°5'11"N 17°11'35"W 234° 5.9kt 7823.1NM wind 20.1kt 47° baro 1026 hPa Sails set: Main (2nd reef), Staysail