Cape Verdes Outbound Day 3

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 15 26N 030 43W steering 300M, sailing under 2 reefs and no furls at 5 knots.  The wind was 14G18 from the ENE.  Our noon to noon run by the log was 122nm.

Towards the Hazy Sunset

Visibility has continued to be poor, down to 1nm at times.  Everything is turning brown with the Saharan dust deposited.  Thankfully the wind is holding in, albeit fading for a few hours at a time before returning.  The WindPilot vane gear is managing it very well.

We gybed SW yesterday to keep putting a little more S in our position.  Our hope is to get far enough S to avoid a big windless hole predicted to form to our W in a week or so.  As you can see from our PredictWind track (link at top-right) we're zig-zagging our way WSW.

Last night the moon was pale through the dust, and few stars were visible.  It was cloudy for part of the night.  Happily the dust usually stops rain storms forming.  We're missing the clear skies and hope they eventually return.  We haven't seen any Sargaso weed yet, and that's a totally good thing!

Trust all's well where you are!

Cape Verdes Outbound Day 2

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 15 17N 029 04W steering 230M, sailing under 2 reefs and no furls at 5 knots.  The wind was 12G17 from the ENE.  Our noon to noon run by the log (now cleared of weed) was 127nm.

Into the Haze

Since yesterday afternoon we've been sailing in a heavy haze of Saharan dust.  Our sheets and rig all have a coppery tinge.  Visibility has reduced to 1-2nm, almost like a light fog.  At sunset yesterday we could look directly at the sun as it set through the dust.  And last night the 3/4 moon was dim, and so were the stars.

Our new 6 hour watches at night are working out well.  The last hour's hard yakka but we're getting used to it.  We have Starlink on for 30 minutes morning and evening to download the latest weather.  We also check our emails, social media, news etc.  We can't leave it on continuously since it draws too much power.

With the comfortable sailing conditions we have plenty of time on our hands.  That's allowed me to get Winlink Express running on my 'work' computer, a Mini PC.  Winlink Express allows for email over HF/SSB which used to be our primary means of receiving weather GRIB files.  Around 2015 we added an Iridium Go which provided email/GRIB via satellite but no internet.  We kept Winlink going as a backup, running on our Macbooks in a Parallels Windows VM.  That stopped when Apple computers changed from Intel to ARM CPUs - I never got the device drivers to work.  So I've finally capitulated and use my work computer to run the HF/SSB.  And with Starlink we have broadband internet - awesome!

The Mini PC also runs JS8call software for digital keyboard to keyboard 'chatting' with other cruisers over HF/SSB.  I'm hoping to try this out with other equally-geeky cruisers!  In the mean time our daily Impromptu HF/SSB voice net continues, currently only with OCC sv Metzi.  They are a Moody 44 and striding away from us at 20-30 miles per day (as they should!).

On a less geeky note we started sea-water bucket showering today.  That's always a milestone in a passage.  The water is 27C so just a little refreshing.  Our procedure is one bucket to wet down, then lather up, then another bucket to rinse, finishing with a little fresh water to wash off the salt.  Marvellous!

Cape Verdes Outbound Day 1

Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 16 43N 027 20W steering 220M, sailing under 2 reefs and 1 furl at 5.5 knots.  The wind was 14G19 from a little E of NE.  Our noon to noon run over the ground was 131nm.

Farewell Cape Verdes

Yesterday evening we finally cleared the lee of the Cape Verde islands.  We emerged into nice NE winds of 15G20 winds - perfect for us.  The outlook is for winds to gradually lighten over the next week, with very light winds extending southward across our route.  So we'll need to move S at some stage to stay in the best wind.

In the Acceleration Zone

Last night we ran the first edition of the Impromptu Net on our HF/SSB radio.  We started on 8297 and moved to 6227 then 4149kHz.  We spoke with OCC sv Metzi about 150nm ahead of us and sv Gabber in Porto Santo, about 1000nm away.  It's always fun chatting with other bluewater cruisers on the SSB.

This morning winds continued more or less unchanged.  We're settling in to our long passage rythm, this time trying 6 hour overnight watches.  In the past the longest we've done were 4 hours.  So far so good.

We have another article in Yachting Monthly magazine.  It describes our mainsail handling systems.  Available at a newsagents near you!

Improve Your Mainsail

Trust all's well where you are.