Leg Two Of The Atlantic. Canaries – Cape Verdes

Tuesday 30th December. Early Evening SHAMAL and DEJAVU are both sitting at anchor outside the marina in Las Palmas harbour.  Again the weather has been downloaded and charts all checked and studied.  It looks like we will have more winds for this leg making it possible to sail nearly all the way. We have another run of just over 850nm on this leg.
So an early night is decided upon to be bright eyed for the morning. Alec and I are up and almost ready to depart by 7.30am on Wednesday 31st December.  There is no life on DEJAVU initially.  Then we see them stowing things away.  By 1045 Alec and I are becoming a little impatience so up anchor and motor on over to find the boys enjoying a leisurely breakfast.  Then Lloyd tells us he just needs to stow his tender, but, also will wait another hour for the winds to come around more to the east, as they were around to the south-east.  We told him we would motor on out of the harbour and see what it was like out there. We did so very slowly expecting him to join us a little later.  Once we were clear of the headland we raised the sails, reef in main and jib, and had to tack along the coast to clear the Island.  Still no DEJAVU.  Then he radioed to tell us his crew member was felling seasick – oh help they are still at anchor!!  Then he told us he would not be leaving that day and we could call in at the Navel Bay further down the coast.  We did not like that idea as we had a couple of fish farms to contend with and no charts showing rocks or depths.  Also the seas were pounding in on that side of the Island, so we told him we would push on, and now that the wind had come around to be more of an easterly at 18kts we were being carried along nicely.  As per usual the winds did swing around from time to time and we found ourselves off on a tack.  It was not a nice feeling carrying on and leaving Lloyd back in port, but we did not want to turn into the winds and slog back.

Leg One Of The Atlantic. Gibraltar – Canaries

Weather forecasts had been downloaded and studied a hundred times. Tide charts had been gone over, and now it was time to untie those mooring lines, leave La Linea, and head out into the Strait of Gibraltar. There are still so many places we have not visited which were on the list, but, as Alec says look at what was not on the list, that we have visited.  Sadly because of time we were going to run directly to Las Palma - Gran Canary, and not stop off on the Moroccan coast like we had first planed. Time dictates that we keep moving. But, first we motored into the fuel dock in Gibraltar to fill up our two diesel tanks and 11 Jerry Cans. The water tank is full and the water maker has been checked over. Stores have all been stowed.  Now we are as ready as one can be. Down the rhumb line we have just over 700nm to go.

The Christmas Season 2014

Hello To You All Again.

Our five weeks in New Zealand passed very quickly, but we did manage to sort our the business of Alec’s pension.  We also did a quick trip South, and a Big thank you to all who very kindly had us to stay and made time for a catch up. Also a Big thank you to all who had us for meals and made time for visits, both up North, and down South.

We arrived back in La Linea on the 28th November after a long flight on Air New Zealand, coming  through the States, then to Heathrow – London, where we spent a night.  Next morning we took Monarch to Gibraltar.  That night in London made all the difference to my sanity!!   Pete and Kathy Jamieson, a NZ couple off ‘Wave Runner’, invited us to dinner that first night back.  We forgot to change our clocks and arrived a whole hour early for the meal !!!!  They must have though we were extra hungry.