Avocet's Adventures Around the World
Derry Ryder
Wed 8 Oct 2008 18:52

So we’ve finally left the Canaries! En route to Gran Canaria a fracture was found in one our spreaders.  This meant that instead of spending one night  in Las Palmas we ended up staying almost two weeks.  This did give the crew some time to get  to know the island.  We spent  some nights in Las Palmas, Puerto Rico, Playa de Ingles and Puerto Mogan.  However in order to get the spreader in a resonable time frame the First Mate had to go to France to collect it, as it would take virtually forever to get through customs to us.  So after some “inconvience” Quentin finally arrived back from Fance late Saturday night, that didn’t stop everyone celebrating his return though!  After a few hours spent replacing the spreader on Sunday morning we finished up our time on the island with a few beers in the Marina bars.  We departed Puerto de Mogan at noon on Monday and I thinks its fair to say though that after the 3 weeks in port and all the hassle with the now infamous spreader  everybody was glad to see the Canaries from a distance!

We’re  currently under sail to Cabo Verde and since leaving Puerto de Mogan on Monday morning have covered over 300 nautical miles and are currently heading south westerly at 7-8 kts in nice fresh to strong winds. The boat is handling perfectly despite the following seas and swell . All the crew are particularly happy with the hydrovane autopilot which lightens the work for everyone. At current speed and conditions we hope to arrive in Cabo Verde sometime on Sunday.