Today is Wednesday 19 October 2016.  We have been away two and a half months, feels like a lifetime, I guess because we’ve done so much.  I saved writing this blog to give me something to occupy my time during the long passage from The Canary Islands towards The Cape Verde Islands.

So, back to our days in The Canaries:

Tenerife, 26 September to 5 October

Monday 26 September – Tenerife – 28⁰C, sunny/cloudy/windy/some very light rain!

Every morning at 0900 hrs we have a VHF radio net where the organisers advise of things going on, organised trips, meetings, tips, give general information etc.  This happens again at 1800 hrs daily.  It’s very useful as gives an opportunity for people to ask questions, the answers often benefiting other participants i.e where local chandlers are and what they stock, where we can fill gas cylinders, how to keep cockroaches at bay and so on.

Following the 0900 hrs broadcast our first port of call was the local chandlery to purchase a new fuel sender fitting.  Ken spent the rest of the day (nothing is ever straight forward on a boat) trying to adapt the fitting to fit our tank.  I spent the rest of the day finishing off repairing flags.

Tuesday 27 September – Tenerife, 30⁰C, zero wind, zero clouds

Today, instead of relaxing and soaking up the glorious hot sunshine, we walked some distance visiting 3 yacht chandlers ….. in the glorious hot sunshine.  We purchased 2 new batteries for the anchor windlass and bow thruster, and another new fitting for the fuel sender, returning to the boat very hot and bothered.  Wi-Fi was supposed to exist on the marina however was very poor if not none existent so we trapesed back out in the glorious hot sunshine in search of Wi-Fi, for Ken to work …. in the glorious hot sunshine!  The evening was spent playing cards, which Ken won and Banana-gram, which I won!

Wednesday 28 September – Tenerife, 30⁰C, zero wind, zero clouds

Off again in search of Wi-Fi for Ken to work and me to catch up on e-mails etc.  On return Ken fitted the new batteries and new fuel sender while I messed about in the engine bay cleaning up the remnants of the fuel leak and checking oil and coolant levels, getting very hot and bothered ….. certainly not out enjoying the glorious hot sunshine.

Mid afternoon Ken discovered we needed a new battery lead so off we went only to discover, in the glorious hot sunshine, that all 3 chandlers were shut (and not just for afternoon siesta, but for the day!).  Back again tomorrow, in the no doubt glorious hot sunshine.

The evening was ‘different’ and most enjoyable.  We were all given free tickets to a music concert, a tribute to Shirley Walker, composer of film music i.e. Batman, Final Destination, Invisible Man and may more.  The live orchestra was huge and a large screen behind them showed clips of the various films, some we knew, some we

didn’t.

Thursday 29 September – Tenerife, 33⁰C, zero wind, zero clouds

Having been informed that Tenerife would be the last best place to stock up on boat spares and other requirements generally, we went back to the chandlers in the even hotter glorious sunshine, this time to purchase a new reefing line, genoa sheet, winch, bbq gas bottle (most essential), stanchion rings to feed lines, nuts and bolts etc.  We then trapesed to a recommended hardware store only to find it was shut and then miles to a Nespresso shop to ensure we have sufficient coffee pods until Christmas when we fly home to the UK and can pick up some more.  Result! 

After a very late lunch we trapesed further to a paint shop for some non-slip deck paint, that we never found.  Thank goodness Lady Rebel has air-con, for us to hide away in, from the glorious hot sunshine!  My Garmin watch told us we had walked nearly 5 miles, done 9724 steps, climbed 5 floors and burned 1122 calories.  This may not sound a lot but pulling along and over filled trolley dolly, in 33⁰C, glorious hot sunshine was hard work.  We were only meant to be out for an hour, not 5!

That evening we attended a sushi evening put on by one of the rally participants who owns several sushi bars around the World.  Yachts Tourterelle, Oyster Bar, Sundowner and Kerpa then came back to Lady Rebel for drinks afterwards. 

Friday 30 September – Tenerife, 29⁰C, gentle breeze, occasional clouds

Firstly a trip to a hardware store for gas fittings and battery lugs – no joy.  We did however find a ‘food-saver’ machine for vacuum packing food.  I spent the afternoon doing meal plans and a shopping list for our Atlantic crossing as again, Tenerife is where we need to stock up on everything other than fresh fruit and veg.

The Yacht Club Nautica had laid on a party for us in the evening.  Each boat was presented with a plaque from the Port of Tenerife, followed by a huge spread of food and ad-lib wine.  We didn’t get the coach back, instead walked back (after-all, we’ve not done much walking during the last few days!!!), stopping at various bars; a pub crawl I suppose you could call it, joined by boats Gloria and Modjaji. 

Saturday 1 October – Tenerife, hot and sunny with little wind

Filled up with fuel from a tanker on the dockside that had a very long pipe – so much easier than having to find a fuel pontoon to moor against. Tick.  The downside is the marina is situated next to the dockside that is also next to the large ferry terminal.  The ferries run their extremely noisy generators all night long, so sleep is practically impossible if a light sleeper like myself.

Then on to the dreaded food shop at Carrefour.  A massive task that took 4 hours, but went remarkably well considering we had to try and translate Spanish to English.  We may yet discover we have purchased tomato soup instead of tinned tomatoes or worse, semolina instead of flour, avocado smoothie instead of milk – fancy that on your cornflakes (that may actually turn out to be pet food!).  The food is being delivered on Monday evening.  We carried the fresh food back to the boat, unpacked it and spent an age making space for Monday’s delivery.

Sunday 2 October – Tenerife, hot and sunny with little wind

Our first task today was to try and get our gas cylinder, that feeds the cooker, either re-filled or changed.  After trying various garages and suppliers with no joy (their cylinders are different from ours) we decided to abandon mission and have a drink at the yacht club and a re-think.

The afternoon was spent vacuum packing meat and fish for the freezer and making up meals ready for our  Atlantic crossing.  Heaven forbid the freezer should pack up.  The evening was spent watching Breaking Bad.  We’ve not seen TV for weeks and had been leant the box set but it’s Blue Ray.  Finally we found a Blue Ray DVD player at Carrefour so we could at last begin the series.  Hooked after the first 4 episodes!

Monday 3 October – Tenerife, hot, cloudy at times

At last we get to do some sightseeing, other than chandlers, DIY stores, gas and electrical suppliers and supermarkets!

A morning coach tour took us to El Teide, the highest mountain in The Canaries and on through the National Park.

Then back to reality – an afternoon at the chandlers and DIY store in search of gas fittings, o rings and other bits and pieces.  After dinner on board, our neighbours, yacht B ‘n’ G, came aboard for drinks.  Robert and Kathy are Canadian, Robert a qualified 200 tonne yacht master.  I resisted the temptation to say he didn’t look 200 tonnes!  I could probably say that now we have got to know them better but at the time wasn’t sure of the Canadian sense of humour.

Tuesday 4 October – Tenerife, hot and sunny

Walked into town, once again, to purchase this time a new gas bottle of the Spanish type, pipe, regulator and fittings to adapt to our system.  We decided to take the new winch we’d purchased earlier in the week at 600 Euros, back to the supplier as we’d worked out a better (cheaper) system for reefing our genoa that didn’t require a new winch.  Unfortunately, during a lunch stop, the winch fell off the table (luckily I wasn’t the one who put it there) and it dented itself and the concrete floor. Said brand new winch no longer worked so obviously the supplier wouldn’t take it back.  A very expensive lunch and to add insult to injury we still had to purchase (or Ken did should I say) more parts for the better system we’d worked out, at a mere 200 Euros!

On return to the boat we got ready for the off tomorrow.  Can’t say I’m sorry to be leaving Tenerife, although a fabulous island (and I did do one of my diving qualifications here a few years ago); for us it was a frustratingly tedious time, with very little sleep and unappreciated glorious hot sunshine!

Wednesday 5 October – Tenerife to San Sebastian, La Gomera, 60.9 miles, 10 hrs 50 mins, 6.6 engine hrs,

5.64 knots average speed.  Total miles:  1621.8

Up at 0500 hrs ready for 0600 hrs departure.  Sailed to start but the wind dropped so we motored for a while.  I was very excited to see my first whale (on this trip - I have seen one before in the Azores with Mum a good few years ago).  A pilot whale.  It was about ¼ mile away so we only saw its fin and long body, not its head unfortunately.  Still, it ticks a box.  Other boats saw 2 or 3 swimming alongside them; one boat had 3 dive down under them.  I currently have whale envy.  That said, if we hit one whilst night sailing I might not be so excited.  The males sleep on the surface and are impossible to see, apparently. 

A message was relayed to us via VHF radio from the boat ahead of us that they had hit an acceleration zone with winds of 20 knots.  The wind funnels between the islands thus increasing in strength.  We dropped our mizzen sail, the small one at the back of the boat, but felt 20 knots would be fine to keep full mainsail and genoa (the sail at the front).  When we reached the zone the wind was actually 23 to 28 knots.  Normally with this strength wind we would reef the mainsail and genoa to give a smaller sail area (for those of you non sailors), however, with only an hour or so to go we decided not to risk going out on deck but to live with it.  When it got even worse we did reef the genoa which we can do from the safety of the cockpit.  This put tremendous strain on the steering as the sails were ‘unbalanced’ (again for you non sailors) but luckily was only short lived.  The boats behind us were appreciative that we radioed them with the increased wind strength.  Once moored we invited yachts Stormbreaker, Maisie, White Ibis, Karina and Oyster Bar for drinks and nibbles.  We ate on board after they’d departed, very late!

Thursday 6 October – La Gomera

Day doing paperwork and washing. 

We double booked in the evening so Ken went to Tourterelle and I went to Stormbreaker.  I then snuck into town to buy a dress and a skirt so quite pleased we double booked!!  Came back and had drinks onboard La Mischief.

Friday 7 October – La Gomera

Morning coach tour of the island which is fantastic and so much greener and more varied than the other islands.  Bananas are grown here and they have created terraces down the sides of the mountains to grow produce on.  Unfortunately the pictures do not do it justice.

Later we walked high up to the cliff top, to the Parador Hotel overlooking the marina and beaches and used their Wi-Fi as once again it is non existent on the marina. 

Skyped Mum & Dad but it didn’t work too well so phoned them as well!  It was good to see them briefly and talk to them properly.  Ken phoned his mum too.  We have to make use of any signal we can get!  Had dinner on the way back in a small Portuguese restaurant, joined by yacht White Ibis.

Saturday 8 October – La Gomera to Isla de La Palma, 51 miles, 8.75 hrs, 2.7 engine hrs, 5.82 knots average speed

Total miles: 1672.8

Set off at 0615 hrs with the wind on the nose and a bouncy sea.  The unpleasantness only lasted for a couple of hours and we were able to have a fantastic sail across to La Palma, the next Canary Island on the itinerary.  We were warned of the cross winds in the marina prior to entry.  Unfortunately there were no marina staff to show us our allocated berth so Ken had to stop the boat to wait for direction.  While we were hovering we got caught by a cross wind that blew us sideways.  Mission aborted, we went back out of the marina, circled until the marina staff were there to show us our berth and came back in successfully.  Luckily no damage done but we were unavoidably close to the marina wall and another boat.  Several boats had a nightmare trying to moor with the cross winds, especially the catamarans. 

We gave Lady Rebel a thorough wash down to remove salt residues, washed various lines, the cockpit, guard rails the works; gave her a much needed spruce up!  Fleet 1 were still in La Palma so the yacht club organised a meal for us all to have a catch up before they depart tomorrow; tables around the pool (brave!).

Sunday 9 October – La Palma

After hoisting our flags to dress overall we changed the furling line, put on the new genoa sheet, put on the new jammer cleat for the spinnaker pole/twizzle rig down haul, sealed a deck fitting, glued part of the toe rail and washed halyards – a very productive day boat wise, for a refreshing change!

We had just finished our chores at 6.00pm when Steve and Dee from catamaran La Mischief came along armed with a bottle of red wine.  We then went to yacht Kerpa where we had been invited for drinks (having supposed to have eaten dinner first).  Luckily they had lots of dips and nibbles going on, as due to our previous visitors we’d not had time for dinner.  Tourterelle, Medadji and Aura were also there.

Monday 10 October – La Palma

A coach tour took us to the North of the island, full of banana plantations.  Very green with lots of deep ravines.  We stopped at a beautiful waterfall.  La Palma is the only Canary Island with a river!

A magnificent 4 course lunch was provided with wine!  On our return Ken and I went for a swim, sauna and steam bath at the yacht club.  Sounds posh, but it really wasn’t!  Yacht Aura put on a pontoon party for one of their crew departing the next day, which just about everyone attended and surprisingly no one ended up in the drink!

Tuesday 11 October – La Palma

I went to the gym at the yacht club first thing in the morning.  Not the best of equipment but served a purpose.  I did think at one point the pedals were going to fall off the bike, the seat was going to disintegrate on the rowing machine and I was going to get a heap of weights land on my head whilst using the weights machine.  I decided a jog back might be a safer option so departed the gym having only been there for 20 minutes or so.

A lot of rally participants have gone down with a nasty flu virus that is spreading like wild fire.  As much as we feel sorry for them, we are keeping well out of their way.  Some crews have had to delay sailing due to the illness.  We decided to spend the afternoon on the boat; I emptied and defrosted the freezer, re-arranged the contents and did an inventory, checked the engine oil, gearbox oil, fuel leak, water coolant while Ken checked the stern gland, greased the prop shaft and monitored the weather on his laptop.  We then settled down to an evening of Breaking Bad. We know how to live!

Wednesday 12 October – La Palma to Puerto de La Estaca, El Hierro, 57 miles, 8.75 hrs, 6.5 knts av speed,

9.1 engine hrs.  Total miles: 1729.8

0730 hrs departure in the dark, just as a big ferry came in!  We thought the pilot boat was going to make us turn around and go back into the marina and wait until the ferry had docked, but fortunately we were allowed on our way.  It soon got light but not a breath of wind so we motored all the way.  Ken put the fishing line out but didn’t catch anything until he went below decks for a sleep.  I wasn’t going to reel in whatever it was on the end without him present, in case it was something massive and vicious with big teeth!  I didn’t waste any time waking him up.  It was very exciting.  Dad had very kindly given me his big sailing knife and marlin spike that he’d had all his sailing years as a parting gift from Falmouth, so I got the knife at the ready to stab the beast in the event it should attack.  We gingerly peered over the side of the boat while Ken reeled it in.  The catch turned out to be a lovely little tuna approximately 1ft long! I put the knife away and went for the rubber gloves instead. Ken landed the fish; we gently dripped vodka (cheap vodka) into its gills so it could at least die happy (though we think it was already dead as there wasn’t a great deal of flapping going on) and I gutted and filleted it there and then.

We arrived at El Hierro at 1615 hrs.  A very small marina with one café and a few houses scattered about.

Walking distance to the beach but 8km from the nearest town.  Wi-Fi was once again non existent.  Some boats had skipped El Hierro and sailed directly from La Palma towards Cape Verde, our next destination.  There was forecast of a Southerly depression coming in which meant windy weather in the wrong direction for sailing and they wanted to get further south to avoid it.  We figured we could still see El Hierro; it would have been disappointing not to having seen all the other islands, but leave there a day early and still avoid the depression.

We ate our freshly cooked tuna and relaxed infront of Breaking Bad, afterall, there wasn’t a bar to go to!  Not necessarily a bad thing!

Thursday 13 October – El Hierro

The coach tour of the island took us to the hydro electric power station and wind farm.  The island is working on providing 100% clean energy – by wind and water.  Currently they supply approximately 45% of the energy required.  It was actually quite interesting how they use the wind generators to supply power and when wind is plentiful they use it to pump water up to a high reservoir.  When insufficient wind they run the water down to the lower reservoir providing hydro electric power.  We stopped at some amazing view points and were given a paella lunch, with Wi-Fi!! 

There were several discussions regarding the weather and departure times to our next destination.  We chose to leave Friday morning.  No-one particularly wanted to stay until Saturday, as scheduled, as there was not a lot to do on the island having done the tour.  I spent Thursday evening preparing packed lunches and some evening meals for our long trip ahead.

Friday 14 October – El Hierro towards Mindelo (Island San Vicente – Cape Verde)   738 miles, 124 hrs & 55 mins, 5.2 days, 6.8 ave. speed, 77.7 engine hrs

Total miles: 2467.8

We departed at 0805 hrs along with Stormbreaker, La Mischief, Dolojamie and Oyster Bar.  White Ibis had already left, at 0330 hrs!  Very little wind to start but it soon picked up and we were able to sail.  It came and went throughout the day so the engine was on and off.  We decided to try a new watch system which would be tiring to start but we figured after a couple of days we’d be used to it and it would give us more sleep time. 

My shift was 2000 hrs to midnight, then 0700 hrs to midday/1300 hrs – when Ken woke.

Ken’s shift was midnight to 0700 hrs.  This meant I had my sleep in one hit, whilst Ken’s was longer, but broken into two.  The night was actually quite moon lit and I found myself making objects out of the clouds – the things you do to pass the time!  I also did some exercises to pass the time before the sun came up at 0815.  We soon lost sight of the other Barbados 50 rally participants and we saw just one ship throughout the day and one in the night.  During my night watch I read with a dim torch so as not to affect my night vision, Ken listens to his Podcasts – mainly Leicester Tigers (his favourite rugby team).  It’s hot enough even during the night to be in shorts and t-shirt.

Saturday 15 October – North Atlantic Ocean

Cleaned the windows, did some cooking whilst the sea was flat, still motoring.  Ken decided we should put our second headsail on ready for when the wind picks up and comes in from behind us, as the forecast was now predicting, the idea being we put out a headsail either side to catch the wind.  We didn’t do this in our previous port as wasn’t sure if the wind would actually come in that direction.  I have to say I wasn’t keen on doing this at sea as I was concerned about being hit on the head by one of the poles, or smacked with a flailing sheet, or actually going overboard.  Fortunately none of these happened but it wasn’t a nice experience.  At least the headsails were on and furled away ready for use. I know crew do sail changes at sea regularly, however ours is a new system that we’ve not perfected yet and we’ve only ever done in port before and it’s challenging enough then. 

Sunday 16 October – North Atlantic Ocean.

A 0700 hrs we crossed the Tropic of Cancer at 23⁰ North.  Ken took a selfie of us and this imaginary line.  We were not aware of any rituals we were supposed to do crossing this line, unlike crossing the equator, which is a relief as we were a tad too tired to even think about performing rituals!

So, day 3 into our trip, 442 miles to go.  Still no wind, still motoring, no other boats in sight.  There was concern about the fridge and freezer only working intermittently.  Heaven forbid the freezer packs up completely as it has our Atlantic crossing food in there.  Ken, after many attempts at fixing it finally, thankfully, found the issue, being a blocked water filter and squashed pipe. Fridge and freezer successfully back up and running.  We had forgotten barnacles etc. grow so much faster in tropical waters.  First job in Mindelo is to clean out all the other filters.

The temperature was unbelievably hot; we were sweating, or in my case, because I’m a lady (?!), perspiring buckets! Definitely not complaining.  We both had a shower whilst the sea was relatively flat and before the forecast wind picked up.  A pod of dolphins came by, too many to count, the sort that leap completely out of the water showing off – apparently it’s how they maximise their oxygen intake with minimal energy usage – it looked pretty energetic to me!  A wonderful sight.  The wind picked up in the afternoon and we were able to unfurl the twin headsails, otherwise known as twizzle rig.  At least the drama the previous day wasn’t for nothing! 

My watch started at 2000 hrs, by 2200 hrs the wind had dropped and it was time to furl the twin sails away.  This was a good test to see if I could do it without Ken’s assistance (this was only to roll them in, not to actually take them off).  I managed to do it without his assistance however he was woken when I started the engine.  Reassured all was ok he soon went back off to sleep.  I had a chat on SSB radio (works on a higher frequency thus covering a far greater distance than VHF) with Peter from Stormbreaker and Bill from White Ibis.  We were discussing an incredibly brightly coloured star in the South West about 50 degrees up from the horizon, that sparkled green, red and white and appeared after the sun went down, before the moon came up and before any other stars were visible. There were thoughts it could be a satellite but not certain so we need to look into it.  Maybe a UFO hanging around in the sky!!  I saw just one cargo ship during the duration of my shift and that didn’t come any closer than 7 miles according to our navigation system. 

Monday 17 October - North Atlantic Ocean.  Glorious hot sunshine.

Day 4.  Still no wind.  Still motoring.  Our poor Perkins engine will be exhausted and the re-fuelling cost will be shocking.  I felt reasonably refreshed to begin my shift at 0700 hrs so went through my exercise regime, increasing the numbers of each set to push myself and build up an appetite for breakfast.  We were doing 6.5 knots, with 282.8 nautical miles to go, so approximately 43 hrs.  Had a chat with various other boats via both VHF and SSB radio.  It’s good to talk! 

We put the sails up and had a good afternoon sailing, however into the evening and throughout the night the wind was fluky and inconsistent, the boat was rolling, our speed down to just 4 knots with the sails flapping however hard we tried to trim them, nothing seemed to work.  Neither of us could sleep during our off watch time, it was very frustrating.  Eventually we gave in and at 0300 hrs put the motor on.  Finally I could get some sleep.

Tuesday 18 October – North Atlantic Ocean.  Glorious hot sunshine.

By 1000 hrs the wind had picked up and we were able to sail beautifully all day.  By 1700 hrs we had 110 miles left to go, 18 hrs at speed 5.8 knots.  Ken thought it would be really funny to put a flying fish that had jumped aboard, on the back of my seat whilst I wasn’t looking.  After jumping out of my skin, I too found it quite funny!  Sadly it was dead before Ken found it and could put it back in the water.  I’m quite pleased it wasn’t a massive one as we might have felt obliged to eat it; I’m not sure I fancy flying fish for dinner although people do say they are edible.

Just before dark a massive shoal (or should it be flock!) of flying fish leapt out of the water which could only mean something has spooked them.  Sure enough it was a large pod of dolphins that came to nosey at the boat.  They were a real show-offy bunch, jumping out of the water and slapping their tail fins.

After the sun had gone down and the moon not yet risen, it was eerily dark.  Suddenly the whole sky lit up; it was a shooting star that then broke up into lots of tiny pieces, like a firework.  It was amazing.

Wednesday 19 October – North Atlantic and Cape Verde

0800 hrs, land ahoy!  I could see the lights on Ilha de Santo Antao, the nearest Cape Verde Island.  23.3 miles @ 6.9 knots, approx. 3 hrs 20 mins to go to Ilha de San Vicente, the island we were heading for.  We were motoring at this point as the wind was very fluky overnight and we were struggling to fill the sails.  By 0830 hrs the sun had risen and I could see our destination island.

By 1000 hrs the wind picked up to 24 knots and we were romping along by sail power.  By 1200 hrs we had reached our destination and were alongside the fuel pontoon.  After 77 hrs motoring it wasn’t cheap to re-fuel!  By 1300 hrs (1100 hrs Cape Verde time) we were safely moored, stern-to the pontoon.  The strong cross winds in the marina made ‘parking’ potentially very tricky but with lots of assistance from the marina staff and fellow Barbados 50 participants, Lady Rebel came in beautifully.  She clearly behaved herself, not at all rebellious – probably as pleased to have arrived as we were!  What a fabulous trip!