Lanzarote to Grenada, day 15

Stravaig'n the Blue
Sun 24 Jan 2021 23:41
End of day 15 position: 16:05.2 N 047:26.14 W
Position timestamp: Sunday 24 Jan 2021 12:00 UTC-3
Distance travelled last 24 hours: 131 NM
Reduction in distance to destination last 24 hours: 126 NM
Distance travelled total: 2263 NM
Average speed since departure: 6.2 knots
Shortest distance to destination: 879 NM
ETA based on shortest distance and average speed so far: the morning of Saturday 30 January (20.9 days in total)


Since leaving Lanzarote I’ve been itching to do a spot of fishing but, with the fridges and the freezer full to the brim, it didn’t make sense. There were a couple of occasions when I thought there might be enough room in the fridge to warrant some fishing but on each occasion the fridge mysteriously refilled with fresh produce. Then, two days ago, I was given the green light.

Within minutes of starting to trail a lure, we sailed into a patch of sea weed. Patch is probably under selling it. We were in it for over two days during which we sailed over 260 miles. I don’t know what that is in Nelson’s columns or elephants but it is 4589 football pitches laid end to end. And that was unlikely to have been the longest part.


The weed was a pretty orange colour and looked like bunches mistletoe. Initially there were just trails of well spaced small clumps. Then the density increased and we found ourselves sailing sandwiched between two of the many lanes of weed that stretched in front of us, to the horizon. The following day, when we must have been half way through it, much larger clumps, larger than the boat, started to appear and the space between the lanes narrowed so that it was impossible to avoid being in the thick of it. The weed wrapped itself around our hydro-electricity generator prop which halted production and it got wrapped around the rudders which slowed us by a knot and made the steering very heavy. There was nothing we could do but grin and bear it.


The weed was beginning to thin out by sunset and, by mid morning today, its presence was patchy. I used a gaff hook to free up the hydro-electric generator. I was ready to do the same with the rudders but, after furling the sail and bringing boat to a near stop, the steering suddenly freed up; the weed must just have slid off.

All is well and fishing is about to resume.

Allan