Currently one day is just as the other. We will pass the Cape Verdes in a few hours. The other boats are in the vicinity but the last position update we received put us last. This impacts the moral on board. In addition it gets warmer every day. During the day it is almost impossible to sleep below deck. And even during the night we often wake up covered in sweat. Disaster struck twice yesterday […]
Continue readingTag Archives: From the Ocean
Past the Canaries
The area around the Canaries was pretty tricky. Lots of wind holes and even more marine traffic made the passage difficult. And we took the wrong turn more than once. Some boats were only a few miles away and would get much better winds. This can be very frustrating at times. Then one night we were sailing along quite nicely with full main and spinnaker up. We spotted lightning on the horizon and decided to […]
Continue readingBack to the Start
We made good progress after the last three days. In a few hours we will pass the Canary Islands. Due to the weather forecast we have decided to pass inshore of the islands, meaning we will go through Fuerteventura and Lanzarote on one side and the African coast on the other. This is where we expect the best winds. We will thus pass Tenerife far outside our visibility. But it is still good to know […]
Continue readingStart of the Second Race
After yesterday’s briefing we finished our tasks onboard before heading out for dinner. I would be our last meal on firm grounds for presumably the next 28 days. So we got some Tappas, fresh fish and a big portion of dessert. Well fed we can start into this first ocean crossing race towards Uruguay. The day started then quite early. We still head to complete a few safety briefs before we were allowed to head […]
Continue readingStart for Stage 1
After the crew party on Friday night all crew gathered in an auditorium of the University of Portsmouth on Saturday morning. During a little more than one hour we were informed about the race course, were told about the specialities of the first stage and learnt about the weather from the race meteorologist. And it became clear to everyone that these first fee days would not be easy. After the crew briefing we had the […]
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