Leg 16 – Atlantic Crossing – La Gomera to Bequia via Cape Verde – Daily updates

Here we are, the great moment has arrived! It is time to set sail and head towards the horizon, accross an Ocean. On the other side of that ocean, the realization of a dream.

This page will be updated daily (see bottom of page) during our crossing if and when time allows, to share updates about our progress and the situation onboard. If there is no update, please try later.

For that very special leg, our friend Micke (Mikael) joined us. Micke is already familiar with the boat since he was the owner of Lovisa before we convinced him that it was a great idea to sell her to us.

We have planned to split our journey towards the Caribbeans in two parts, making a stop in Mindelo in Cape Verde. From there, after a few days, we will proceed west towards the Caribbean. Our arrival destination on the other side of the Atlantic will depend on the wind direction and our mood. It will be Barbados or one of the Leeward islands (Dominica, Martinique, St Lucie, St Vincent and Grenadine, Grenada). But remember “sailors are used to write their plans in the sand at low tide” …

We remained 12 nights in Marina Amarilla in San Miguel de Abona. During these days we focused on the preparation of the boat. We cleaned the water tank, we bought food for the journey and packed it inside the boat. We got our empty propane gas cylinder refilled. Micke brought with him the little plug that we needed for the carburator of the outboard engine so we also solved the problem of the engine dying when accelerating. We now have a healthy engine ready for Cape Verde! We remained much longer in the Marina than we initially anticipated but we feel ready and Lovisa is in great shape!

We decided to start the journey from La Gomera so Micke could have a shake off sailing before going straight to the vast ocean and also because it is just a lovely place to be! We started the crossing from Tenerife to La Gomera sailing downwind until the wind disappeared in the middle between the two islands. When the wind picked up again we sailed close reach in 8-9 m/s of wind, straight towards San Sebastián.

As usual, we were troll fishing on the way. One hour before arrival, a fish took the bite while we were sailing between 6,5 and 7 knots. We didn’t make it on time to slow the boat down, after a few seconds, the line just snapped off, what we missed was a big blue fish that jumped out of the water 50 meters behind the boat at the moment the line snapped off. First jig lost!

We arrived in La Gomera Monday end of the afternoon, happy for the very enjoyable sailing. We took the following day to fill up the gas bottle that was still in use. It was still half full but it will feel very comfortable to leave with two full bottles and in principle we will not finish the first bottle prior to arrival in the Caribbeans. We bought the fresh food to consume during the first days and said goodbye to our friends on S/Y Siesta who were also in San Sebastián.

Now we are ready!

Food: We are carrying 70 meals (lunch / dinner) per person and 35 breakfasts per person. On top of that we carry some food to eat outside of meals.

Water: We are leaving with full tank of water (200L) and we carry an emergency reserve of 18 sealed 1,5L mineral water bottles. The Emergency reserve is mostly in case, for some reason, we would have a contamination in the water tank so it would not be possible to drink that water anymore and at the same time, it would be impossible to make fresh water with the watermaker whatever the reason could be.

Alcohol: we carry no alcohol onboard except for the celebration bottle that is not supposed to be opened before arrival.

Fuel: We are leaving with full diesel tank, that is 130L. We have 160L in jerrycans stored on deck. The engine is consuming about 2L/h at normal cruising speed so with 290L we can run about 6 days non-stop on engine.

The distances for the pasages and durations are approximately as per below.

Distance from La Gomera to Mindelo (Cap Verde): 800 Nm, approximately 7 days at 5 knots.

Distance from Mindelo to Bridgetown (Barbados): 2000 Nm, appropriately 16,5 days at 5 knots.

Distance from Mindelo to Le Marin (Martinique): 2200 Nm, approximately 18,5 days at 5 knots.

Time to write our story !

Day 1 (La Gomera to Mindelo)

Departure from La Gomera Wednesday 19 November at 13:00.

Day 2

Update 20 November at 13:00 GMT.
Position N27.5315, W18.0766

Distance covered during the last 24hours 60Nm.

Distance remaining to Mindelo: 745Nm.

Lower winds were expected during the night and early morning of Thursday so we made a stop for the night and anchored on the southern coast of El Hierro instead  of going on engine. We had a very pleasant sailing from La Gomera to El Hierro that we reached a bit before 3am.
We left our anchorage at 11 am after so me manovers to free the anchor chain entangled between rocks. Now heading south as a light breeze is picking up.
Happy to be on our way !

Day 3

Update 21 November at 13:00 GMT.
Position N25.7232, W19.0875
Distance covered during the last 24hours 121Nm.
Distance remaining to Mindelo: 624Nm.
We sailed all day yesterday and all night with steady winds around 6 to 8m/s with not much waves. Lovely! At 9am this morning we caught a beautiful Bonito of around 60cm. This time the line didn't snap off and we managed to get it onboard. It took two hours to prepare it. Half of it will be our lunch today, the  other half is left to marinate in olive oil, lemon, garlic and salt in the fridge.
The boat is fine and we feel lucky to have such great sailing conditions.

Day 4

Update 22 November at 13:00 GMT.
Position N24.2708, W20.0056
Distance covered during the last 24hours 101Nm.
Distance remaining to Mindelo: 523Nm.
Wind dropped a bit yesterday evening down to 5 - 6 m/s, sometime even belown 5 m/s and turned a bit toward northeast making our progression slower. We sailed with genoa and jib during the night. We hoisted the gennaker this morning to try to get some speed. The waves are still low so the sailing is very pleasant. The sun is shining over the crew. It is 28 degrees in the boat but we still need warm gears during the nights. All good onboard !

Day 5

Update 23 November at 13:00 GMT.
Position N22.4736, W20.2000
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 93 Nm.
Distance remaining to Mindelo: 430.
Yesterday and tonight we still had low wind speed around 4 to 5 m/s. Last couple of hours the wind speed finally increased to 6-8 m/s and we make better speed, 5-7 knots with main and genoa (same sail set as we used during the night). Wind direction is east-north east. Because of a weather system that we expect to meet tonight, since yesterday afternoon we take a detour going south instead of the direct route which is now west from our position. We think this will make the route towards Mindelo afterwards easier after this weather system will have passed us.
We still have quite small waves and another pleasant day in the sun. Now preparing pasta with part of the bonito that we marinated. Still happy to be out there!

Day 6

Update 24 November at 13:00 GMT.
Position N20.7588, W20.9229
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 103Nm.
Distance remaining to Mindelo: 327 Nm.
We passed a warm front during night. It got also warmer and more humid onboard. We ran the engine a couple of hours yesterday evening to recharge the batteries and make some fresh water with the watermaker. A small bird decided to join the crew for a few hours and flew away after visiting also the inside of the boat. We are sailing again after a few hours of engine in a no wind area. Some squalls around. All good onboard.

Day 7

Update 25 November at 13:00 GMT.
Position N19.3569, W22.1678
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 108Nm.
Distance remaining to Mindelo: 218Nm.
After the last message yesterday the wind increased drastically and we ended in very hard wind close reach for about 3 hours with some waves reaching 4-5m. We had a small problem with the furling system so we couldn't reef the genoa and we sailed with mainsail only with 2 reefs. Slow and uncomfortable sometime smashing hard into the waves. During the night we had to change course to avoid thunderstorms that were on our way. The radar was a good investment, it helped us monitor the activity and decide where to go. Now sailing downwind with good winds pushing us at 6-7 knots with genoa only. And it is sunny again ! The crew is doing fine.

Day 8

Update 26 November at 13:00 GMT.
Position N18.1330 W23.2400
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 93Nm.
Distance remaining to Mindelo: 125Nm
ETA tomorrow beginning of afternoon. 
We slowed down during the night to let potential thunderstorms pass ahead. This was the first time we sailed with ropes behind the boat, and also without sails. The ropes did a good job of not only slowing down but also stabilizing the boat in the waves. The boat drifted downwind at around 2-3 knots.
Now sailing downwind with stable wind and blue sky. Fantastic day to compensate for a couple of night without that much sleep. 
During the night a couple of flying fish landed on deck. They were dead when when we found them in the morning and not really looking good so we didn't try to cook them. Curious to see what Cape Verde will look like.

Day 9

Update 27 November at 13:20 GMT.
Position N16.9911 W24.8999
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 118Nm.
Distance remaining to Mindelo: 7Nm
Eight days after leaving La Gomera, we have Cape Verde in sight! It appeared only when we were just 8 Nm from the shore. Arrival in Mindelo in a bit less than 2 hours. We fished a small bonito and a small mahi mahi this morning that we released because they were too small. We had a good catch later this morning but this lucky fish managed to escape. Our new blue squid jig seems to be working well.

News from Mindelo, Cape Verde, on 29 November and our impressions about the crossing

After 814 Nm from La Gomera here we are now in Mindelo, on the island of São Vincente. It took us a bit longer than foreseen.

We left La Gomera on Wednesday (November 19) after lunch. Although the winds were good between La Gomera and El Hierro, the weather forecast was not very promising beyond El Hierro. A long period of low wind was foreseen so we preferred spending the night anchored on the south coast of El Hierro instead of running the night on engine and consuming diesel unnecessarily. But anchoring by night with no surrounding light and no knowledge of the anchoring place was probably a bit of a gambling. We relied on the information available on Navily about this anchorage. It was stating ”sandy bottom”. Looking down through the water in the morning daylight, we found that we anchored above rocks. Just rocks, not a single patch of sand.

We snorkeled to see how the anchor and the chain were sitting. The chain was entangled around a rock. Luckily we managed to lift the chain and the anchor by hand to have better control without them getting stuck while lifting. The depth was around 10 m so it wouldn’t have been possible for us to dive that deep without diving equipment to entangle the chain or the anchor by hand.

Luckily, at 11 am, the anchor was up and secured on the boat.

The part of El Hierro we anchored on was very wild. We could see just a couple of isolated houses built on the slope of the volcano. A perfect location for a book writer who wants to isolate from the rest of the world and away from distraction to give full space to inspiration.

The wind picked up right after we left El Hierro so we could hoist sail nearly immediately and set direct course towards Mindelo at 210 degrees. The following day, we caught a bonito which actually provided food for five meals for the three of us. Lovely! To make it last longer, we marinated it using a method suggested by our friends on S/Y Gossip 2 that we met in Tenerife, using olive oil, lemon, garlic and salt.

Later on the route, we made a detour heading straight south 180 degrees, to avoid bad weather that was building up, and we stayed on this course for about a day and half. The idea was to position ourselves behind this bad weather. We had confirmation from our friend Anna who is a meteorologist that this was a good idea. Although we still experienced hard winds, we managed to avoid a thunderstorm that we saw only from far away. If we had remained on our course or decided to go south too late, we would have ended up right in the middle of it as we heard happed to other boats. For a similar reason, a few days before arrival we slowed down the boat an entire night because the weather forecast was indicating possible risk for thunderstorm ahead, and we preferred leaving that one passing in front of us. We were actually very content that our strategies to avoid thunderstorms worked out so well. Although weather forecasts are changeable and not always reliable, the main trends were there and we could use them. In addition, our radar clearly showed the areas with thunderstorms when they were not too far away, and we could see that our course was not bringing us closer to them. It must have been quite different to do this kind of journey before having updated weather forecasts or radar possibilities. 

As we were covering distance to the south, the temperature gradually increased. It was so pleasant to remove layers of clothes during the night shifts. And in day time, with the warmth of the sun combined with a cooling sensation from the wind, the journey was very enjoyable. For Emilien and Maria, the addition of Micke on the boat also meant much more sleep than during earlier crossings (although sleep is always better in a harbor), very much appreciated. 

Apart from the pilot whales we met between La Gomera and El Hierro, we were surprised not to see any dolphins during this crossing. We did see many flying fish including a few who landed on the boat. Having a closer look at them, it is so amazing that they can fly, really fly and change direction in the air, not just jump. They look like fish, not like birds at all, but have long fins on the sides. Another cool thing we saw during night time was very small fish that jumped like crazy in the water as we shone light from the head lamp on them. Combined with the plankton that produce light when disturbed, it looked like flying lumps of light above the water. Super cool! Otherwise, the night shifts also included the company of star constellations that were so clear. It is a relief to be in this company rather than constantly bombarded by bad news of the world. Many (perhaps the majority) of sailors today have Starlink which allows them to be online all the time. We chose not to do this because we want to have a rest and focus on enjoying nature. Our Iridium Go satellite phone provides possibilities for weather updates and communications, but not for online surfing. 

Because of the humidity in the air, it took quite some time before we could see land as we were approaching. Suddenly, the high mountains were visible and we covered the last couple of hours on motor to provide electricity for the water maker to top up the water tank. The water in Cape Verde is not entirely safe for us to drink as we are not used to it, so we preferred making our own water.

This time we managed to arrive in daylight! It was very nice to step on land, celebrate the arrival with beer and mojito and have a shower. Here, the sailors pay water by liter consumed, including in the shower and from the dock. Sweden could learn a lot about methods to save water from water-scarce countries like Cape Verde. 

The first impression of Cape Verde from the vicinity of the Mindelo marina has been very good, with friendly people, beautiful buildings, good food and a background of high mountains. All this provided a good reason to open the second gift from Maria’s sister and brother in law. This time, we found French ecological chocolate 70 % that was carefully wrapped and had not melted! So tasty.

We are now curious to explore more of the surroundings over the next few days or so, before we head on towards the Caribbean.

A new update will come before we set sail again. Stay tuned.

News from Mindelo, Cape Verde, on 2 December

After a few days to relax and a day as tourists around São Vicente with our friends from S/Y Mana, it is time for Emilien and Maria to set sail again. We have fixed departure date from Mindelo for 3rd of December. We will aim towards Bequia (Saint Vincent and Grenadines). The trip is estimated to last 18 days if we do 5 knots.

Day 1 (Mindelo to Bequia)

Departure from Mindelo on Wednesday 3 December.

Day 2

Update 4 December at 13:30 GMT-1
Position N16.8585, W27.2470
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 131Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 1997Nm.
We left our berth in Mindelo Marina at 13:30 local time (GMT-1) after we completed all the checks we are used to do. The wind was there waiting for us already outside of the harbor so we started sailing right away. However we run on engine for an hour and half through the wind shadow of San Antao and took that opportunity to make fresh water with the watermaker. Trade winds are blowing between 9 and 13m/s since we left yesterday.

We took a Mahi Mahi this morning but we released it because it was a bit small. Then another bigger fish but it managed to release. We see two other sail boats close to us and it feels good. 

Day 3

Update 5 December at 13:30 GMT-1
Position N16.9037, W29.5059
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 130Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 1867Nm.
Winds are steady 9 to 11m/s and the sea state a bit calmer with longer waves, still high. The windvane is in charge of the steering and mamage very well. A seabird landed on one solar panel after sunset and slept there for the night. Funny but we have to clean the solar panel. We encountered some squalls this morning but now the sun is shining again. All good onboard.

Day 4

Update 6 December at 12:30 GMT-2 (we have changed timezone)
Position N16.9851, W31.6698
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 125Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 1742Nm.
Winds are steady 8 to 10m/s and the sea state a bit calmer than yesterday. Yesterday evening we got a small mahi mahi after we lost again a bigger fish. It was dinner time so we kept it and cooked it with tomatoes, onions and olives and we served it with potatoes. In the morning we did our new morning routine removing dead fishes that landed on the deck during night. Now we are testing to sail with both the jib and the genoa in butterfly with the windvane still in charge of the steering. The sun is shining, air temperature is about 28 degrees. We feel great to be out there even though we feel the tiredness of the constant rolling.

Day 5

Update 7 December at 12:30 GMT-2 
Position N17.0139 W34.1482
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 143Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 1599Nm. It is a wonderful sunny day onboard Lovisa.
Winds are unchanged, steady 8 to 10m/s. We have managed to maintain nice speed with genoa and jib together and we hope we can keep that pace for a few more days. Now we have a 24m long catamaran called S/Y Belldia on port side. It feels good to have company. The hydrogenerator is in operation. After we have replaced its towing rope that was too short, the propeller is more stable in the water. Now with both the hydrogenerator and solar panel in operation, we can produce fresh water and still keep charging the batteries without the need of the boat engine. Happy to be out here.

Day 6

Update 8 December at 12:30 GMT-2 
Position N16.9819 W36.3770
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 129Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 1470Nm. The wind dropped a bit yesterday afternoon and night and it is still not back as it was. But this gave us a night on a flatter sea and great sleep. Yesterday  afternoon we caught a wahoo. But to confirm it was a wahoo we had to do some detective work (no picture of wahoo in our fishing book). We digged in the archives we got from Anders and Ann-Christin and found out they took a wahoo in Australia during their trip. We found the picture of that wahoo and our fish was very very similar. We can now also say it tastes delicious marinated in olive oil, garlic, salt and lemon. We took our first shower onboard since  Mindelo, using fresh water produced by the watermaker. Such a luxury to have it. Another wonderful day on Lovisa.

Day 7

Update 9 December at 12:30 GMT-2 
Position N16.8038 W38.7497
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 137Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 1333Nm. We lost one of our champion jigs, the red squid. A big fish took a bite but the reel was too small for it. The fish was pulling the line away even with the break tightened hard, then the line snapped. Right before that, we took a small female mahi mahi that we released. We are happy about our progress so far thanks to the very good winds. Last day we had between 7 and 11m/s. We are now sailing downwind with Genoa on port side and poled jib on starboard. After 6 days keeping ourselves at 17 degrees latitude we are now taking a more southward course following the great circle between Mindelo and Bequia. This is the shortest path, but the difference to a fixed course route is irrelevant here. Not much sleep last night due to waves in different directions. We have SY Aglaia crossing behind us 300m. 

Day 8

Update 10 December at 12:30 GMT-2 
Position N16.6594 W41.0788
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 135Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 1198Nm. Today it is exactly one week we are at sea. The wind has increased a bit and we are now sailing with unpoled genoa only in 11 to 13m/s. Waves have also become bigger. They don't seem to be very dangerous because they break only on the top but a big one broke right on the back of the boat. The splash went on us sitting in the cockpit and inside the boat through the entrance door that we normally keep opened. So now we know it can happen. During a sail change last night we nearly got a flying fish in the head. It landed on the sprayhood and then fell on deck. We were not willing to start cleaning fish in the middle of the night so we returned it to the sea and will wait a bit to check what they actually taste like. Today a mix of sun and clouds. Temperature is around 28 degree during day and 26 at night. no need of warm sailing gear anymore.

Day 9

Update 11 December at 12:30 GMT-2 
Position N16.3052 W43.2700
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 129Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 1069Nm. We are now sailing with reefed Genoa only with average winds between 11 and 15 m/s. Since last night we have a lot of squalls. A few reached us with winds above 18m/s. Not a problem for Lovisa but it is a lot of sail adjustments. We still have big swell coming from different directions, the swell generated by the trade wind is always coming from behind the boat and is not a problem because the boat surf on it. But we have another one coming right on the side. It hits the boat loudly and makes it roll a lot. In an hour or so we are going to reach half way and shortly after that, we will start to count the distance remaining to Bequia with 3 digits. As we were expecting, we start to see more and more sargass in the water so fishing will be complicated now. But  anyhow, we managed to get a beautiful mahi mahi yesterday afternoon. A bit more than 70cm from the mouth to the tip of the tail. We can enjoy a few more meals with fresh fish. Every fish we get means several conserves of processed food that will not need to be opened since we have eaten all our fresh food during the first week.

Day 10

Update 12 December at 11:30 GMT-3 (we have passed 45 degrees west so we are now in a new timezone)
Position N15.7957 W45.5378
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 134Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 935Nm. Yesterday the series of squalls was long but finally behind the last squall, the sun appeared and we could take a rest from the continuous sail adjustments. Today we ran the engine for a couple of hours to fill up a little bit the batteries. The sea is getting even more filled with sargass so we have to enjoy every bite of the mahi mahi we have left in the fridge. Trailing a fishing line in that water and getting something else than a bunch of sargass would be a miracle. All good onboard. 

Day 11

Update 13 December at 11:30 GMT-3
Position N15.6588 W47.9226
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 139Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 796Nm. 
Yesterday afternoon,  S/Y Gossip II appeared on the AIS about 17Nm ahead of us. We met the couple sailing S/Y Gossip II in Marina Amarilla in Tenerife, they had the berth next to ours. We took aperitif on their boat and exchanged contacts. We knew that they left Tenerife about a week after us directly towards  Martinique but we had no idea where they could be now. What a lovely surprise it was to see them that close to us so we could also discuss over the VHF. 
We are now sailing again with poled Genoa on port side and poled jib on starboard. A configuration that is quite fast and quite comfortable. Bequia is still far away but already now we are looking at how to cross the Bequia channel. It can be very rough if crossed in the wrong moment when the tide stream  is flowing against the wind, so good timing will be important.
Also, we don't want to make an arrival by night. To meet those conditions, we might adjust our course and speed. Today lunch will be a mahi mahi pasta. The sun is shining on us and Lovisa on this Lucia day (Swedish celebration of saint Lucy) as we are singing songs about Lucia promising that the light will come back. In Sweden it is quite dark at this time. 

Day 12

Update 14 December at 11:30 GMT-3
Position N15.4084 W50.2312
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 135Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 661Nm. Yesterday evening we ran the motor for a while and produced water.
We spent the night monitoring squalls that kept forming behind us. One passed right over our heads, producing winds up to 17m/s and rain, but all the others passed north or south of our position. After these, for some reason the sea became very  chaotic with waves coming from at least three different directions and several meters high. Now we are hoping for the sea to calm down. This night while we were both in the cockpit doing a sail adjustment we got another flying fish crashing close to us. We didn't see it coming. It was dark but all of a sudden the cockpit started to smell of fish. Like very strong smell of fish. Looking down with the torch we found a beautiful blue flying fish under the steering wheel, jumping all around and trying to get back to the sea.
It was again too late to start frying fish, we gave that one a hand instead and put it back into the water. We are thinking more and more about our arrival in Bequia which we look forward to.

Day 13

Update 15 December at 11:30 GMT-3
Position N14.8563 W52.3830
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 129Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 532Nm.
The long series of squals yesterday left us with very little energy left for the rest of the day. We sailed through the night with the jib only, a bit too small for the wind conditions but perfect for us to get some sleep. 
We ran the engine for a couple of hours this morning to recharge a bit the batteries. The sun will continue to charge them over the day. Nice sailing and nice weather today.

Day 14

Update 16 December at 11:30 GMT-3
Position N14.2878 W54.7257
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 141Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 391Nm.
The (wind I suppose) interrupted sometime by a few squalls. We are now heading right towards the northern coast of Barbados that we will leave on our port side. We expect an arrival in Beqia on Friday some time during the day. This is our wish at least. The wind can always decide something else for us. We had several boats on the AIS a few days ago but now we have none. Most of the boats we met in Mindelo had plan to make landfall in Martinique and those should now be on a more northerly route. Those heading to Barbados should have a more southerly route toward Bridgetown. We look forward to see Barbados so we can say we are in the Caribbeans. All good onboard Lovisa.

Day 15

Update 17 December at 11:30 GMT-3
Position N13.8511 W57.0799
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 140Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 251Nm.
Today we have completed our second week at sea. Yesterday we took a promenade and sat on the fore deck for a while to enjoy a different view of our environment. Last night started with series of squalls but the rest of the night was calm, so we managed to recover a bit of sleep. we are trying get some charge in the batteries since we will be at anchor some time after arrival without access to land electricity. This morning we listened to some Christmas songs to try to grasp the fact that it is almost Christmas... because it doesn't feel like Christmas in the boat with 31 degrees. Tomorrow we should see land !

Day 16

Update 18 December at 10:25 GMT-3
Position N13.4819 W59.2394
We see land ! Barbados at 10 o'clock a bit more than 20 Nm away. So exciting !

Update 18 December at 11:30 GMT-3
Position N13.4504 W59.3543
Distance covered during the last 24 hours: 136Nm.
Distance remaining to Bequia: 115Nm.
After a lovely day sailing in lighter winds yesterday, in the night we had to get back to rolling in and rolling out the genoa before and after each squall. It seems to be the normal trend, the sun goes down so the temperature goes down too and all the water that evaporated in the air during the day condensates and falls down right on the sailboats below. But we are used to it now. Last night another fly fish landed in the cockpit. It landed very close to the open portlight giving to the cabin where Maria was sleeping. It would have been a frightening experience for Maria and for the fish if it landed on Maria  in her sleep. Our flying friend received some help to get back to sea. Tomorrow by this time we hope to be on anchor and hopefully we will have time to make official entry in the country. But before that, a shower will be needed.

Day 17

Update 19 December at 09:50 GMT-4
Position Port Elizabeth, Bequia
We have arrived and it's a paradise.

THANK YOU LOVISA !

Recap from Bequia on our experience crossing from Cape Verde to Bequia

Since we bought Lovisa, the idea had always been to sail over the Atlantic ocean with Micke. And so we did from Canary Islands to Cape Verde. Ending up doing the remaining Atlantic passage just the two of us sounded like a major change in plan but it didn’t take long to get motivated again. After all, we made the whole way down to the Canary Islands with just the two of us. We had no doubt we could do this one too although we would miss the nice company of Micke and be more tired. A great advantage with an additional experienced crew, since sailing is a full time job, is the relief it provides. One more person for night watch meaning more time to sleep, one more head to think when troubles come, more arms to do the things.

We left Mindelo on Wednesday 3 December while Micke wished us fair winds from the pontoon. Thank you for the great time from Canary Islands to Cape Verde ! We were as happy to leave Mindelo as we were happy when we arrived there. Happy to leave as always after several days spent in a harbor. Happy to leave also because there was a very thin black dust in the air that was getting really annoying… It would get everywhere on the boat, on our clothes and most probably in our lungs. But most of all, happy to leave because we were eager to finally reach the Caribbeans after more than 6 months sailing from Sweden, and with a possible arrival before Christmas!

The weather forecast was giving full blown trade winds without any weather system in the north Atlantic risking to disturb them.Already right outside of the harbour we found winds of 8 to 9 m/s. Promising! While some boat raised the spinnaker right away, we chose a conservative setting to start with. With such a long way ahead we wanted to focus on ourselves first and on getting into the rythm.

After a few hours of sailing from Mindelo, we reached the wind shadow of the island Santo Antao. From there and for an hour and half we progressed on engine. We took that opportunity to produce fresh water. The water available at the pontoon at Mindelo Marina is safe to drink in theory as it comes from their desalination plant but the transportation from desalination plant to the city is not completely safe. Although we saw several boats using that water, as we have a watermaker onboard we decided not to load water in Mindelo from the pontoon and instead produce our own drinking water to refill the tank.

The first 2 days of sailing were quite relaxing going with Genoa only with good speed. As we started to get into the daily rythm and as the wind dropped a litte, we decided it was time to see if we could recover a bit of the lost speed. So we tried the setup with 2 front sails; the genoa on one side and the jib on the other with a spinnaker pole to hold it. And it worked great in the 11 to 15m/s winds we found along the way! The main advantage we saw with this setup was the possibility to sail dead downwind (our sesired course) at acceptable speed. And by not using the mainsail, there was no risk of getting the boom in the head during an unexpected gybe. Unless running into it.

Slowly, day after day, our routine got into place: breakfast at 7:30 after the last night shift of Emilien and sleeping time of Maria. During daylight hours, one of us would take care of the navigation for a few hours at a time without fixed schedule allowing the one not in charge to have some free time. Depending on the state of the sea and weather, we would cook more or less complicated meals. Lunch around 11:30 boat time (which we adjuted along the way by one hour every 15 degree longitude) and 18:00 dinner. First watch Maria from 19:00 to 22:00. Emilien from 22:00 to 01:00 then Maria again 01:00 to 04:00 and Emilien the last one 04:00 to 07:00. We followed the same routine that worked for the previous crossings from Cascais to Madeira and Madeira to Lanzarote. During night shifts, when the sky was not cloudy we could admire the millions of stars. As we where heading toward west, every night sailing started with the constellation of Orion right on our stern slowly rising up in the sky and passing on port side. Cassiopea on starbord side. The pleiades right above us. Later during the night, big bear would appear from the north on our starbord side. It actually felt like we had the best visual of where we were heading at night time because of this. These night shifts provided time to reflect and it felt great to do so in the company of stars.

Catching, preparing and eating fish added great value to the journey. These felt like major events and we were happy to avoid the ravioli cans (which are still all unopened). It also meant quite some work and the last days we were too tired to think about preparing fish so we did not attempt fishing even when the sargasso sometimes disappeard. Every time we had a fish on the hook and we could hear the typical sound of the reel, we had to follow the same procedure: increase the break of the reel so the fish didn’t pull out all the line. Slow down the boat by rolling in the genoa and releasing the sheet of the jib. Take the towed hydrogenerator out of the water. Only then could we start the fight with the fish and try to get it on the boat. Once on the boat we could get back sailing, unfurling the genoa and tightening the jib sheet again. Depending on the size of the fish, it took us between 30 minutes and 2 hours to prepare the fish including the cleaning of the boat.

Shortly – this crossing was a unique experience that sometimes felt amazing and other times very tiring. We are so happy to have experienced it. Now after arrival, it has been wonderful to read the comments on this post from an internet cafe. Thanks everyone who has been cheering on us!