Daily Cruising Log – Gibraltar To Las Palmas
As promised, here is the content from our live Daily Cruising Log – Gibraltar to Las Palmas. These updates were posted on a daily basis through our IridiumGO! satellite modem while underway. The sweetest thing with the IridiumGO! however, is the possibility to download the latest weather forecasts and also make phone calls and send SMS messages.
Oh, and of course, updating you with our daily status.
Which at some point got a bit crazy, but hey.
Being at sea for a while does that to you. This was by far the roughest part of the trip, but we enjoyed it and were happy to finally be on our way towards new adventures and warmer climates.
Make sure to read these with a pinch of salt, some of them are quite ironic! I’ve added some pictures that we couldn’t share while at sea, so even if you already read the updates, you will probably enjoy re-reading them and having a look at the pictures to put the trip into perspective!
If you haven’t followed this trip from the beginning, make sure you check out the following:
Atlantic Crossing part 1: Sailing from Almerimar to Gibraltar
Atlantic Crossing part 2: Exploring Gibraltar and Sailing To Las Palmas
Today is departure day!
Wed Dec 08 2021 – 36 08.092N 5 21.282W
We leave Queensway marina in Gibraltar 12:00 and set sail towards Las Palmas. Estimated arrival is Monday or Tuesday
Day 1
Wed Dec 08 2021 35 59.245N 5 34.190W
Quite a bit of wind straight on the nose, around 20-30kt, swell not too bad. Strong current is slowing us down as we motor to get out of the Gibraltar Strait.
We will change our course SSW in a few hours and sail well clear off the Moroccan coast.
That should give us a sweet beam to broad reach and swell from behind. Yesterday’s chicken curry was excellent lunch and we’re all happy to be on our way.
Day 2
Thu Dec 09 2021 34 42.558N 7 4.096W
Excellent conditions throughout the night with long swell from behind while sailing comfortable 6.5 – 8 kt in 12-20 kt of wind on a beam reach. The wind died down this morning to about 10 kt and shifted to more or less straight behind.
Sunny and nice weather and we have been playing around with the new sails and enjoying ourselves. We are getting into the passage vibe without anything but the sea and sun around us and no phone service. It is absolutely gorgeous out here!
Crossed fingers for a bit more wind tonight and knocking wood not to jinx it.
Day 3
Fri Dec 10 021 33 24.941N 9 29.029W
The wind has picked up to above 20 kt again so we’re now flying! The swell out here is massive and coming in from starboard and stern rocking Ellidah around like a rockstar.
They are long however so we are fairly comfortable. The temperature is increasing the further south we get which is nice, especially on night watch. It has been a cloudy day so we hope to get some sun tomorrow.
Otherwise, not much happening.
We rigged the spinnaker pole, Karolius is making Pasta Bolognese and we cleaned the dishes (not as simple as it sounds!)
Other than that, we are all enjoying the trip and Captain and crew are doing great. 4 hour watches 24/7 work very well.
Have a nice weekend, we will for sure! B-)
Day 4
Sat Dec 11 32 06.850N 12 07.540W
Hi, today’s update by Karolius summarized.
Wind still more than 20 knots. 10 m/s for some of you. Waves forecasted to 3.2 meters. However, experiencing about 4.0 meters, which is quite a bit. Not to mention the 15-20 degrees of heel to each side.
Nevertheless, this is coming from behind so it’s bearable. We have been jibbling, jobbling and jabbling (still learning the sailing language so might be different words out there. No need to Google them) since this morning.
From noon the winds of 25-30 knots have sailed us towards Lanzarote. The waves are now at least 5 meters, and Captain Robin is to wash off his footprints on the bulkhead later, after trying to re-heat my Bolognese made yesterday in 35 degrees heel. Hopefully, the weather will calm down from the 35 knots of wind and 45 degrees heel a bit later and give us calmer conditions from midnight and tomorrow. That’s what’s forecasted at least.
Today King Neptune sent dolphins to wake us up this morning. They played around the boat for an hour or two. Actually, when I mention it, they might have foreseen the 6-meter waves and 50 knots of wind and that’s why they left us…
Have a good sail day and stay tuned (or jibbed) till next update approximately the same time tomorrow
K
Day 5
Sun Dec 12 2021 30 12.901N 13 03.264W
We have all been tired today as yesterday and last night were pretty rough. Nasty 5–6-meter big waves like hangar doors played us around, but luckily the 25-30 knots of wind kept Ellidah stable. We finally got some sun today that charged both us and the batteries with energy.
The sea is now calm and the wind light, we are currently cruising slowly along at 4 knots and expect the wind to completely die off sometime tonight and by that time we should be just west of Lanzarote. We will probably motor the last bit into Gran Canaria.
Great mood on board and we’re all enjoying this trip so far!
-Robin
Day 6
Mon Dec 13 2021 28 54.730N 14 35.341W
Update by Karolius again!
Last night was horrible. Not much wind and fairly in the right direction. However, managed to play cards out in the cockpit, Monopoly Deal (our favorite game so far because Cpt. Robin cheats in the board game Risk). We had beers and a nice sunset, doing 4 calm knots of speed. Could be worse I believe.
The night was as predicted by the weather forecast, with 10 knots of wind from behind. At 0600 UTC+1 we experienced an electricity blackout due to wrong calibration of the electric system and battery bank. Are now charging up again with sun, (20 degrees in shadow (we’re all wearing bikinis) and motor idling.
The forecast is slightly wrong and we still have wind enough for 5 kts of speed. The plan is to sail and then slowly adjust our speed for ETA 0900 UTC+1 Las Palmas Tuesday.
Yeah! We had dolphins playing around today as well. Don’t know if it’s a bad sign yet…
K
Day 7
Tue Dec 14 2021 28 07.896 15 25.390W
We arrived in Las Palmas early this morning and slowed down to time our entrance in the harbor to daylight at 08:00 local time. The marina is full, so we are anchored at the moment waiting to get a spot tomorrow or Thursday. Then we will do some provisioning and be ready to leave for Cape Verde as soon as we get a decent weather window. I expect this next leg of the trip to take 7-8 days.
We met up with my friends from SV Sunday here today and look forward to some cool game nights and fun with them before heading off again. And of course, there are some boat jobs to do as always.
What a great trip!
More Delays And Lots Of Fun In Las Palmas
As you read above, we arrived in Las Palmas after 6 days at sea. (We counted the departure day as Day 1)
Some parts of the trip were pretty rough, but both crew and boat managed very well. We noted that the temperature was increasing every day as we progressed south, which was very nice.
We finally met up with Ryan, Brittni, and Jackson on SV Sunday in the most hilarious way.
Next up: Atlantic Crossing part 3: Enjoying Las Palmas And Smooth Sailing To Cape Verde