Sunday 16 October

Lady Rebel (Fleet 2)

Crossing the Tropic of Cancer!!

End of a long night shift

From blog.mailasail.com/ladyrebel

Saturday 15 October

Tourterelle (Fleet 2)

Ian & Ann, S/V Tourterelle

Today is our 23^rd wedding anniversary and it will be one to remember, our first one at sea.

Just the two of us with a few good friends around us in VHF contact. One to remember.

The sun is burning its way through the clouds and we are sailing using the Gennaker at 4.7 knots in 9.5 knots of wind.

Laridae (Fleet 1)

Passage to Cape Verde: Day 4

 You may have noted that a theme of the passage updates for this trip have been the continual forecast for diminishing winds. We expected to have the wind diminish towards the end of Day 3 and we were sure that we would need to motor all of Day 4 and Day 5. However, we continued to have great sailing conditions through the night of Day 3 and into the morning of Day 4. We were pleased with each hour of consistent 12-15 knots of wind pushing us gently towards Cape Verde.

Shortly after sunrise, we were able to pick up a few close boats (Sameera & Jiyu) on the VHF radio. We were not able to see the boats on the horizon or AIS, but we knew that they were nearby (10-20 miles away) from our intended course and speed.

The VHF conversation was focused on the numerous flying fish that we had all seen the previous night and the occasional crash-landing of a fish on the deck. Jiyu was hit by two flying fish; one landed on the deck and one entered the window and landed below! Since there wasn’t enough meat to feed the family, the crew of Jiyu tossed the fish back overboard.

This discussion immediately encouraged Dorian and Anneka to scan the decks of Laridae, and sure enough, they found one fish on the port deck. Unfortunately for the fish (and for our breakfast plans), the poor choice of flight path was too long ago, and the fish was well dead (and partially dehydrated).

As you do with young kids on board, and plenty of time on your hands, we immediately started to dissect the fish and examine its stomach contents. After that short biology lesson, the obvious next step was to use the fish as a lure. After inserting a hook through its mouth, we connected it to our fishing line and tossed it overboard – thereby starting the next science lesson about the food chain.

Dorian went into the common endless loop thoughts of an inquisitive nine year old and asked “what if a bigger fish bit the lure and then a bigger fish ate it, and a bigger fish ate it, and a bigger . . .?”

Eliana was just happy that we had tossed the “lawyer” over the side to try to catch a big fish, and she asked us several times if we were still towing the “lawyer” behind the boat?!?!

While we are documenting cute Eliana phrases, it is worth noting that she has told us:

1. She does not like taking bus tours of volcanic islands because she is concerned that the volcano could “interrupt” her.

2. She is asking if we can find a “dock” halfway across the ocean so that she can rest and take a break from the rocking & rolling action onboard.

Read more on www.laridae.ca

Kirikou (Fleet 1)

Ici tout roule sauf le vent qui pointe absent depuis hier.

On fait donc du moteur sous un ciel baché. Du coup c’est tout tranquille à bord et nous avons même lancé une session école ce matin.

Croisé un bateau à moteur portugais qui fait Tenerife Mindelo. Pas de contact avec les autres….

Tableau de pêche en hausse avec deux poissons volants trouvés sur le pont! Dauphins ce matin.

ETA le 17/10 à 08H00 (heure des canaries)