We have thrown the towels, both SY Sutje and myself. The high pressure system on the Atlantic has intensified over the last two days giving it another notch over night with expected wind speeds now in the second half of the journey of 35kn and waves up to 3m. We concluded, enough is enough.
The start would have been perfect but conditions are getting heavy – too heavy now – at arrival in Cabo Verde, which is a bit of a tricky approach same time.
We were pumped up and had all systems checked but gut feeling was not right, which was not caused by dinner the day before. Better slow and safe we concluded.
On the upside, both ships got a berth in San Sebastián de la Gomera and we plan there for a week until this huge high pressure system has moved further NE and more favourable winds are expected to take us to Cabo Verde and further on as per the plan. No change to that.
ETA Marina de La Gomera, tomorrow dawn time.
Fair winds…
Today was a slow Sunday with just a few more short bike rides. Together with approximately 13 other Germans we stormed into Lidl simultaneously as soon as the door lock got released at 8:00 am.😅
As there was a bit of a cloud cover all day, I applied Boracol 10Y to the toerail. It showed some signs of black stains and I hope Boracol will tackle it over the next two weeks or so.
Jan and myself have studied and discussed the weather forecasts intensively and it looks like we are going to throw the lines tomorrow morning.
Fair winds…
I am doing some final miles for stockpiling food and jumped into the saddle this morning to get some fresh tuna into the fridge for the upcoming passage. Our departure date has now been set to coming Monday @ 9am. Luckily the marina accepted us another night.
I went to the Pescaderia in Arguineguin about 10km west of Pasito Blanco. Full trip and additional photos can be seen under this link. Carrying almost 2kg of tuna in the rucksack on the way back. Upon arrival I shared with SY Sutje and SY Momentum of Fal, as we are all tuna addicts.
After completing various other jobs from the To-Do-List and a short siesta nap, I took another ride to Lidl, this time via Playa de las Meloneras, a promising route, new to me. Find some photos under this link.
Rushing back against the sunset – with, again, a heavy rucksack on the back – the focus moved onto cooking.
8pm, after dinner, was time for a round of Brändi Dog on SY Sutje, a parlour game we played before and I am still learning. It’s hard brain work at the end of another sugar day…but good fun and makes you even more tired.
Fair winds…& good night!
Together with René, skipper of SY Momentum of Fal, we went out for another evening 
ride. The Dunas de Maspalomas were on my list besides some food shopping at Mercadona on the way back.
The copy right of the above photos goes to Oliver H., my close sailing mate at that point in time, while both of us serving the German Navy. He also inspired me for photography to be an art.
We have been to these dunes together in 1988 and I got vague memories on them but one aspect is very clear. The number of buildings and developments over the past 34 years has changed the scene. So have the people. Glad there is still something left of the dunes itself and its more than a stretch of a three meters wide beach. Construction industry sometimes does not stop. Maspalomas is pretty awful nowadays, if you ask me. A beautiful natural spot turned into an artificial touristic showdown.
As we got a bit more time before sailing on, I took the morning ride today into the mountainous area of Gran Canaria. Nice biking ground, not too much traffic and back around 10am just before the sun starts to kick in. The landscape is interesting as you can see on the photos attached to the Komoot recording below.
Upon arrival at Marina Pasito Blanco, I went straight to the fuel dock to top-up our tank with Diesel. There might be pockets with no wind on the way to Capo Verde and better start with a full tank. While the initial stopover was planned for two nights, the weather forecast intends to test our patience. Perhaps we have to stay a couple of days longer rather than motor sailing the Atlantic. Let’s keep monitoring. We are not in a rush.
Will get some sleep now.
Fair winds…
I am not at all a fan of these acceleration zones between islands, where the channel through two islands funnels the wind and accelerates its velocity. They are known and do not come as a surprise but I was hoping to get along without. No way! Why should I? At the southern part of Gran Canaria wind and waves picked up for around 2 hours. Wind topped 35kn and waves, I am not sure, a bit chaotic but nothing dramatic. Now we are back at 15kn, all normal.
Mindelo has also an acceleration zone between the islands São Vincent and Santo Antão. I think this was our preparation and training ground.
Another 5nm to reach Marina Pasito Blanco for our short stop-over.
Fair winds…