Passage to Mindelo: Day 6

If we're able to post this, I'll be relieved. Last night when we were trying to get new grib files, Sailmail refused our connection request. We hope whatever caused that will be cleared today. It's a reminder, though, not to worry if you don't hear from us for a few days.

Last night we were able to sail much of the time, but this morning the wind really slacked, and what remains of it is too variable to use, so the motor is back on. We expect it to continue this way through the night, but we have hopes for a little wind tomorrow. We're about two days out from Mindelo at our current pace.

This morning before dawn John landed another mahi-mahi, quite a big one this time. It was a relief because his old jig was lost, and it was a proven fish killer in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean. Perhaps that pilot whale took it after all. Whatever, it's good to know that the new jig works too.

All is well aboard Solstice, and we're having pizza tonight despite the fresh fish.

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Passage to Mindelo: Day 5

We're finally actually pointing toward Mindelo again after almost three days of sailing south. Last night Herb advised us to go even further south--or even east--and we tried all night, but it was very slow. What little wind we had was directly behind us and not doing us any good since we aren't configured for true downwind sailing. Finally, this morning we decided to sail for awhile at 90 degrees off the wind. That took us west of south (yay!), but it was fast, and when the wind eased even more, we set a track west for a waypoint near Mindelo. That's been working out fine so far, and we can always turn south again if necessary.

Yesterday after the dolphin show, a pod of pilot whales came by. I was just as glad that they didn't get too close. And this morning we saw a big turtle. (John saw one yesterday too, but I was busy at the time.) Other than what I've reported, most of the sea life we've seen has been ships. We've been surprised how much traffic there is along the African coast. Meridian 18 west is almost like a highway, and the ships seem to move in convoys. (They probably don't, but it looks like it.) Now that we've turned, we expect to less traffic.

Yesterday was a slow day: only 109.5 nautical miles (4.56 knots average), but that's in a straight line, and we did turn.

All is well aboard Solstice, and by the way, we're officially in the tropics having crossed the Tropic of Cancer on day 3.

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Passage to Mindelo: Day 3

In the past 24 hours we covered 122 nautical miles measuring in a straight line. That's an average speed of a little better than 5 knots (but we really went a little farther and faster because we had a course change as explained below). Most of that has been motor-sailing because the wind is light and still from the southwest.

While dining on fresh mahi-mahi in the cockpit yesterday evening we spotted a whale on the horizon. It was our first confirmed sighting in a couple of years. It was too far away to tell for sure, but judging from the blow and the silhouette, we think it was a sperm whale. This morning a pilot whale was investigating John's jig. Smarter than a mahi-mahi, it didn't linger. Also, we've discovered what we suppose are jellyfish that are new to us. We only see them at night when they look like beach-ball-sized flashes in our wake.

At the end of day 2 we were heading straight for Mindelo on a bearing of 230 degrees. However, last night we were successful in connecting with our weather guru, Herb of South Bound II. We couldn't hear everything he said very clearly, but we did get that there's a little weather system between us and Mindelo. Boats on the other side of it are getting nice sailing with northwest winds. Herb advised us to head straight south until Friday evening, so that's what we're doing. But I hope he changes his mind tonight and lets us go west. The grib files are totally wrong about the wind direction now, so we have to trust Herb.

We learned on the Rum Runners Net this morning that lots of boats are headed to Mindelo. It was news to us since, as I mentioned before, we were isolated from other cruisers in Las Palmas. I don't know how long they're all staying, but most of them will beat us there. I sure hope the marina saves our reservations.

All is well aboard Solstice, but we'd really like to turn the motor off and still get to Mindelo before Christmas.

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