To Sea At Last

We were in Lanzerote for three weeks. it was a very useful place and we got all our repairs done. that included the water maker being installed, we would die without it and the wind direction unit fixed, we had to replace two various motors  that had worn out.

Whilst installing the water maker we had a carpenter come do the wood work around it. He is called Dale. He is from Newzeland and has lived on and off Lanzarote for twenty years. He has a boat in Grenadier an island beside Trinidad, which has been stuck there for a year and a half. After sailing across the Atlantic three times he is very experienced. Ron decided to let him come onboard for the crossing so we could drop him off in Trinidad. Also Potia is going to be getting off at the cape Verdes. She does not want to cross an ocean whilst five months pregnant. But she will be joining us again in Tobago. Ron’s mum is also getting on at the Cape Verdes and is going to do the crossing and get off in Guyana.

We did one last dive which I was able to do for my cold had gone. It was amazing. There were about three ships wrecked on the bottom of a sea wall. There were some really cool fish and we even saw some coral hidden in a cave. But the best thing by far that we saw was an angel shark. It was flat, similar to a big ray and was hiding in the sand. Then it came out of hiding and swam away.

It was the afternoon of Wednesday 21st when we filled up with fuel and left for Tenerife. For about the first two hours I felt fine and phoebe gave us a lesson, dictation. Then I started to feel my tummy start to churn. That when I started being sick. I stayed on deck because every time I went down bellow I would just feel worse. I was sick 4 times though out the evening. Then it started to rain a bit. By the time my tummy had settled I came down and flopped into my bunk and drifted straight to sleep.

I didn’t wake up till half past one in the afternoon. I came up on deck to find that we were passing Tenerife. Soon we were to anchor in one of the harbors to sign out of the country. When we got to the first harbor it was too shallow for the boat so we moved onto the next one. When we arrived they would not let us tie up anywhere and pushed us out. So we went on to the next one. We could fit, so we topped up the tanks for we had been motoring all night but we could not sign out there. So they told us to the last island of the canaries where we could. But getting out of the little harbor proved harder than we thought. We started doing a 360 degree turn using fenders to bounce off the other tied up boats. Unfortunately we did not get a fender to one spot in time and caught the back of a catamaran. It was ok but it took a small chunk out of our boat. Luckily it did not get to deep so we put some sort of cover on it.

We went at a slow speed to the next island so that we would not arrive in the middle of the night. By the time I got up in the morning we were at dock. Then we signed out and were gone to the open ocean.

We left the Canneries on the 23rd after wasting two whole days trying to sign out. By the time it got dark we started lousing  sight of land which we would not see for another five days. I woke up the next morning to find that everything was blue, blue sky blue sea. I’ve never seen so much of it before but I suppose I will have to get used to it. Still getting quite sea sick I spend most of my time on deck. I’ve been reading a lot and, talking to whoever is there. On the second day we set up the fishing rod and trawled a fake squid behind the boat. During the day we saw another big pod of dolphins, they were very cool but didn’t stay for long, apart for one who stayed behind and started doing big jumps around the boat as if it were performing to us. At sunset that evening there was a loud buzz as a big fish got caught on the hook. But before anyone could get to the rod the line snapped. We guessed the fish was about fifty pound.

The next day I caught my first fish which was a mahi mahi. But unfortunately it was too small to feed us so I put it back. The following morning I caught another Mahi Mahi. But again it was too small. Later that morning there was a small pod of dolphins. After they had gone there was an amazing sight. Lots of yellow fin tuna were swimming alongside the boat. They followed us most of the day and occasionally they would jump up in the air to catch a flying fish. I was desperately trying to catch one but did not succeed. Then suddenly the line went. Blyth hauled it in, and it was a tuna. But far too small again. Then soon after Steve caught another small tuna, followed five minutes later by Phoebe with an even smaller tuna. It was terrible. As if every fish in the ocean was tiny. Later that evening I caught one more. This time it was a little bit bigger so we kept it. Two hours later it was being eaten as a starter. yummy!

The following day we found some wind and were going at eight to nine knots. I caught one more fish. It was a Mahi Mahi, but bigger, and it weighed about three and a half pd. so we kept it. Then from the helm (wheel) came the words id been waiting to hear for days. “LAND HOY”. Ahead of us appearing from the morning cloud was a mountain looming up above us. We were still quite a few miles away from it but it was comforting. Looking around we saw a pigeon flying around the mast then it came to rest. It was a European pigeon and so we figured that it had got lost and had flown the ocean. If it had not found us it would have probably died. Then ahead there was a flock of sea birds flying low over the sea. then the tuna came. It was the start of a feeding frenzy. The tuna would use the boat to scare up the flying fish, then they would launch themselves at them. Clouds of  flying fish would be in the air at once. They can fly up to 300 ft at once. But when they were flying to safety from the tuna the birds would come and track them down. The flying fish kept on flying into or on to the boat, so we were running around trying to throw them all back off again. One even jumped Wright through the toilet hatch whilst Portia was using it. Ron got hit by one in the chest and i nearly got on in the head. By the end of it the hull was covered in little scales and blood from them. We were heading for the far island in the Cape Verdes and so did not get there until the following morning.

It had been a journey of about 900 miles when we arrived in  prior the capital so we could sign into the country and I had to get my visa. And we had to get Ron’s mother Pat. Also Dale would be arriving there later this evening. The place was an industrial mess. Rubbish everywhere. And a lot of noise. But everyone is very nice and helpful. Steve and Phoebe are going to be going to one of the other islands to check that out, and would be leaving by plane at six in the morning so they stayed at a hotel for the night. They will not be back until Sunday and we will leave on Monday. Blyth and I slept out on deck that night because it was getting to hot down bellow. on the way to the next town we saw a small pod of short fined pilot whales, it was fantastic. The next morning we left prior to a beautiful place called Tarrafal. It is a typical African town with outstanding scenery. We went swimming and the water is amazing. It’s clear and warm and almost smooth. We were jumping off the bow of the boat. One time when i was about to jump i slipped and luckily came inside of the boat, but i caught my knee on something and cut it. It is quite deep and i had to have butterfly stitches, and we cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide and iodine. ow! Now i have to keep my leg straight and can’t swim. Annoyingly that means i will miss the diving. But that only me to blame. I’ve been having a great time though and soon i will be at sea about two weeks.