Day 1 – Mindelo to Paramaribo

After an emotional send-off we headed out into the Mindelo bay, took a short detour to wave at Opa and Omi on their apartment balcony and headed out into the channel. As we glided out of the bay we spent some time together discussing the significance of what we were undertaking and gathering our various opinions, hopes and fears related to this long trip. As Emma said “this passage is, for me, the biggest step and reason for taking this trip.” There is a great deal of truth in that, this passage is the longest, most intimate, most testing of our skills, creativity and capability as sailors and more importantly, as a family. And this passage is bringing us across the ocean to Canada.

The winds were slightly unpredictable between the islands but less chaotic than expected. We gybed out onto a south westerly course at about 1900UTC, the course that we will hold for the coming 3 days before heading along the rhumb line (or great circle, they differ little here) route towards Paramaribo. We made good progres for the last 24 hours but the winds have gone down significantly with the predicted impact on our speed. Waves are wobbly but comfortable enough and the mood on board is positive.

Day 1: Atlantic Crossing
Date: December 08, 2017
Time 12:00 UTC
Position 15’36.752N / 26’23.177W
COG/SOG: 227 degrees / 6.4kn
Trip distance: 126nm (avg 6.3)
Distance to go: 1848nm
24h distance n/a
Cabin temp: 29.0C
Sea temp: 22.4C
Conditions: overcast, wind NE 13-15kn, sea slight-moderate
Sails: full main and genoa wing-wing

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1 Comment

  1. Debbie 08/12/2017

    Thanks for sharing your adventure. Love reading the updates! Safe sailing to you all!

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