Day 1 – La Gomera to The Gambia

After gazing back at the high slopes of the island for about an hour we started to focus our energy on sailing the boat, keeping up our spirits and not getting seasick. The first 12 hours of a trip are crucial to set the tone and we were determined to keep active and positive.

We had some very strange seas in the first 5 hours. There are several complicated wind and wave effects between the islands and this was one of the oddest we have seen. The wind dropped to 0 knots (when 20 were predicted), the seas started bubbling and dancing and the waves were breaking with big spouts of water as though the sea gods were tickling each other. Fortunately, this state subsided within a few hours and we progressed at 6 to 6.5 knots comfortably for the rest of the night and morning.

Day 1 always involves more relaxing and mindless activity than normal but the monkies have developed a schedule of activities for the coming days to keep us busy and entertained. School (for the first time underway), sports, knutselen (art), baking, cooking, reading, games, guitar lessons, movies, lego minecraft and programming have all been carefully planned into the agenda. We will add some downtime and hopefully catching a fish as we go but these activities are not generally planned.

Date: November 12, 2017
Time 13:00 UTC
Position 25’51.741N / 17’22.109W
COG/SOG: 181/5.3
Trip: 137nm
Distance to go: 770nm
24h distance 137nm
Conditions: wind NE 12kn, sea moderate
Sails: full main and genoa