First passage

We woke early on the morning of 28^th September to get things finalised, check the weather and confirm our final decision to depart.  High tide was at 9:15am, so the best time to leave Gibraltar was at 11:15.  We left the marina, went over to get fuel and then motored out into the harbour pretty much on time.  We put up the mainsail with 1 reef as there was strong wind forecast for later in the day, then set off.  This was it.

Raftkin has left the marina!

Our first day was exhilarating and a pretty steep learning curve. The wind got very strong (abt 25-30 knots) as we crossed through the strait of Gibraltar. We stopped about 2/3 of the way across to take a second reef in the sail so that it was less powerful and give us more control, especially as we played Frogger crossing the shipping lanes in the Strait. We were still sailing at 9 knots with the reefs and the jib partly furled!

Leaving Morocco behind

Sunset at sea

Fortunately, the wind died off before dark and was between 6 and 12 knots for the next 30 hours or so. Our second day, Friday, was glorious. Gentle wind, spinnaker up (thanks Beau!!!), smoother seas... we saw big fish swimming away from the bow of the boat (not ready to catch and kill yet) and as the sun set we saw dolphins jumping right out of the water in front of the sun…  Magic.

Setting the sails

 

Magic sailing

Thanks for the entertainment John C!

The magic was not to last.  The wind picked up Friday night and so did the seas. It was a bumpy night and day and night again. We were all a bit queasy and tired from getting used to night watch. By Sunday we still had strong enough breeze that we are making good time, but the swell was going roughly the same way as us and was not as big as the previous days, so much more comfortable.

Kid craft - making life jackets for friends

Hoppy in a new life jacket

Mmm chicken noodle soup

Monday was a crazy day.  Hayley and Megan were both sick with a stomach virus.  We decided to do our best to make Lanzarote before dark, so we put the spinnaker up and gave it a shot.  We lost time at about 3pm when we had an issue with the spinnaker that took over an hour to unravel.  Another learning.  At this point we decided to slow down, breath and spend another night at sea so that we could come into Lanzarote in daylight, with plenty of time to get organised.  As if to assist us, over the night the wind dropped and the sea calmed.

I was lucky to be on the early morning watch on Tuesday morning when we first saw land – ‘Land Ahoy!’, shouted Megan at about 7am when she woke and saw it through the mist.  We pulled the sails down and motored in between Lanzarote and Isla Graciosa.  We all sat up in the helm station marvelling at the landscape.  By 11am we had anchored in Playa Francesa.  Time to relax 😊.

Land! Small islands near Isla Grasciosa

Ready for a swim

Dinner on Raftkin at Playa Francesa