ARC+ leg 1 – To Cabo Verde!

At 11:30 on the 10^th of November, we dropped the mooring lines at the dock in Las Palmas that we had gotten so used to after almost a month on the same spot. We waved to the big crowd of spectators on the wave breakers that had come to bid farewell to the 94 ARC+ boats leaving for the 860 NM leg to Cape Verde, the first milestone of the Atlantic crossing. After about an hour of maneuvering in the swells and light winds around the start line, the start signal sounded. We were off!

The first three days we worked on finding our way back to sailing. Most of us were seasick from time to time in the steep following seas and the changing wind conditions required much sail handling which can be tough at times. Food and company were great and towards the end of the third day, we had gotten used to the rhythm and enjoyed the fantastic sailing conditions. Frenesi behaved well, sailing wing-on-wing with poled-out genoa and main sail only. Sometimes we reefed when winds picked up towards 25 knots. The Hydrovane steered well and the comfort onboard was good. It was the perfect conditions for us and kept pace with many of the mid-size catamarans and bigger-size monohulls. We had decided to focus on safety and comfort before speed but when a list of the handicap-corrected times was sent out on the third day we were in first place of the 94 boats! The mood was through the roof until events took different turns.

One mast traveler car for the main sail broke and we had to take the main sail down for a few hours. Janne, a man of many talents managed to repair the traveler with screws, a piece of metal, and glass fiber filler. Amazing! Just when we had put the sail back up, one of our friends called us on the VHF, asking for help. It was the crew onboard the Norwegian flagged Najad 520 Christina who had been unfortunate to catch a drifting fishing net and they were now uncertain whether they had steering. They had taken the sails down and drifted in the night while investigating the status with an underwater camera. A stressful situation. It was an easy decision to take our sails down, start the engine, and turn back to the north, into the waves towards Christina. After a few hours, more friends on Adelante and Ocean Crosser also came to help and meanwhile, the crew onboard Christina had secured the net to the side of the boat and managed to free the rudder. We all set course to the south again, Christina with the net around the propeller and along the side, awaiting calmer seas. After two days, wind and seas had calmed down and we managed to free Christina from her net. We were now 190 NM north of Mindelo, Cape Verde, and hoisted the spinnaker for a few hours of fantastic sailing until the wind died.

A few hours later, it was our turn to catch a fish net in the propeller. It was time for the second swim that day and we were lucky that the net was easy to cut loose.

Early in the morning of November 17, we crossed the finish line after almost 7 days at sea! It was a great feeling to tie up the boat in the African winds and cool views of Mindelo.

Our stay in Cape Verde has entailed a lot of boat work such as replacing mast support through the deck, replacing a broken window, replacing all traveler cars for our main sail, and provisioning as well as touring the islands of Sao Vicente and Santo Antao. The latter offered stunning views of the volcanic, green mountains. The kids have loved to catch up with friends and spend all their free time when they haven’t been in boat school, with their friends on other boats.

Now, in just a few hours we will leave the dock and set course to St Louis port, Grenada some 2200 NM to the west. We are excited and are keeping our fingers crossed that both Frenesi and the weather will be nice to us.

Our progress can be followed on the YB races app and share.garmin.com/frenesi.

Bon voyage!