Pitufa.at

After 14 days and 1900 nautical miles we’ve dropped anchor in the Suriname river next to Domburg, had some champagne, and are looking forward to finally get some sleep

Soon we’ll have made it: only 250 of the 1900 nautic miles remain! After sailing a bit more slowly for 2 days (the northequatorial current had viciously abandoned us…) we now get a 2-knots turboboost from the northwest setting Guyana current. Thus we have an average speed of 7 knots (12,6 km/h) today – still more slowly than a bicycle, but sensational for our Pitufa . Today we’ve seen the first other ship in ten days, otherwise only dolphins (twice) and seabirds (astoundingly often) accompanied us.

Pitufa’s flying along like never before (our fastest daily run this week was 160 NM) and so we’ve already covered two thirds of the way to Suriname! Yesterday a squall with torrential rain cleaned away the thick layers of Sahara sand we had gathered during our 3 months in the Cape Verdes. Today we’ve had clear skies all day long for the first time and the following waves, though higher now because we’ve left the north-equatorial current, look decidedly friendlier in blue. Leeloo spends hours in the cockpit watching those waves and whenever one roars particularly loud, Leeloo growls back.

Hurray! We have sailed already more than half the distance to Suriname. Last night our GPS displayed the magic number of 950nm left to go. Let’s hope we manage the second half just as fast. The winds are fine, the seas are low, and the north-equatorial current boosts us steadily. Though, we get a lot of rain now (which washes away the brown sand from the Cape Verdes eventually).

Today the weather has improved. Though, it started with thick clouds, drizzle and rain, the sun came out finally. So we’ve got blue sky with isolated clouds typical for the trade winds. This also means that the moon provides us with light at night. Standing at the helm is definitely more fun then. We are fine (given the circumstances) and make quick progress.

The new year did not start particularly great. Our usually so reliable wind vane Wayne Vaney no longer works, the rudder shaft is broken–we can’t repair it on board. The electric auto pilot is unreliable when running permamently and it also drains the batteries (the solar panels don’t work well in this grey weather), so we have to manually steer almost 24 hours a day (we only use the auto pilot for meals together and to get short breaks). We’re coping better with the situation than we feared at first and are heading towards our destination in good daily runs. A few rays of sunshine would be good for the batteries as well as for the morale of the crew.

The passage has started okay, even though it’s a bit cool and rainy. Pitufa’s wings (2 headsails boomed out on the left and right) pull us steadily over the grey wave mountains. To make up for the weather we can celebrate the coming of the new year twice: we simply turn back the clock one hour (an adjustment to the time zones was due anyway). A happy new year to all of you who travel along with us on this page!!

We’ve arrived on the most remote island of the Cape Verdes yesterday after yet another rough passage. It took us one and a half days with 25 knots of winds on the beam (instead of the comfy 15-20 knots from astern as we had expected…). Little Brava is located in the very west of the southern chain of islands and it is the least visited one. Currently we are the only yacht anchored in the spectacular bay surrounded by steep cliffs. In the northeast corner it’s possible to land the dinghy next to the fishing boats of the tiny village. When we went ashore to fix a landline some fishermen were cutting a huge tuna into pieces, we spontaneously bought a kilo and had really fresh sushi on board – Leeloo had hers without rice