2022 Lanzarote to the Caribbean

We returned to Rubicon Marina and Skyfall on November 8th. There were a few jobs to do before we could set off on Annick's first extended ocean passage to Cape Verde. The plan was to leave on November 12th but the forecast included CAPE readings over 2000 (high chance of thunder/lightning) so we waited another couple of days for the risk to pass.
The passage started in sunny, gentle conditions and we played with our new Hydrovane self-steering system. Not just using it downwind but using it to control the boat with the code 0 goose-winged with the mainsail. The light winds were no issues (as there were no waves). After day four the winds arrived, blowing up to 30 knots with over 3m waves. We sailed the last two and a half days under only the Genoa, and that reefed for half the time. But the hydrovane took it all in it's stride ( see video below).

Coming into Mindelo the genoa furling failed and we had to drop the sail to anchor. Skipper insisted on sorting it out and re-hoisting the genoa before turning in (it was 0500). Crew was not impressed! Otherwise the passage was uneventful. Which is good. Events usually mean breaking something, really bad weather or narrow escapes.

We had a few days in Mindelo waiting for Sean, provisioning and doing a bit of site-seeing before departing on November 25th. The crossing to Bequia is described in one of the blog posts.

Enjoy the photos and remember to double click to get the text and the explanation