Epic Sail to Lanzarote

Madeira to Lanzarote 280nm

Monday – Tuesday 7-8 September 

We anchored off overnight to get the earliest start in the morning.

Although it was flat at anchor neither of us got a good nights sleep sadly.

Probably the anticipation of our 280nm sail! We have calculated that with these strong winds we should get there in around 36 hours. Hoping to arrive before nightfall on Tuesday, we set off as soon as it was light enough.

The sea and waves got gradually larger as we left the shelter of Madeira and we were soon zooming along at 10ish knots in 25ish knots of wind.

The wind and waves were pretty constant all the way, which meant for a quick sail, but also a tiring one. Although neither of us get sea sick, the relatively violent movement of the boat is tiring over time as you are constantly bracing and adjusting.

This is the most consistently strong wind we have had since we left the UK! The wind was from the back port quarter but with our speed the apparent wind was mainly on the beam, with the waves also coming at us sideways.

We ate the sandwiches I had prepared and snacks including the sailors’ staple: ginger biscuits!

And for dinner we had the rest of the chicken stew with rice that David made yesterday.

We are very happy that our hydro generator (Daisy) is now in full working order, thanks to David’s clever reconfiguration. He has also worked on our display so we can see the power it generates at a glance.

I’m afraid the photos died off overnight as I was either on watch or resting.

We did 2 hours on, 2 hours off all night with the off watch sleeping or resting on the bench in the cockpit. It was a comfy berth as David put our thin roll up mattress with all the cushions. Luxury! You had to pop your feet under the main sheet!

We wanted to be on deck to support each other and we were very firmly clipped on all the time. We had a system of clips so you could always clip to the one in the cockpit before you released the one by the helm and vice versa. The most dangerous thing sailing is man overboard, especially with 2 up.

I definitely got some sleep and the stars and phosphorescence were wonderful to behold! But it’s very tiring and I’m wondering how I will cope with 20 days of this!

We saw no dolphins again, but lots of beautiful flying fish and the gorgeous shearwaters and petrels gracing the waves. Here’s my haiku:

Waveward arcing wide

Wingtips tracing each contour

Soaring shearwater

No flying squid today thankfully!

The biggest indication that we were near the biggest continent was the hazy yellow sky full of Saharan sand. Most of the white beaches on the Canaries are made of this fine airborne sand. 

We shook out one reef before dawn and the other one at first light as the wind had calmed down to 15-18 knots, it picked back up again to 23ish later. The waves also got a bit less bouncy.

There were no other yachts and hardly any big traffic until we got nearer to the African coast

Because of the haze the land was a long time coming – our first glimpse was about 10 miles out.

We arrived by 6 pm so that’s about 34 hours of actual sailing, averaging 8.2 knots – well done La Bamba! 

When we turned the corner and were in the lee of the island the sea became completely flat and the wind died absolutely!

We are going to leave La Bamba here while we go home to see family and then return in time to take her down to Grand Canaria to get ready for the ARC which leaves on November 22.

Our crew is ready and we are looking forward to a great ride with Sam and George, who hasn’t met La Bamba yet.

Little La Bamba has come a long way since we left Lymington on July 16th! We have sailed 2035 nautical miles and visited 28 ports and bays.

I now need to get on with the washing and La Bamba needs a good scrub down too! David is talking to riggers and Sanders sails to sort out our vang and Lily issues.

There are some limericks to come, and another post, but this is our last port of call until November. So I’d like to thank our wonderful crew, we would never have got here without you – sailing just the two of us makes us appreciate you all the more!

Thank you to Sam, Penny, Mark, Max, Jules, Will, and Alex for keeping us company, crewing and taking care of us and La Bamba.