Trip zu den Kanaren (580nm)
Eine ruhige und dann "bewegte" Zeit !
"Summary" (Christian)
  • Die Vorbereitung für die Strecke war optimierungsfähig
  • Die Motorstrecke bei keinem Wind war nervig
  • Endlich hatten wir Wind und sind gesegelt!
  • Die ersten 2-3 Tage zehrten brutal an den eigenen Kräften
  • Das fehlen von Ausweichhäfen macht Stress
  • Ich muß mich noch an das Boot und den Atlantik gewöhnen
  • Das Boot reagiert anders als ein (Charter-) Kielboot!
  • Unsere Abhängigkeit von elektrischer Energie ist immens und unsäglich!
  • Wir haben noch massive Probleme mit der Ausrüstung!




  • 12.01.2012, 23:00 - „Abschied von Rabat und von Roger“ (Dagmar)
    Heute nachmittag, 12.Januar, haben wir uns endlich wieder aufgemacht und sind erneut in See gestochen um die Kanaren zu erreichen.
    Wir wollten ja erst Teneriffa ansteuern, haben aber inzwischen vom Hafen in Santa Cruz nicht viel Gutes gehört, daher nehmen wir wahrscheinlich erst Kurs auf Gran Canaria, bevor wir dann unsere Post auf Teneriffa abholen fahren...
    Wir haben erfahren, dass die spanische Post überfordert ist von der Flut an Paketen um Weihnachten, (kann allerdings zu dem Zeitpunkt keine so große Überraschung sein), und daher müssen im Januar erstmal die überfälligen Weihnachtspäckchen abgearbeitet werden.
    Die Spanier sind auch für alles Mögliche berühmt,aber nicht für die schnelle Post...
    (Aber immerhin ist mein vor 4 Wochen bestellter Reißverschluss nun in Sevilla angekommen und wird jetzt weiter auf die Kanaren versandt (nochmal 4 Wochen?)

    Der Abschied ist uns ein bißchen schwergefallen, einerseits war es ganz schön in Rabat und mit Roger hatten wir einen duften Steg-Kumpel kennengelernt, andererseits sieht es für die ersten 2 Tage nicht nach Segelwind aus.
    Aber zu 100% paßt das Wetter sowieso nie und wir wollen ja schließlich weiterkommen in Richtung Karibik.

    Diese Nachtwachen sind zumeist langweilig, ab und zu wenn man von Lichtern umzingelt ist, wird’s kurz aufregend, aber dann muss man sich wieder wachhalten, z.B. mit Schreiben und Brot backen, so wie gerade.

    Wir hoffen sehr auf warmes,sonniges Wetter im Süden.
    Wann ist endlich die Zeit gekommen für Shorts, T-Shirt und Bikini???

    Aber ich halte mich zurück mit jammern, wenn ich an Deutschland im Januar denke.

    Wir sind sehr gespannt, wie unser erster tagelanger „Nur auf See Törn“ werden wird, hoffen sehr, dass wir viele Meilen unter Segeln machen können und die Sonne sich oft sehen läßt.
    Der Mond jedenfalls leuchtet heute genau achteraus fast voll auf uns herab.


    View on the river back to the harbour while going out


    12.01.2012, 17:00 - „Unhappy“ (Christian)
    We left Rabat. I feel sad.
    I like Rabat very much and I am unhappy that I didn´t made it to the Hamman.
    The people we meet were outstanding friendly, e.g. yesterday we did a walk in Rabat and were a bit lost, suddenly a young women came out of a shop and said: „I watched you, are you lost, can I help?“ She not only told us the directions, but walked with us 5 minutes to be sure we are on the right track and on a safe street! Amazing!
    => I feel much safer here than at the Mainstation in Frankfurt, Germany!

    The weather in Rabat is not too bad. It cools down to 12 degrees at night, but at noon you can wear t-shirts (I became a „sort of famous“, because I went to the showers only in short trousers => I found out later that everyone had noticed it). The locals here wear winterclothing like we do in Germany.

    Nobody asked us for a bakschisch (and even the beggars were not hard going => but you can make someone happy with 1 or 2 dirhams).
    Even in the harbouroffice I was surprised: I wanted to leave some tip for the whole crew and asked for tipping-box => they do not have one! The reply was: „We are happy to do service for our customers. That´s our job“ => This attitude we haven´t found in Spain, Andalucia!
    I do not know if I should have tipped each person individually, but I thought it is better this way => I hope they buy cake or take it for a party.

    The prices in Rabat are very cheap compared with Europe.
    ~11 dirhams equals 1 Euro => All prices in Dirham:
    7,21 for 1L Diesel
    ~10 for 1L Super
    1 for a handful fresh herbs
    1,20 for a baguette
    8 for more than a kilo vegetables
    but 60 to 80 for Nutella (imported)
    12 for 1kg washing, drying and pressing
    11 for a 3kg-exchange of Campinggaz (we paid 18 Euro ! in Spain)
    100 for a 3kg-Campinggazbottle without exchange
    6 for a tramticket
    20 for 3km taxi (or 50 if you take the wrong one; or 200 if you take an booked one)
    ~120 for a night in the harbour (12,77m)


    Leaving the harbour was not pleasent at all (Our fault): We were not prepared very well (we are experts in that) (did not tidy up, made the battery-check in the last minutes).
    We got to the fueldock a bit late at 14:00 (indeed I said the police and the customs we will be at their dock at this time) but we had to discover that getting diesel takes a lot more time than expected, because we used a special filter to keep water and debris out of our tank. Our fueloperator was very, very patient! We thought it went down much faster, because we checked the gasoilmeter at the station, but wondered why there was going more than 250 liters in our more than halffull tank => we got the comma wrong => until this time we got only 25L into the tank (10 L in ~8 min) => we stopped the funnel-fuss and got the rest of toal 190L into the tank quite quick.
    Everyone was waiting for us (we are used to it, but it still stresses us a bit). The customs- and police-clearing (incl. the wellknown Snifferdog) was done very fast => everyone grabbed our papers, before we even could decent from the boat, and got into their offices and I went paying. After I left the harbour office everyone was once more waiting for me to hand over the processed papers => I read a lot that clearence in Morocco needs ages => Not for us!!!

    I was glad that Roger gave us a hand departing. He is really a fantastic guy!
    You can check his blog about morocco too: http://sailblogs.com/member/itsasunnyday or his professional fotos: www.blank-page.co.uk


    13.01.2012, 01:45 - AIS is a big aid (Christian)
    There is the second big ship passing by and we do not get an AIS-Signal from them => I have to check the AIS!
    It is boring, and the wind is not enough to sail! The boat is relatively stable, because no wind and no wave.
    I am in a bad mood, because the windforecast said => No wind for about 2 days!!! But also Storm on Monday!!! (I do not know how reliable these predictions are! They changed a lot in the last days!) => So our options have been
    a) wait until the end of the next week (because the swell of a storm has first to die away until we are able to get out of the harbour)
    b) go out today and motor about 2 days
    The big problem which can strike us is a low building up over the Canaries and then we get southerly winds!

    I checked the AIS => it did not work properly !!! (OpenCPN said port com 7 (which should be ok), I tried com 4 and then changed back to com7) => fixed!
    I am tired! Dagmar is getting up. I go to sleep!


    Die gesamte Strecke (blau der vorgesehene Kurs / magenta der gefahrene Kurs)


    13.01.2012, 05:00 „Status“ (Christian)
    Everything is calm and the wind is under 5kn. The night is not too cold. There is the moon and a couple of other big boats, which are displayed on the Laptop. No little fishing boats since Casablanca, which makes it easier.
    I tried to sleep in the 15 min intervall until the next alarm of the watch, so I am not too tired.
    The sunrise was nice! I feel better than yesterday (still a bit headache, but better) => I did not drink enough and without having had lunch and the „normal“ stress to go out the harbour...

    What to do next:
  • Fry some eggs for breakfast (Dagmar does not feel well)
  • Check the Mastervolt-Manual for: How to operate the Inverter to load our cellphones and the Dell-Computer which can not be charged by a Non-Dell-12V to 19,5V-Powerunit (I will not buy Dell again !!!).
  • Check the watertank-inspectionhatch once more (yesterday we filled up to the top and then I heard a ssszzzzz, so a bit air came out, followed by two liters of water (still it is better then before). I think the problem are the screws for the fitting, because they are maybe 2mm to high, so the hatch can not be more tightend.
  • Check the Switch beside the VHF (maybe we can get the signal to the cockpit)
  • Improve the electricity-production and reduce the electicity-consumption => we need about appr. 8A each hour and have to run the motor for generating about 1,5 h twice a day !
  • Tidy up (nothing is prepared for bad weater (which we do not expect)
  • Fasten the screws on the navigation board (everyone with certain expiriences in lean-management will now have a smile on his face :-)
  • Check the VHF-Manual for sending and recieving MMSI-Calls (or I ask Dagmar => she is No 1 for Communications) (done)
  • Check the Sat-Phone if the Mailbox-PW was reset and works now (=> Dagmar) (done)
  • Check the Sat-Phone-Manual for sending and recieving email (=> Dagmar)
  • Check the SSB-Manual (=> Dagmar)
  • Check the depthsounder (It displays 10 m, but actually there are 850 metres to the next land (going down (we´re 25 Miles offshore) (=> Dagmar)


  • Most commercialships use a corridor 25 to 55nm from the Cap Canti and Cap Safi, so we took a course about 60nm from the coast and we watched out for keeping some distance to the Dacia Seamount and the Banco de la Conception (I think the seacondition / waves can be extrem ugly, because the depth is going from over 2000m up less then 50m in a very short distance.

    It is boring, no wind! The today´s highlight is writing this blog. It is much too much text, but doesn´t matter. I know a few people how are going to read all of it => Hello Mum! ;-)


    At night: preparing for the next watch


    15.01.2011; 14:00 - „If everyday is like yesterday, I will sell the boat“ (Christian)
    Yesterday the stresslevel was too high. I was seasick. Until now I have the feeling I only slept 4 hours since we left Rabat (=> „Armer schwarzer Kater!“ how a adorable trainer of mine would say).

    These are the causes:
  • Noise (Never ending: Either the ugly-motornoise or the more pleasent watersplashing (sometimes banging against the hull))
  • Boatmovements (My body moves all the time, even lying on bed I am moved by the waves)
  • Stress - I can not stop thinking (e.g. what to do next, what will break next, problem-analysis, worst-case-szenario, possible solutions ...) nor calm down (until now)
  • Fear (very unpleasent and a great source for seasickness, because this feeling is situated in the area of my stomach) => I still do not know the boat and it´s equipment enough => I throwed up immediately after we acknowledged a distress-call (but the distress was not near by so we weren´t involved)

  • What really bothers me: Until now we only have 15 kn of wind and only up to 1,5 maybe 2m waves => That is not much and the sailing conditions are quite nice! => So what will happen when the wind is going up to 40kn??

    Maybe Dagmar will write something about our engine and the plans B and C we had to make ...


    15.01.2011; 17:00 - „Electric“ - (Dagmar)
    I will not, as not every story must be told ...

    But what we discovered is,that our Aerogen and photovoltaik-pannels do not deliver energy into our battery-system. The Aerogen is working with the wind but we see nothing on the battery-pannel.
    This means, we have not enough energy to cover our needs and have to start the engine one or two times a day, which is a pain.
    And this is not going to work for the Atlantic-Crossing,so we have to find out what is the matter. We are both not great Electricians, you know?
    I like to have the watch when it is not as dark as at the beginning of every night.
    It is much more comfortable to have the feeling, you see at least something around you, and not only darkness.
    Maybe it is getting more charming in warmer areas, where you can sit outside in a t-shirt.


    At daylight: preparing for the next watch


    16.01.2011; 04:00 - „Strong winds“ (Christian)
    Just before the night we shifted the genoa, which takes a while because the spinnakerboom has to be completly new adjusted.
    An hour later the wind increased from 12 to 26kn (6Bft). We rolled in the Genoa 3 times for reefing and made about 7,5 kn Speed. The sailing was nice but very dark (no moon), so we had not a chance to see the waves (sounded more than 2 Meters).

    I called the passing sailingship Clan VIII for an wheaterupdate, and a nice lady told me on tuesday the wind will change to E and will increase.
    Hopefully we will be in the harbour before midnight (or anchor at dark in front of the harbour?).

    The Lights of Lanzarote appeared and the electric-selfsteering hydraulic is sounding like it dies! This troubles me!!!!!
    Because our second selfsteering-device (Windvane) is until now not correctly set up, it may means that we have to steer by hand if it gives up => Nobody wants that!

    I thought it would be possible to read more in the manuals, but it takes a lot of time and the conditions are not too nice to concentrate on the manuals.


    16.01.2011; 12:20 - „Understanding the VHF is not easy“ (Christian)
    Canary Radio (Actually with a lot longer and notunderstandable name) is producing one security-call after another, and about 2 to 4 Pan-Pan-messages a day (a 6.7m-Saillingvessel is missing in our area). This means: Jumping to the VHF and press clear to shut off the alarmbeeps (very loud), then listening to the message and after that change to workingchanel and then listen again.
    But just now they brought a weaterforecast (very nice Service!) which calmed me a bit down: Wind: NE 4 to 5 Bft; Sea: light to moderate up to 3m.
    Unfortunately Dagmar understood NW 4 to 5 Bft, so we are not to sure which direction 100%, but both are ok.
    Sound-Example (good quality) for security-Broadcast (Volcanic-Aktivity)


    16.01.2011; 12:25 - „Waves“ (Christian)
    One of the 3m Waves just passed, breaking, pushing the boat to one side (because we have the centerboard up, Taitonga kneels over not to bad) => sea light to moderate ! => we will get used to it (I hope)


    16.01.2011; 16:00 - „Autopilot“ (Christian)
    The electrical autopilot is not working properly. He simply produces false rudder-commands. I made an Video and a couple of photos for the technician in Las Palmas.



    Our 3rd Man onboard is the selfsteering-system (99% of the time on duty)


    17.01.2011; 03:00 - „We arrived in Gran Canaria“ (Christian)
    Because we have not suceeded in getting the Windpilot, our second and non-electrical autopilot, in a correct setup we had to steer the last 15 hours by hand. The pressure on the helm was enormous. We both got blisters on our hands! Something has to be wrong, maybe with the hydraulical rudder up/down-system; (I found a bit greasy liquid under the box and while pumping the rudder down, there was no resistence!).
    We will have to check the rudder itself aswell, because it was doing some strange noises.
    => Shit !

    The wind was slowing down from 6 Bft to 4 as we approached Gran Canaria. Because we were so tired, we did start the motor for doing 6 instead of 4 knots, which spared an hour at sea.
    Unbelievable is that the measurement of distances is so hard at night: It looked for me as if the city is only 3 miles away, but it was in fact 16 miles!

    Entering the harbour of Las Palmas at dark is demanding, because there is a lot of traffic => it is a very big commercial port with a big marina inside. To identifiy a moving ship even over 100m lenght is very difficult, if your moving too and because there are plenty of moored ships either before or aswell inside the harbour => lights everywhere!
    Dagmar did a good steering-job and the AIS was very very helpful to sort out the traffic (My eyesight was a bit reduced, because I haven´t put my lenses on, while sleeping => it was just not enough sleep...). We berthed inside the harbour on a visitors-ponton.


    17.01.2011; morning - „Las Palmas“ (Christian)
    Around 10:00 we were awake by the portstaff (Thank you for an extra hour sleep (The office opens at 09:00)).
    The clearing-procedure was done by a very helpful and very friendly (both which we found seldom in Spain) staffmember from the port-administration (There was no need foor us to go to the customs and the police afterwards => very easy).

    We were guided to our berth and a guy from the marina gave us some assistence with the lines. Here they have mooringlines which means that the bow will drift onto the neighbourship if you have wind from the side (which we had with about 4 Bft => This system is unsuitable for a small crew!).
    We pay for berthing 8,25 Euro + 3,-- E Electricity/water per day and had to pay 42 E marine-tax for a whole month!


    We are the red boat

    We found another Ovni 395, but they do not have solutions for us, as they have the same problems. Another Ovni 43 beside could have been very helpful, but they left 1 hour later to the Cape Verdes to go to Brazil afterwards.

    Today is a rainy day. The locals say that it hadn´t rained for a long time.
    We just walked around the harbour. T-shirt and shorts! => wrong choice ! => too cold / too much wind (But it is warmer at night then Rabat and the indoor-raining because of the condensation has nearly stopped).

    Amazing: It looks like the shipchandlers will have (nearly) everything we want (and even more stuff we might not need but would like to buy!) => What a logistical-difference to the places we have been until now!
    Our ToDo-List contains now over 100 positions ...

     
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