Once everything was checked off and completed on the list, Andreas and the crew waited for a good weather window to leave Gran Canaria. Winds weren't the usual trade winds for this time of year so there were a lot of boats waiting. They decided that Sunday January 8 was a good day to head south towards Cape Verde Islands where, if needed, they could refuel.
They made good headway and by January 14 decided to stay north of the islands and not make a stop. The batteries have given them lower readings and so they are saving as much power as they can and recharging daily by running the engines. They've had 8-15 knots of wind and are mostly using the Geneker and Spinnaker.
They finally caught a tuna which I'm sure they were happy about. Dolphins swam with them right at sunset for about half an hour just a few days ago.
Enzo, Anais and I are enjoying staying with my parents and catching up with friends. We are keeping a close eye on weather to text daily reports to the shift crew via the delorme inreach. It's a pretty cool satellite device and lets us track them every 4 hours. The Jimmy Cornell Caribbean group of 14 boats left on January 10, 2 days after Shift. They seem to be taking the same, more southerly route. The winds will be a bit stronger and consistent this upcoming week so hoping they'll be able to move along at a better speed.
January 14, 2017
January 16, 2017