After being in Cabopino Marina for a month it was time to go. To continue our journey to Madeira. At least that was the original plan. Our crew flew in on sunday October 6, 2019. When we do a crossing of longer than 2 nights we always try to find experienced crew to do this together. This time nephew Peter Fruitema and his friend Jan adolf Wolf sailed with us. The wind were not in our favor so we had to wait another day. On Teusday we finally left, early morning, for Gibraltar. To top up the feul tanks and the next day we would start the sail to Madeira. That night on anchor we met our first Instagram friends! Tjeerd and Val from Travel.into.the.blue, 2 dutchies as well! Sailing to the Caribean island of St. Marten. Really nice to meet people via social media!
Well the wind was still not in our favorite to sail to Madeira, so change of plan.  Very strong winds on that side so we decided to sail along the Morroccan coast up to Lanzarote. When the wind would change we could always decide to go to Madeira. So off we went, first through the Strait Of Gibraltar. Always takes good planning to pass at the right moment. We had studied the currents and tides tables to figure out the best time. Also we had contact with another friend from instagram, Soontosetsail, who send us current flows and time tables. They passed the Strait a few times already and had a lot of experience. Thanks guys for all the tips!

We left our anchorage at 4 hrs. before HW. Leaving the Strait in the dark is really nice. And it was not really dark as it was a few days before full moon! We went through the Strait with no current or huge waves or whatever, it was perfect! Well done! Then we crossed the strait and sailed along the Moroccan coast. We were like 100 NM out of the coastline and still caught a line in our rudder! Our watch schedule this trip was 4 x 3 hrs. in the night, starting at 10.00 PM. And 3 x 4 in the daytime. Which means that the time you are on. watch changes every day. I like that because you have all the night watches and all the day watches. So sunsets and sunrises!
So what do you do during a 4 days crossing? We lisetned to music, waited for the next lunch or dinner, fishing, have a conversation, and … joking and laugh a lot! We even caught a swordfish twice!! Look at the video! Although far away you can clearly see it’s a swordfish! But also happy the fish slipped the line twice. What to do with a huge swordfish?  The wind did not really change. In fact there was not a lot wind at all. We arrived at the Marina of Lanzarote on Sunday October 13, 2019. Mission completed!


For the ones who like the statistics: total distance 621NM. Starting Wednesday morning 04.00 and arriving at Lanzarote Sunday morning 11.00. 103 Hours at sea. Sailing 41 hrs and motoring 80 hrs! Prepared 60 meals excusing snacks, soups, pizza’s sweets and whatever we ate. Seen dolphins dancing around the bow. 2 Turtles swimming in the sea. A few dragonflies, a moth, a butterfly as co-travellers along the way. Saw at least 10 pieces of plastic drifting in the sea. #Shameonyou! We just drank water, no alcohol! And tears in ours eyes from laughing! We rescued a boat who had motor problems when arriving in the Marina of Lanzarote. Thanks Peter and Jan Adel for joining us! We had a great time!