We have been on the sea now for almost 48 hours and we are doing good progress. The first 24 hours was really rough and we had winds up to 35 knots hitting the sail from behind.
We have a great mix of skills on this boat but most of the people are really inexperienced when it comes to sailing and I must say I am IMPRESSED with all of my crew. Imagine your first real sail experience and add; seriously rough winds, big waves from behind (one even landed in the cockpit), speeds up to 15 knots- would you be able smile? My crew are smiling and I could not ask for more!
We heard two maydays yesterday night- that together with big sea and strong winds keeps you switched on and its a reminder for anyone that this is a pretty serious thing to be doing.
We have some seasickness on board but nothing serious- I was expecting a Swedish smrgs bord with vomit all over the place.
Everyone is sailing the boat and are doing there part onboard. We are running two mans watches so that no one is alone out there. We had some problems yesterday with unexpected jibes- the sail was very small so it was not really a big issue but we solved it by having one of the guys/girls steering the boat and watch no 2 only focusing on the sail and do an elegancy jibe if needed to- saves the rig and also the crew learns to jibe in rough conditions.
Everything is working fine onboard but I found a small leak in one of the escape hatches that are placed more or less under the waterline. Its nothing we can about it out here on the ocean so I will take care of it when we arrive to Cape Verde.
Stay safe and take care
/Daniel with crew
Thinking of you! Take care.