Billie Besos

01/11/2022

Greetings from the Canary Islands!

I have put this diary entry together while we approach Gran Canaria – we are due to arrive there this afternoon and stay on the dock. It is supposed to be for just one night like last time, but there are a few things that might need fixing on the boat so we will see!

The past few days have gone quite well (I think!). When I lost signal, we were passing through the Gibraltar straits and hoping to catch some fish… drumroll please.

WE DID! Well, Josh did. He managed to catch a tuna pretty much immediately and look how proud he was.

Catch of the day (and the tuna)

Then came the not so pleasant part… Sean took the lead on gutting the fish and did a good job considering the poor selection of knives onboard. He cut it into nice fillets which we then froze – we have already eaten one which we seared in a yummy stir fry.

Sorry Sean

We had some big swell on the way down the African coast and it started to get rather chilly. We haven’t had enough wind to just use the sails yet, but we have had a bit so have been able to use the Genoa, Genaker, and Main sails. We have mainly been cruising along, letting the waves roll by. We have seen even MORE dolphins and some whales too. For the most part, we don’t really see many other boats – mainly large tankers (over 100m long) or tiny little fishing boats that catch you off guard! You have to be so careful – especially at night – because these small fishing vessels don’t always have AIS (a transponder to show their position). On one of my first night watches, I was met with a bright flashing light beaming at me and it was a small fishing vessel that was right in front of us that I had to move around!! Thank God they at least had a torch. There have also been lots of calls on the radio searching for immigrant vessels in these waters heading for Spain.

The Genaker catching some breeze

The days have kind of blurred into one. It has mainly been very relaxed. I have done some cooking, a bit of yoga and exercise (but to be honest the movement of the boat makes you feel pretty lazy and I can hardly hold a yoga pose!), practised the Ukulele, read in the sunshine and just chilled.

Feeling no pain

The boat has been running fine but yesterday one of the motors started to play up, and the watermaker started pumping salt water into the fresh water tank. Josh temporarily fixed the motor but these are both pretty essential for us to complete the crossing so we may have to stay a little longer in Gran Canaria to get them sorted. I’ve realised I definitely haven’t been taking enough photos so will try to get more interesting content. Check in with you soon!

Adios y besos xxx

A quote from one of the books I’ve been reading on my watches – food for thought