11 January 2026 at 10:23:45 GMT

Day 1 cont Must be a sailing day – he’s got that silly grin back!

Up before dawn attempting to catch up on last minute todo list – still not complete but made a good stab at it.  Still downloading CAF statement for DanceSyndrome as we pointed the bow offshore departing Tazacorte bound for the Caribbean.

We thought we were ready last night, but further thinking, deliberating and researching we decided to swap out the 140% genoa for the twin headsail.  The genoa came down in an orderly fashion onto the starboard deck with the sheet tensioning the foot of the sail, but not good enough to fit in its bag.  Twin headsail run up left hand gorrve of forestay.  Genoa onto dock to organise and bag.

We left port with a friendly send off from others.  Out into the sparkling brilliant blue which became unduly lumpy and bumpy, giving Sukama and us a rollicking ride as we yawed uncomfortably from side to side in a windless sea.  Paul is so gung ho and excited!  Everything is new, interesting and noteworthy.  We are delighted he sees the whole adventure as a privilege.  He keeps pinching himself that here he is, the very first time on a yacht, and he’s sailing across the Atlantic Ocean!  His attitude is so refreshing.  He even manages to smile through his stomach telling him its far outside its comfort zone.  Stugeron, lucozade and grazing diet are the order of the day.  We feel equally privileged to have him on board.  Who could have seen this from a chance conversation at the scattering of my parents ashes back in August!

Early afternoon nurse Blackwell attended to my self inflicted wound which is responding well to impregnated gauze supplied by a doctor yesterday.  A pretty deep cut which I need to try to keep dry.

Blue sky with 30% clouds.  Around 15 degrees C.  No moon.  New moon?

Paul’s quotes:

• Everyone should do this at least once in their lives.
• I never thought I’d be sleeping under the stars tonight
• I thought the nights would be boring.  I’m in awe of the stars tonight.  I’ve never seen anything like this
• It’s really smooth isn’t it!

Day 2 dawns with a captivating sunrise enjoyed by Paul and me.  The night was a mixture of winds, mostly coped with by 1 reef in the main and the storm jib making speeds varying from 6knots to 8knots.  Paul is gradually finding his sea legs, a bit up and down, but so intrigued by everything.  Most of the night he was dosing in the cockpit wrapped up in his warm jacket, a couple of blankets, a hat and muffler.  Very cozy but strangely communicative whenever Malcolm or I were there too.

Day 2 turned into a day of experiential learning on the job.  I can now add generator engineer to my CV.  By mid morning it seemed clear that it was time to give the twin headsail its inaugural flight.  1.5hours and lots of trial and error later we had it sorted. We all enjoyed watching poetry in motion as she unfurls, greater balance of the rig, the aura of calm and being able to cope well with the vagaries of the wind.  But after downloading the next mesage from Charlie, we appreicated that we needed to go back to plan A, namely what passes for white sails at this moment as he wants us to stay on port tack. All that hard work that we then had to unpick.  But at least it’ll be a lot easier next time and we’ve learnt a huge amount.  Very glad we are three.  Teamwork!

Tea.  The luxury of reading for an hour. Beautiful sunset.  Chicken carbonnara for supper.  Real sleep.

Day 3 0145 Super hot shower.  Pow wow at 0200 handover.  Challenged by lack of wind, and almost dead astern of desired course.  Decided to stick with current sail set.  Wind played ball for a couple of hours aided by paying close attention to George, but by 0530 it had run out of steam.  Wind in single didgets doesn’t work for Sukama, who weighs in around 20 tons when laden. Engine on, shortened mainsail to 3rd reef and centred, centered jib.  Not great, but as good as it gets for now.  And going in the direction we want!  Think Paul is well en route to earning his wings.  He seemingly had no problem in working on the foredeck in the pitch black of night!

12 January 2026 at 15:16:15 GMT

Day 3 cont 

Delicious breakfast – chorizo, tomatoes, scrambled egg – cooked by Paul.  With fruit by Sue.

Today’s update from Charlie shows that there’s no downwind sailing to be done for now, rather we need white sails for the next few days so the twin headsail needs to come down and the 140% go up in its place.  That’s a seriously challenging proposition requiring real teamwork.  These sails are big, and the genoa is heavy too.  Paul is certainly working his passage!

So with that we embarked step by step on yet another new undertaking.  It would have been easier perhaps if we could have continued downwind, but logic told us that heading upwind was the only solution, meaning the bowman – Malcolm – was going to get properly wet!  Ach well.  All in a day’s work!

The plan worked remarkably well apart from the dousing.  With the twin inboard we could pin it on the side deck, secure it with sail ties, manhandle the sausage aft, and gently persuade it that it wanted to fit in the lazarette – the big storage space at the stern before closing the hatch securely in case it changed it’s mind!  Followed by raising the genoa made infinitely easier as we’d folded it properly in Tazacorte before we left.

After 12 hours of motoring to achieve today’s waypoint we were happy to turn the engine off and get back to normal sailing and a civilized evening massaging in showers, phone calls to family, and even a modest drink with podcast entertainment to celebrate significant progress and achievements taking a leaf out of John Harvey’s book – celebrate as you go!  It was the first real moment of relaxation all trip.

Day 4

Winds through the night were testing, too light and fickle for comfort and oscillating dramatically between 12 knots and 21 knots in less than a minute.  Unhappy compromised sails complained quietly, but our speed was remarkably decent as we continued to average 6 knots.  With little to do in the cockpit we engaged in contemplative conversation until the wee small hours and change of watch at 2am.

Now we have the energy to put up the pole!  After tea and bircher for breakfast.  But it’s paid off.  We’re making much better speeds, Sukama is happier so we are all happier, and all being well anticipate arriving early at the new waypoint in 2 days time.

13 January 2026 at 00:45:09 GMT

Day 4 cont 

Busy busy! From morn ’til night and beyond! Paul is now in the cockpit keeping an eye on George whilst Malcolm sleeps and I type. The wind is still fickle in strength and direction. We’re under reefed white sails in the dead of night, 5 minutes to midnight. The sea is gentle, the waves benign with a lazy swell and it’s starting to get warmer. We’re 550miles west from the Moroccan coast heading due west on a parallel of 24 degrees north before turning south west in 250miles time (Wednesday morning). Above us the stars are twinkling with the moon anticipated to make an appearance soon at around 2am.

Sleep beckoned for Malcolm after putting the pole in place and running the generator with Paul the trainee today. The magic of today was achieved by Paul who applied himself to making sense of our new plotter in the same way Anthony had worked with the old plotter seemingly able to make it do anything he chose shy of standing on its head. Now it actually shows us what we want to see on the home screen with all data at our fingertips!

The fun agenda of the afternoon was to repack the twin headsail back into its bag, not to be undertaken lightly as the sail is huge compared to the deck that we had to work on. It involved much ingenuity and a necessary sense of humour as we were periodically engulfed by slippery sail cloth trying hard to make a bid for freedom. We hope that it will be possible to deploy again once we find the trade winds but the prospect of taking down the genoa and hoisting this back aloft is daunting, especially when you take the Atlantic swell into consideration.

A couple of hours respite for me followed by a welcome shower, dinner of salmon, green beans and ratatouille prepared by others, and then, you might be seeing the trend here, resetting the jib and pole to accommodate a reef, likewise the main down to second reef as we head into the nighttime.

The morrow beckons house work. But will it be to the tune of Led Zepplin or Sibelius? Maybe we’ll have to toss a coin!

Sue x

__________

Team members: Malcolm, Sue, Paul, George the autopilot, Charlie our weather router

Photos from previous crossing 2019

Previous blog with Day 1: https://blackwells.biz/the-call-of-the-ocean/