We actually departed Mindelo on Wednesday at noon but experienced gale-force winds, right on the nose for the first four hours at sea. We did not get very far in those four hours and eventually, I decided it was crazy to continue in the conditions. Thus, we turned around and it took us half an hour to get back to the marina and tie up again.

So, our second departure took place at 07:00 local time today, Saturday 7 May. As I write this blog report, we have about 20 knot winds out of the northeast with quite a lumpy sea. However, although we are bouncing about a bit, conditions are not as bad as I thought they would be. As we progress north-northwest towards the Azores, we will slowly loose the wind and the sea should calm a bit. We do have quite a bit of motor-sailing to do before we get close to Gibraltar in a couple of weeks time.

So, to try and not destroy my laptop with the continual pounding into the oncoming seas, I am going to keep this post short and wish you all well until things settle a bit and I can write a decent post.

Regards from all aboard - John.