ARC+ to Cabo Verde Islands | Distant Shores Sailing Newsletters

ARC+ to Cabo Verde Islands

Setting off on the ARC - we had been practicing our dual headsail rig… flying the jib on port and the genoa on the pole to starboard.
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Fast sailing the first 2 days with surfing up to 12 knots…
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We had a more than a few visits from dolphins…
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We tried setting the headsails 2 different ways…
1) with the smaller jib on the pole
2) larger genoa on the pole…
In the end we used this rig for more than half of the passage.

We used the smaller jib poled out when the wind was stronger. Then the larger genoa was somewhat hidden by the mainsail (which is on the same side). In lighter winds we wanted the extra area of the larger genoa, and poled that one out projecting more sail area.
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Sunset in the hazy skies… we come less than 150 miles from the Sahara and the air is mainly hazy from sand…sunset-sailing
A visitor comes for a rest. The little fellow flew off again but another came the next day…
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With light downwind conditions we were able to catch quite a bit of wind with this rig. Sort of like having a small spinnaker. But unlike a spinnaker we could fly it all night and one crew could reef it.
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A Sahara sunrise… even quite high up the sun is in the sandy haze.
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Desert on the sea! Red Sahara sand settled on everything…
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Night sky as the sun sets… note the pole is set with an after guy. In combination with the foreguy and topping lift the pole is completely steady. If we need to we can reef the jib as it is and the pole will stay in position.
night-sailing
Sheryl made many great meals but the best had to be Ribeye steak on the last night at sea.
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Arriving at 2am we are tired but happy! It was a very fast passage and we all did well.
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Prize Giving for Leg 1 Las Palmas to Cabo Verde - we won first in our class. Time is corrected by adding the amount you motor. We motored just 2.5 hours of the whole trip and won our class!!! Happy Campers!!!

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