Atlantic Passage

21 Days, that's how long our passage across the Atlantic Ocean was. With a couple of major events along the way (Christmas, NY and the birthday of on of our crew) the passage was rather pleasant. While the company was good it was unfortunate that the Atlantic had such an uncomfortable ride in store for us. We spent the first 10 days trying to find the trade winds with consistent swells and wind that didn't continuously shift every 3 hours, unfortunately they were more than difficult to find and our journey consisted of confused swells up to approx. 6-10m and gusty wind between 20 and 30 knots.

Overall the crossing was an experience and if we hadn't caught a 30kg King Mackerel it would have been far worse. As Antigua came into view there were a number of deep breaths of relief but it has been an achievement none the less. Below are a few photos of our crossing.......

Goodbye Canary's

Good times, lots of laughs and the joining of two new crew members.

Rob Cooper, 20 years of age (makes him the youngest on the boat), Irish, Favorite food......... Potatoes, Favorite sport Kite surfing, Favorite Drink Jamesons Irish Whiskey. Over-all an asset to the crew and a great laugh.

Sophie Oliver, 32 years of age, Welsh (not English), Favorite food.......... Any sort of curry, Loves energy within the universe, has an equal in Australia (Sonia), Favorite Drink Camomille tea........ Yeh, you get the picture. mind you a fantastic cook and also an asset to the crew.

The Canary Islands have had their part to play in our journey and have created more good times for the memory banks of the crew of Mawali. We have fully provisioned for the trip across the Atlantic Ocean and have completed all repairs on the boat, we are ready to set sail at full speed ahead.

To all our loved ones,

+*+!!!MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!+*+

We will now only have satellite comunications until the new year with our next port being Antigua in the Caribbean, just in time for the festivals. Hope all is well and again best wishes for the holiday season.

Over and Out,

The Mawali Crew

 

Street Art in the Canary Islands

This is amazing, the whole scene is on one straight wall so using the panaramic shot on my camera I tried to get it all in, the first photo is the whole wall and the others are the sections in order.

The Canary Islands

We arrived to the Canary Islands at about 10pm so we weren't able to see much. As we awoke the next morning we found Las Palmas (our current port) is bigger than any of us expected. although it smells a bit like Spain (not amazing) it maintains it's own simple little carms, grid planning, quaint beaches, Spanish style architecture and a lot of hippies trying to get a ride to the Caribbean (we did pick up an Irish kid for our journey accross the atlantic). Las Palmas is a nice port to be in and we will be so until monday as we are getting the rigging checked over and fixed.
Keep you updated on our movements,

 

Over and Out,
The Mawali Crew

Gibraltar to Canary Islands

As we set sail for the Canary Islands we had a few things to go over; Auto-pilot, Navigation, Leaks, etc. Once all had been looked over and given the OK we set sail around 7am. The beginning of the trip was pleasant with light breezes and low seas.
We weren't very confident in the stability of the rigging so it was agreed that we would take it easy and not put to much pressure on the rigging. As the first night passed the seas become far more vicious that expected and winds got up to 20 knots, a speed we didn't feel the rig would quite handle at full capacity, with the main sail reefed we continued our journey toward the Islands.
As the third night passed the winds increased and were reaching up to 30 knots and the seas maintained their vicious heights.
Overall, we arrived to the Canary Islands safe and in one piece after 6 long days and nights.

Mawali, WELCOME TO THE CANARY'S

Over and Out,
The Mawali Crew

Goodbye Gibraltar

After a number (4.5) of weeks in Gibraltar it is finally time to set sail. We have spent the past few days squaring the boat away and get everything ready for Mawali's maiden voyage toward the Canary Islands.

We expect calm seas and light winds toward the Canary's and believe the trip will take 5 to 6 days depending on wind. In the Canary's we have a few repairs being done that we couldnt get done in Gib and from there we will be heading straight across to the Carribean.

Gibraltar has been a fantastic place for port over the past months and has provided a number of interesting expieriences, some qoutes from our time in Gib:

"Cigarettes are so cheap here, you cant afford not to smoke",

"The flies here are slow",

"Iv'e never been to Galapogos! Really I havn't! Ever!",

"Why does everyone get up so late here............ Because they're all alcoholics......"

"Holy S#^T, It's George Clooney!"

To all our loved ones we will be out of interent connection range until the Carribean unless we get lucky in Canarys.

Good Travels,

Over and Out,
The Mawali Crew

Week 3

This week has been a week of wit testing. Alothough we had planned to be sailing away for Gib by the end of the week, due to a number of set backs (Boom End Fitting and Spinniker Repairs), it seems we are going to be here for another week.
We have experienced a number of large surges from weather out at sea but other than life in Gib remains relaxed and laid back.

Keep you up to date with our movements,


Over and Out,



The Mawali Crew