Viva Las Palmas!

After 100 hours at sea - and 704 nm - after leaving Gibraltar, we have now arrived at our final destination, Las Palmas. Favourable winds from the right direction gave us good speed but bad sleep due to big waves hitting us from the side. But we have all arrived in good spirit and shape. Upon arriving in the harbour area we played the song "Sol, Vind och Vatten" by Swedish composer/musician Ted Gerdestad at full volume...

After custom and immigration formalities have been cleared we are now moored at our assigned position in the marina. Biggest head ace now is to choose between fish or meat for our big city dinner tonight.

Wave talk

03 Nov - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas

Today I have noticed that the lenght of the waves on the Atlantic are different compared to the waves on Mediterranen water. The latter being more choppy due to a shorter wave length. The reason for this phenomenon, according to my wise crew mates, is the fact that the Atlantic covers a greater area and includes a larger water mass than the Mediterranean. The waves of the Atlantic are built up over longer distances while creating long, rolling waves. The result: a more comfortable voyage in our type of vessel - which is actually a sailing yacht.

Look at the Atlantic water wall behind Ebba in it's up and down position. (Both photos were taken at almost the same angle.)

World's best high sea adventure

Nov 7 - Las Palmas on line blog

The Mediterranean & Atlantic Sailing part of my blog is dedicated to my great fellow crew  mates onboard Pixel: Annika, Eva, Ebba, Jim, Stefan, Tore and our excellent captain Micke. Thank you for taking this kayaker under your sail and making this trip the world's greatest high sea adventure for him!

A special thank you goes to all the staff of  More Sailing in Gothenburg and Croatia for making this trip come true.

Special greetings and thanks also to family and friends around the world for your interest in my salty adventures.

A big hug goes to my happy and supportive wife Akane for taking care of home base logistics during my 25 days on-board Pixel,        the More 55 sailing yacht.   

Staffan - the kayaker 

PS. I take full responsibility for any mistakes, nonsense or grammatical errors on my blog pages. All opinions and observations are mine only and please don't take them too seriously!

Cross words and cross winds

03 Nov - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas

We have now since yesterday noon been liberated from the chains of the Internet and social media. It is up to each crew member to make use of this freedom based on personal preferences and current wind conditions (0 - 18 m/s).

On Pixel's entertainment menu today - for off duty crew - I have noticed cross word puzzle solving, quality readings, artistic drawing, deep sea discussions, music head phoning, no luck fishing or simply cat napping.

Good coffee and winds ...

Nov 5 - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas 

... is a winning combination when you sail the Atlantic as we are at the time of writing this blog text.

Stefan (here in command at the wheel and assisted by Pixel's hostess Ebba) is a quality coffee lover. He has kindly provided us all with enough espresso capsules to last the whole trip.

Unfortunately you can't operate the espresso machine on direct wind power. In order to get a good brew we need to start our ship's diesel generator to get the necessary voltage for the coffee maker.

Shortly after leaving Gibraltar we hit favourable winds of 12-13 m/s from the North. We can now make good progress as we are heading in a south easterly direction towards Las Palmas. Average speed just now is 9 kn but our speed record is16 kn.

Las Palmas - 50 years later

In December 1967 I spent one week in Las Palmas. Shortly before X-mas that year I arrived here from a cold and dark Stockholm onboard a Spantax Coronado 880 - the fastest jet liner at the time.

In those days I couldn't even in my wildest dream imagine that I would return here onboard a sailing yacht half a century later. Life is wonderful and full of possibilities - if you take them!

Sailor food

Nov 4 - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas

On a long sea journey it is important to eat well in order to stay healthy and happy. During one week prior to my arrival in Croatia, Ebba and her colleagues had been working hard to prepare and cook a large variety of food to fill the freezer onboard Pixel.
In each port along our voyage, Ebba went shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables. The quality of food onboard is really 1:st class! A big thank you goes to Ebba!

Banana pancakes for breakfast - yummy!

Salt water showers

Nov 5 - Atlantic off line blog
Gibraltar - Las Palmas

Onboard Pixel we have two types of salt water showers:
(1) Voluntary type
(2) Involuntary type

(1) Crawl or walk to aft deck and sit down. Scoop up a bucket of sea water. Pour it gently over yourself or a fellow crew mate. Rinse afterwards with carry on water from Pixel's reservoir.

(2) Crawl into bed and go to sleep. Leave the skylight over your head slightly open for fresh night air. Wake up at 3 AM with salt water all over your face, pillow and bedding thanks to a wind change only seconds before the alarm tells you to wake up for duty. After drying, put all salty textiles in your laundry bag!

Early this morning I tried type (2) without a smile. I prefer type (1) ...