Hakuna Matata - Las Palmas Preparation - Hakuna Matata is Ready to Go!

st1\:* { BEHAVIOR: url(#default#ieooui) } @page Section1 {size: 8.5in 11.0in; margin: 1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; } P.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } LI.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } DIV.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.EmailStyle17 { COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-style-type: personal-compose } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1 }Three of our crew (Ken, Liz, Graham) arrived Wed. afternoon and Gareth arrived. read more...

Hakuna Matata - We're off and Underway!

Sunday dawned clear and bright - a lovely day for sailing.. Although boats weren't supposed to move into position for the start until 1030, quite a few started heading out of the marina by 0945. We waited for Papillion, the 65 foot cat just astern of us, to leave first so that we could more easily exit. While we were waiting we ran out to the mini-mart to pick up a couple of bottles of champagne to celebrate the half-way point, but they were sold out; we had to settle for Spanish tinto roja (red wine).We cast off about 1130. We had reason to appreciate being in the lagoon rather than in the main marina, as there were many, many boats trying to exit at the same time. The start line was very, very crowded as all the boats were jockeying for position. It got even more crowded when a large,. read more...

Hakuna Matata - Slow but pleasant and first fish!

Monday 11/24/08As of 1300 on the 24th, Hakuna Matata has made 130 miles; only about 2700 to go..Even though the winds are supposed to be light tonight we dropped the spinnaker at dusk and are sailing with the main at reef point one and genoa unfurled. Just before dusk we were joined by a large pod of about 30 bottlenose dolphins. They swam with the boat for about 15 minutes.Ken and Gareth are on galley duty tonight and made a chicken and tomato concasse pasta dish. The pan got licked so folks enjoyed it.As of 1930, we've done 150 miles. Good night all..Tuesday 11/25/08Winds were very light and variable through the night. We finally had to start the engines when our speed dropped to 1.3 knots. Seas are relatively calm. It's good for getting our sea legs, but we'd like to get a lot more. read more...

Hakuna Matata - Blow fish and wind

Winds continued to be very light through the afternoon and evening of the 26th. We landed another Dorado which was quickly filleted and put in the freezer. We also had a strike on our portside rod & reel but didn't notice it until all the line was run off the reel. Ken put on the rod harness and worked the fish in for about 15 minutes. It seemed like there were 2 miles of line on the reel and the fish struggling added to the forward momentum of the boat made it a lot of work. When the fish was finally landed it turned out to be a large blowfish of some type which promptly inflated itself. We took its picture and let it go.Liz and Graham made spaghetti Bolognese with salad and garlic bread for dinner and we had an appetizer of the Spanish equivalent of Parma ham carved from the whole. read more...

Hakuna Matata - Slightly better progress

11/27/08Capt Chris and Ken had galley duty for Thanksgiving dinner Thursday evening. We prepared chicken breasts stuffed with Parma ham and camembert cheese accompanied by a baked corn bread stuffing and steamed Asian broccoli.Winds continued to mount through the evening. By 2300 we were up to 28 knots true and had 2 reefs in the main sail on a broad reach. The seas were extremely choppy and the ride was very noisy and bumpy, especially for those trying to sleep below. Even with 2 reefs we were doing 7-8 knots. This was a big improvement from the 2-3 knots of the past few nights. This was the first night when we really felt like you needed to be strapped in whenever you ventured on deck. We changed the watch schedule to ensure that 2 people were on watch together. Skies were overcast and. read more...