On Monday 24th January 2022 we started our real adventure. Excitedly, we left at 11 in the morning with me at the helm. We called family and friends while we were at sea – profiting of the last time we would have signal. The sea was calm, mostly because we had no wind, but this is a sailing yacht (you’re supposed to have wind!). We were all filled with joy as none of us were seasick – not even my mum. I had a nap for an hour so I wouldn’t fall asleep on my night-shift.
My night-shift was from 7pm to 3am which is perfect for me (the person who normally falls asleep at 9pm and wakes up at 6am) ! First hour was okay but then it got harder until I started falling asleep whilst sleeping. My dad, who couldn’t sleep saw that and offered to do part of my night-shift as well as his.
When I woke up everything was upside-down. The wind and waves had started to come, making me feel quite dizzy. I was still sleepy and I felt like I had a lot less energy as the day before. This continued on for 2 days as they were the most choppy days. We went under some aquatic volcanoes which caused some currents and waves, making me feel sick. My mum on the other-hand, was actually sick those days – which isn’t exactly breaking news as we already know of her horrible seasickness.
The third day was a lot better: there weren’t as many waves, the boat was travelling at a good speed and it was getting warmer. This meant that we stayed outside for a couple of hours. Millie actually did her business for the first time at sea as well. From then on she got used to the movement even going to the bow by herself or leaning on a fender to not fall. My mum had also started eating everything. The only one who hadn’t ate was me. I thought I would feel worse if I ate. In the afternoon I actually gave in and had my first boiled egg with bread. I suddenly felt so much better and my seasickness started to disappear.
Day four was the most interesting as we caught our first fish ever at sea. It was a mahi mahi. Thanks to Mark who gave us some bait and fishing line also teaching us how to fish it. My dad and I were so proud of the fish we had caught. On the other-hand my mum was not as it smelt and it would make the boat dirty. Poor Millie was scared of the green monster my dad had fished out wanting to go inside to my mum. She saw my dad cut it handing her a piece of meat, however, she was even afraid of smelling it! We put it in lemon with some condiments and left it to tenderise for a couple of hours. We ate from it during the next couple of days – even Millie enjoyed it!
For the last 2 days my dad and I swapped night-shifts which was better for my as I would naturally wake up at 3am in the morning to change shifts. This made me feel full of energy so I put music for hours for everybody to enjoy (I don’t think the dog enjoyed it though). The days had started getting warmer as well adding to the holiday feel.
We saw the Cape Verdes on 30th January in the morning, arriving in Mindelo at around noon where we were greeted my Eric and Karin and we anchored. We spent exactly 6 days and 2 hours at sea as we left on Monday at 11am and arrived on Sunday at 1pm.
