Monthly Archives: Wednesday November 30th, 2011

Rancho Rapido of the Seas

Posted on Wednesday November 30th, 2011 by dafdaf

I always thought a 12 ton steel vessel would be awfully slow. But our Rancho Relaxo for sure isn’t. Last day’s daily log was 145nm which gives an average of more than six knots. Of course the wind and waves increased during last night but it was still nice sailing with jib and reefed genoa. During the night we passed two big oil tankers and believe it or not the first one actually altered it’s course by 25 degrees to get out of our way ! Very nice. Especially when you’re out alone during the night and both sails are fixed with a boom – that really limits our maneuvrability. At 1100 UTC we once more received a DSC alert from Gran Canaria Radio. Those (excuse me) stupid bastards send a security alert (!) for every weather broadcast !! This means that you’ll receive about 12 DSC alerts a day which cause the radio to go into panic mode and start beeping really loud. The reason why many sailors in the Canaries turn off their VHF. That’s a perfect example for an security improvement that fired backwards. Anyway. We recieved that alert – but hey ! We’re 370nm off G.C. ! That means we’ve once again limitless VHF reception. I tried to reach the SY Kira (roughly 40nm behind) via VHF but they didn’t answer. Maybe the DSC alert caused them to turn off their radio ? ;-)

370 miles off Gran Canaria also means that we’ll have ‘Bergfest’ (half way there) in about five hours. Yay ! Now I’m gonna change the bait – maybe today we’ll finally catch a fish ?

Posted in Rancho Relaxo | 2 Comments

Der lachende Mond und der verwirrte Fisch

Posted on Tuesday November 29th, 2011 by dafdaf

Seit einem Tag haben wir kein Schiff mehr gesehen. Leider auch nicht das unserer Freunde von der SY Kira. Die haben wir naemlich des naechtens voellig unbemerkt ueberholt (har, har !) und nun befinden wir uns etwa 12nm suedlich voraus. Der Wind blaest nach wie vor sehr stetig und schiebt uns mit durchschnittlich 6 Knoten Richtung Kapverden. Nach wie vor herrliches Segelwetter und wir ueberlegen schon, eventuell die Kapverden gar nicht anzulaufen, sondern gleich direkt ueber’n Atlantik zu gehen. Das laute Platschen, dass ihr vielleicht gerade gehoert habt, war das Herz, das Wolfgang gerade in die Hose gerutscht ist. – Naaaaa !!! War doch nur ein Scherz ! Wir freuen uns schon riesig auf unseren Mitsegler !! :-D Und allen voran freut sich der Skipper, denn die faulste Crew der Welt schlaeft ca. 20 Stunden am Tag und so fehlt mir manchmal ein Gespraechspartner. Apropos fehlen: Heute haetten wir FAST unseren ersten Fisch geangelt. Fast insofern, als dieser Fisch irgendwie das Angeln nicht so richtig kapiert hat. Und zwar ist der mit unserem (Koeder-)fisch abgehauen, anstatt sich selbst fuer uns zu opfern. Tja. So befindet sich unser Koederfisch nun wohl in einem etwa 0.5m langen und merkwuerdig hellblau/tuerkis farbenem Fisch. Diesen habe ich zumindest wegschwimmen sehen, als ich die Leine eingeholt hab. Das war dann auch schon so ungefaehr das Highlight des Tages. Ansonsten passiert hier (zum Glueck) nicht viel. Ich sitze im Cockpit unter einem sensationellem Sternenhimmel und der Mond lacht – ja das macht er, wenn man sich dem Aequator naehert. Oder er weint. – Je nachdem. Aber zur Zeit freut er sich mit uns, dass wir so flott vorankommen. Im uebrigen noch 536nm nach Sal. Das waeren bei der derzeitigen Geschwindigkeit knapp vier Tage. Und die werden wir geniessen !! So. Rundumblick und dann nach unten und Email wegschicken…

Posted in Rancho Relaxo | 1 Comment

Second day towards Cabo Verde

Posted on Tuesday November 29th, 2011 by dafdaf

This has to be the most beautiful sailing trip we’ve ever had ! We say this a couple of times a day – and when we’re on the radio with the SY Kira, they also agree. The wind is perfect with a absolutely constant 4-5 Beaufort from NE and the sea is very calm. We sleep and eat well. The children are happy, reading books or are playing. We’ve got sunshine all day – I could go on forever… Right now we’re cruising with a speed of 6.5 knots, course 220. Yesterday’s daily log (Etmal) was 125 miles which is quite ok. And I wouldn’t even want to be faster as this would just mean more waves and constant holding on to not fall from the seat, etc. Well, I just wanted to let you know that we’re VERY fine out here… Now I’m gonna have a big breakfast.

Posted in Rancho Relaxo | 1 Comment

Erster Tag auf See

Posted on Monday November 28th, 2011 by dafdaf

Lange haben wir uns darauf gefreut: endlich wieder raus, auf den blauen Ozean. Aber irgendwie war der Absprung aus Las Palmas nicht so leicht. Immer wieder sind wir “morgen, dann” abgefahren, aber es kam immer wieder was dazwischen. Nun gut, Gestern um 17h sind wir dann ausgelaufen und haben erst mal im Hafen ein paar Kringel gedreht, um den Pinnenpilot (der auf der Windfahne montiert ist) und den endlich reparierten elektronischen Kompass zu kalibrieren. Dann haben wir Segel gesetzt und sind raus aus dem Hafen, wo uns ungewohnt hohe Wellen empfangen haben. Hoch waren sie eigentlich ja nicht – aber eben ungewohnt, nach so langer Zeit im Hafen. So wurde Gui auch gleich mal etwas gruen um die Nase und die Kinder haben sich um 19h in die Kojen verkrochen. Bis Mitternacht hab ich Wache und der Wind uns kraeftig voran geschoben. Dann wurde es uns aber ein wenig zu schnell und um die SY Kira nicht zu schnell einzuholen, haben wir dann das Grosssegel weggenommen und nur die ausgebaumte Genua gelassen. Die Kira ist im uebrigen etwa 1.5 Stunden vor uns ausgelaufen, ebenfalls mit Ziel Sal, Kapverden. In den fruehen Morgenstunden liess der Wind etwas nach und der Seegang wurde deutlich ruhiger. Das heisst wir haben in der ersten Nacht auf See sogar richtig gut geschlafen, was sehr unueblich ist. Morgens aufgewacht bei strahlend blaumem Himmel, ultramarin blaues Meer und dunkelblaue Heidelbeermarmelade am Broetchen. YAY ! Endlich wieder Segeln !!

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Fruit-washer and the start towards Cabo Verde

Posted on Saturday November 26th, 2011 by dafdaf

Did I say we’ll leave on saturday ? Of course I meant sunday. Hehehehe. No, really – there were hundereds of little things to do and last night was short (again). So we decided to give it another day and set sail tomorrow in the early afternoon. We’ll be out on sea for approx. 6-7 days with destination ‘Sal’ in the Cabo Verde archipelago. As always, if you want to contact us, use the information on the ‘contact’ page. – Everything’s there.

But of course we’ll use our shortwave connection to post a few stories while underway so stay tuned.

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Sailing | 2 Comments

Ready for the next hop.

Posted on Friday November 25th, 2011 by dafdaf

After weeks of intense preparations, the day has come. – Or at least nearly. Tomorrow we’ll be leaving the Canaries ! We stocked up on food, the ToDo-list is (unbelievably !) empty, the tanks are full and everybody is getting slightly nervous. Not really because of the distance to Cabo Verde but because it’s been a while that we’ve been sailing properly. Hehe.

Yesterday in the evening the SY Kira finished shopping and somehow managed to stow an incredible amount of groceries and drinks inside their vessel. Only the now missing boot-topping reveals the amount of food inside. After that incredible performance in real-live-Tetris we opened a five liter can of beer to replenish our electrolytes. I was back on our ship at about 04h in the morning.

Today a couple of friends from the anchorage came by to wish us a good journey and exchange emails, etc. Some of them we will probably see in the Carribean others we won’t meet ever again. But you hardly can tell since everyone seems to change their plans quite as often as we do. What else ? Hmmmm. We got the new persenning for our Genua. We also had last-minute christmas shopping. Allegedly Santa Claus will come around even if we’re out on the ocean. Bruno says he’s got an incredibly fast dinghy – just like the coast guard.

Now it’s time to clean up the ship on the inside. There are still many things looking for a good space to be hidden. I’ll do another posting tomorrow, before we’re leaving. Speaking of: We might be sailing together with the Kira again ! But they have a problem with their spinnaker pole and it might take till monday to fix that. Hmm…

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Sailing | 4 Comments

Big shopping day

Posted on Wednesday November 23rd, 2011 by dafdaf

I always loved the pictures of ship’s decks before starting a big trip; when everything is covered with groceries. Well today we also received most of our refreshments for the next two months. Missing are only the fruits and vegetables that we’ll buy tomorrow at the market.

I also always wondered: Where are those yachties storing all that food ? – And today we also were confronted with that problem. We were running out of storage space and had to use a bed in the aft cabin to temporarily keep muesli, powdered milk, etc.

And finally a warning to our readers out there: We bought this lovely looking coffee with a nice sailboat on it’s cover. – It’s UNDRINKABLE !! Do yourself a favor and buy another brand.

Posted in Learning for life, LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Sailing | 1 Comment

Tamora and the shopping list

Posted on Tuesday November 22nd, 2011 by dafdaf

What’s the day today ? The answer to this question will take longer the more yachties try to answer it. But I’ll just ask the computer. Tuesday ? Well… We wanted to go sailing today – didn’t we ?  But that also has become a running gag. But we’ll leave – I promise.

Sunday evening the SY Tamora entered the anchorage and we immediately left the beach party to enter our friends ship. Just seconds after the anchor touched the ground, the crews of Kira and Rancho Relaxo were sitting in the cockpit of our friend’s boat. Last time we’ve seen each other was in Lissabon and so there are plenty of stories to tell. As 217 ships of the ARC-flottilla now have vanished, more and more yachts from the anchorage move into the marina to fill up their batteries, tanks and lockers. Even the LosLocos have started to make a big inventory list and a shopping list. In a few minutes Dieter and Silke of the Tamora will pick us up to go into town.

After shopping we have to check out (officially that is, at the customs), we have to store anchor, fenders, dinghy. Everything else is pretty much done.

Lately we had the discussion whether we’re nervous about the big crossing that’s ahead of us. But without even thinking about it the answer of everyone was: “No. Not at all !” – Well – that still could change. Hehehe.

We also updated our route – cancelled Senegal and made a few plans for the Carribean.

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Sailing | 1 Comment

The start of the ARC 2011

Posted on Sunday November 20th, 2011 by dafdaf

Of course we were there – with the Dinghy and towing our friends from the Kira, we’ve watched the ships of the ARC leave the harbour of Las Palmas to sail across the Atlantic. We had beautiful weather and a constant breeze – perfect conditions for a nice ride. Here are a few pics:

Posted in Pics, Sailing | 1 Comment

At home in Las Palmas

Posted on Sunday November 20th, 2011 by dafdaf

Slowly we’re feeling at home here in Las Palmas. The personnel of the local chandlery knows us by name, the kids have plenty of friends and the days pass by in an instant. Today at 13:00h, the ARC will start across the Atlantic and then it’s gonna be much quieter in the harbour. We’ll commemorate that by having a beach party in the afternoon. Hehehe.

Unfortunately, the Express Crusader also left Gran Canaria this morning. This beautiful, history-charged ship is inhabited by an argentinian family with three kids – despite sailing under the english flag. We’ll gonna miss them and look forward to meet again in Cabo Verde or maybe in the Carribean. Bruno was really very sad today.

Yesterday I built the mount for our tiller pilot and thus managed to remove one of the last items from my ToDo list. After that there was a big children farewell party on board the Express Crusader with 11 (in words: ELEVEN !!) kids. Afterwards Bruno and Viola still had energy left to do the long planned restaurant evening. The kids created a menu and Bruno took the orders with pen and booklet and passed the wishes of our guests towards the kitchen. Viola mixed Mojitos and Bruno and Gui made the Cheeseburgers. It was a wonderful evening with Klaus und Tim from the Kira (where the restaurant was actually planed – therefore the name…)

And now we’ll have to get into the Dinghy to see the start of the ARC 2011 . We wanna shoot a couple of pictures. We have a steady breeze and I guess at lest the racing division will use that to start under spinnaker. We’ll see…

Posted in Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Sailing | 1 Comment

A word about “Occupy Wall Street”

Posted on Friday November 18th, 2011 by dafdaf

I’m trying not to get political on this site but sometimes I can’t resist. Regarding ‘Occupy Wall street‘ I found this neat little sentence (translation by me):

Right ! Ban the demonstrations !
“In Syria you can’t demonstrate against Assad, in Libya you couldn’t demonstrate against Gadaffi and in the U.S. you can’t demonstrate against Wall Street.”

And some thing else to think about: “Beginning in 2010, JPMorgan Chase donated technology, time and resources valued at $4.6 million to the New York City Police Foundation, including 1,000 new patrol car laptops.”

Here’s the site as PDF in case it’s taken offline.

Posted in Freedom, Politics | Comments Off

With the car in the south and a new visitor

Posted on Thursday November 17th, 2011 by dafdaf

Huh ? No update in three days ? That’s unusual. But of course that only happened because we’re sooooo busy. Hehehe. This monday we rented a car and crossed the island towards the south. It goes waaaaay up on the mountains and it really IS a street as you expect it to be, meandering up the steep slopes of the rocky center of Gran Canaria. On the summit we had a little rest, cool air, a nice view, the driver had a beer and the kids had a donkey-ride.

Then it was downhill for quite a while, passing strange plants. I was just saying to Gui: “Look at that strange trees, they have yellow leaves.” When it came to me. Aaah ! There still is that thing with seasons. – It’s autumn !! *Pfew* Somehow we already ARE a little disconnected with central Europe, it seems. Then we saw another strange thing: A paddle-cactus-tree. Never saw such a plant – and actually I learned that it’s a highly endangered species and ususally only to be found on the Galapagos Islands.

Having arrived in the south, we payed a visit to the Hitch-Hike-Heidi which we last saw in Aveiro (Portugal). The kids had fun without end and the grownups had an endless chat. It was wonderful but way to short. We hope to meet again in Cabo Verde.

Yesterday there wasn’t much happening – but we got a visitor: Klaus from the Kira arrived to meet his parents. And since it was logistically better, he used the ferry to come over from Tenerife. He’ll spend two nights on board the Rancho Relaxo after which Tim will arrive with the Kira.

Today we had big construction works on our ship: five kids were playing Lego. Unfortunately I forgot to document the creations – but I was just too engaged.

Posted in Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Plants, Rancho Relaxo, Travel | Comments Off

A little break (for the webserver)

Posted on Wednesday November 16th, 2011 by dafdaf

Sorry for the downtime on our website. The server was broken after a software update on the SAN. Now it seems to be working again.

Posted in Linux, Net | Comments Off

30th international dinghy race

Posted on Sunday November 13th, 2011 by dafdaf

Today the crew the Rancho Relaxo participated in the much anticipated dinghy race. – And we think we won. Or actually nobody knows. We didn’t even realize when the race started or when it finished. It was all just splashing water and throwing balloons filled with – or old bread soaked in water… yes – we got dirty and wet.

After the race we met a lovely argentinian family with three kids of which two are the same age as Bruno and Viola. And they’re on long term cruise with next stop in Cabo Verde. Yay !

In the evening there was a big gathering on the beach – so to say a little afterhour to the dinghy race. Many really interesting and lovely people.

Posted in Argentina, It's funny ! Laugh !, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Sailing | Comments Off

Preschool, muffins and up the mast

Posted on Saturday November 12th, 2011 by dafdaf

It’s three o’clock in the afternoon and we’ve already been quite hardworking. After breakfast, Bruno went immediately to work with pre-school and today’s subject mathematics. After that the kids and Gui tried a new muffin recipe, decorated the pastries and immediately ate them.

In the mean time, I was up the mast to repair the remote compass and took measurement of  our antenna mount where the active radar reflector should be rigged. The electronic compass is now finally working. And since yesterday our ships main compass has working illumination again and Bruno and me installed the last missing part for our desalinator. We’ll check on our way to Cabo Verde whether it really works.

Posted in Kids, Learning for life, LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Work | Comments Off

Interesting Boats

Posted on Thursday November 10th, 2011 by dafdaf

Instead of writing about our ship’s ToDo list and the advancements made on our little projects, I’ll rather show you a few pictures of some nice (and big) sailing yachts that were in port today:

The Cinderella IV is quita a nice little boat. The on board dinghy (!!) has an 115hp engine – which is roughly three times the power of our own ship’s inboard Mercedes. Heh. She’s 128 feet long – that’s nearly 40 meters but has accomodation only for eight ‘guests’ and five crew. So I guess, you have plenty of room on board. A funny little detail: She pulled up at the gas station and before filling up their tanks, the skipper was requesting a sample of the fuel in a crystal glass to look at. When they got onboard the fuel hose, they put snow white towels over every part of the ship that could get in contact and while three people pulled the hose across the deck, one was continously cleaning it !

More beautiful because of her classic design is the yacht ‘Signe‘ with her 115ft (35m). And the ship doesn’t only look classic but despite her rather young age of only 21 years it’s actually made out of wood – which is not so common nowadays. A real beauty. I would have shot a few more detailed pictures but they left the anchorage today.

Then ther was that bright orange colored boat: The rescue vessel ‘Salvamar Nunki’. Thanks to Gui’s efforts we managed to get a guided tour by the Captain of the vessel. Of course the kids wanted to know EVERYTHING and – were shown everything. From the winches to the crew’s quarters, the engine room and of course the cockpit with all it’s electronic gadgets. Quite fascinating ! A few details about the ship: it’s maximum speed is 36 knots and it’s not driven by propellers but by jet propulsion (like a gigantic jet-ski). The draft of this 21m ship is only 80cm – so it can go quite close to the beach. Nice !

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Sailing | Comments Off

Another (work)day

Posted on Tuesday November 8th, 2011 by dafdaf

“Papi, what are we gonna repair today ?” – this is how Bruno wakes me up nowadays. And every morning I have a different answer. Actually we only wanted to stay a day or two (I know, I repeat myself…) but it’s just soooo convenient to have all shops and toolstores around the corner, so today we said, we’ll stay for another week. Yes, a week because I also ordered new optical sunglasses and they’ll not be ready before that. We also will get a new battery and tank monitor from the U.S. that somehow got wrecked during yesterdays battery replacement. Now the only thing it shows on it’s display is that it’ll like a new firmware to be uploaded – or to say it differently: It’s broken.

Because it doesn’t cost much, I sent an Email to Blue Sea Systems and immediately got an unbelievably friendly email back in which they announce to send us a new (refurbished) unit ! WOW, that’s customer support ! Companies of the earth: take this as an example !! Ah, and to stay on the subject: I also sent an email to our battery supplier and got an answer back. But there’s not yet any concrete development, I’ll post later on this very subject.

As you can see on the pictures: Today was sewing day. Gui made beds for the children’s puppets the other day and now of course they needed a bedding. Viola didn’t hesitate and took the needle and sewed away. Bruno and me were doing the covering for the newly installed fridge and mounted the still missing switch for the same. We repaired the pump that get’s the oil of the ship’s engine out (when it’s to be changed) and we also got the last missing parts to install the saltwater pump for the watermaker. So that will probably be tomorrow’s project. We’ve also been on the beach and right after discovered a Bio-Burger restaurant nearby. Yummie !!

Posted in Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Work | Comments Off

POW ! To the people.

Posted on Monday November 7th, 2011 by dafdaf

The power is back !! Yeyeye !!! Electrical light – without cranking the dynamo-lantern constantly. No fumes of our petroleum-lantern… No. Nice, warm LED-light from the ceiling on the push of a button. Great !

Today I talked with the guys from the shop here and although they don’t have a concrete idea why our batteries died, they still told me that I’m not alone. In fact only a few weeks ago a norwegian yacht passed through and had all six (!!) of their five month old AGM batteries replaced ! So we too now have old school lead-acid batteries. Today I spent a lot of money and got four mainenance-free Vaetus marine batteries with 108 Ah each. Replacing the batteries took the whole day because of our fantastic ‘battery-cistern’. Now my back hurts but there’s again power running through the veins of the Rancho Relaxo !

Many thanks to our readers for all the helpful tips and advices that came in via comment function, facebook and email !! But still, we don’t know why the batteries died…. Today I wrote an Email to the manufacturer. We’ll see if they answer – actually it should be covered by the guarantee…. But who knows…

Did I mention that Bruno with his five years is already a good dinghy captain ? He loves to drive us to the harbour – although even more so when we are only two (because it’s faster !) Hehehe. Also in the pics: Bruno and Viola are amazed by an shop window with slide and snow made from styropor (and both hold an ice cream in theyr hand).

Posted in Hardware, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Rancho Relaxo, Work | 2 Comments

8.588.100.125 new photos (approximately)

Posted on Monday November 7th, 2011 by dafdaf

I’ve used the last remaining battery power together with the fast WiFi connection to upload a sh..load of new photos. There’s everything. From the coasts of Spain and Portugal, Santiago de Compostela, the crossing to the Canaries, Lanzarote, Teneriffe, the Loro Parque and even a little of Gran Canaria. Enjoy !

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Battery problems – day two

Posted on Sunday November 6th, 2011 by dafdaf

Thanks to the answers of our readers, today I’ve done more tests on our batteries. I’ve tested all batteries while disconnected from the ship’s circuitry U1 is without load. U2 is with a 40watts load, measured after 30 seconds. Here come the facts:

Battery  |    U1    |    U2    |
---------+----------+----------+
Main 1   |  12.62V  |   9.19V  |
Main 2   |  12.72V  |   9.62V  |
Main 3   |  12.71V  |  10.70V  |
Main 4   |  12.52V  |  11.39V  |
Start    |  12.30V  |  11.79V  |

The main batteries are of the type: Effecta BTL-100 (specifications). These are 12V, 100Ah AGM batteries. The label says: cycle use: 14.4V-15V standby user: 13.6V-13.8V
The starter battery is a Vetus ‘marine’ battery of type lead-acid.

Our chargers were set as follows:
Windgenerator: off at 14.34V
Shore power: off at 14.40V (setting: ‘AGM’)
Solar charger: off at 14.30V, standby: 13.8V (setting: ‘GEL’)
Alternator: off at 13.80V, secondary regulation: 13.90V

For me this means that the chargers were set correctly and even a little too conservative. As the batteries say cycle, max. 15V – I could’ve set the solar charger to ‘AGM’ with a peak voltage of 14.70V. Hmmm. Any more input before I run off in search for new batteries tomorrow ?

Posted in Hardware, Learning for life, LosLocos, Rancho Relaxo, Work | 4 Comments