Harmon and Randall's Voyage…

Leg 3, Blog 14, July `10, 2025

All is well as we inch down the African coast on our way to Cape Verde. We are a mere 140 miles (less than one day of sailing) off the continent. While we may be tempted to pull over for a shower and some laundry, I notice that we are paralleling the “country” of Western Sahara. Turns out that Western Sahara is a “non-self governing territory” – whatever that means. While the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) claims the territory and has been recognized by some countries, Morocco also claims sovereignty over Western Sahara and controls the majority of the territory. Guessing we will stay the course to Cape Verde and get our showers and laundry later.

The first night out of Madeira gives us plenty of wind and plenty of chop.

By the next morning, the wind is constantly Changing course and I watch our masthead fly do circles. After a time, the wind begrudgingly settles into its trade patterns and Randall is (always) ready and waiting to fly both headsails.

Our second night out gives us a beautiful combination of clear sky with a line of cloud and a moon that is almost full.

By the next day, we were feeling lonely so we were happy to pass this empty (but crewed) tanker that is between assignments and is simply floating about until it receives instructions. Impossible to anchor as the sea is many thousands of feet deep, the ship literally goes with the flow.

Last night at 2200 the moon was so full and the sky so bright that we could not resist pulling out our “cameras” to take portraits of each other. Note to self: teach Randall some backlighting techniques so our readers can identify whose picture is in front of them. Come to think of it, however, I kind of like the silhouette technique.

As my iPhone is a bit newer than Randall’s (like seven years) Randall asked me to take a picture of the spiders web he noticed on the starboard navigation light. All life is sacred on Mōli and Randall lamented that we carry no food appropriate for our little stowaway. (That’s a good thing, right? No bugs on board!!)

Here is a close up of the web. Sadly, by the next morning the spider had given up and the web fluttered in the wind. Without constant maintenance and replacement, the web will not last. Sounds like us and Mōli!

Here is your nightly video of us sailing south – a mere 22 degrees of latitude until the equator.

Always time for another midnight selfie!

I came on shift at 0600 this morning and did not notice that this poor flying fish had, by accident, flown out of the ocean (as they do) over the boat and down into the small open hatch above the head. I know there is a joke in here somewhere, but boy, he (or she) sure must have been surprised upon landing. Poor thing.

It must have been quite a night as there were more than a few flying fish on deck in the morning. Flying fish are, in fact, edible, but their oily, salty and extreme fishiness makes them unpalatable to most westerners, including myself.

Back to my Swedish roots, I did score some Kalles Caviar in Madeira (remember there are lots of Swedish tourists there). Kalles Caviar, a staple in Sweden, is mostly eaten as an accoutrement with hard or soft boiled eggs. It is made from salted cod and pollock roe and its flavor can be best described as oily, salty and fishy. “Hmmmmmm” I thought as I finished eating my egg breakfast with Kalles this morning. Next time I’ll leave the Kalles Caviar at home and put a flying fish or two on my hard boiled eggs!