Alan
11/20/2009, 34 43.086'N:010 35.47'W, Atlantic Ocean

Another un-eventful day is drawing to a close as the sun sets here 135 nautical miles off the coast of Morocco. We had to turn the engine back on earlier in the afternoon as the wind died away to just a zephyr, and on the nose at that.

I have caught up on some of the sleep that I avoided last night and have spent the afternoon reading 'Victory' by Joseph Conrad. In my reading I have decided that the cast of the movie 'Casablanca' would have been easily substituted into this story if it had been made into a movie around that time. And that's my random thought for the day...not much change in anything on the boat.

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Alan
11/20/2009, 35 07.80'N:010 13.08'W, Atlantic Ocean

Just a few minutes ago we were able to shut the engine down for the first time since we left Lagos. The main, jib, and staysail are all up and drawing. Over the first 24 hours or so we made about 140 nm and that leaves 490 remaining to Las Palmas (approximately). I am going to try to catch up on sleep today after a pretty well sleepless night, the engine kept slowing down on its own and even died a few times (fortunately it has re-started each time without much problem). I am looking forward to the Canary Islands and I hope that this passage continues as smoothly as the first day has been. Only time will tell...

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Alan
11/19/2009, 36 23.22'N:009 14.40'W, Atlantic Ocean

The sun has set and the conditions remain the same. At this point we have left the near-shore shipping lanes behind so it will hopefully be an uneventful night. Tomorrow the weather forecast says that we may have some useful wind, that would be nice but we shall see what happens.

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Alan
11/19/2009, 36 35.97'N:009 03.71'W, Atlantic Ocean

Well, not much to report today, our first day out of Lagos. We have been motoring along since about 10:00 this morning after leaving the Marina. The little bit of wind that there is is directly on the bow and there is just a gentle swell. Soon the sun will be going down and it will be time to settle in for a night of watching for ships. That's all for now.

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Alan
11/16/2009, Lagos, Portugal

Tomorrow we are heading out of Lagos, probably some time around noon (local time). Our destination is Las Palmas on Gran Canaria (the Canary Islands), an approximate distance of 600 nautical miles in a straight line. Since it is rarely possible to sail in a straight line from one place to the next the distance will vary.

We will be arriving in Gran Canaria shortly after the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers leaves from there. The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC for short) is an event for members of the World Cruising Club (WCC) and is held yearly for those who choose to pay the entry fee. Yesterday was the opening ceremony for the event and that was highlighted with a parade of the participants. The participants were grouped by nation and each led by a flag-bearer, there are a total of 23 nations represented this year. The rally leaves Las Palmas on the 22nd of November for the trip to St. Lucia, where the festivities will resume.

This sail to the Canaries and the trip from there to the Cape Verde Islands will be a true shakedown in preparation for the trip across to Brazil. Hopefully everything will stand up to the test, if something were to fail (as things tend to do) I hope that we have the proper spare on board to fix the problem.

More updates will be posted as we make this short trip, hopefully they will be tales of an uneventful and swift passage.

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