Trilogy's first blue water passage - 730 nm from Gibraltar to Santa Cruz, Tenerife in the Canary Islands provided both boat and crew a good shakedown voyage in preparation for joining the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers at the end of November. Weather and winds were generally kind although towards the end of the trip light winds forced a lot of motor sailing. Never-the-less Trilogy made the trip in four and a half days.

The passage to the Canaries provided boat and crew a good opportunity to test sails; work up watch keeping and sail handling routines - particularly for the new spinnaker; and assess victualling requirements for the Atlantic crossing.

Some of the highlights included crossing the Gibraltar Straits - weaving through the heavy traffic large in good reaching conditions; fantastic red sunsets and sunrises; dolphins playing on the bow wave; a big pod of pilot whales leisurely cruising across our path; our first tuna caught on the trolling line; the small land birds who visited up to 100 nm off the coast of Africa hunting insects- and finding shelter under the dinghy during the night; flying the Code Zero; setting the new spinnaker at sea for the first time; making home-made bread and yoghurt; and the friendly welcome from the marina and immigration polizia in Santa Cruz.

There was also a strange inexplicable GPS event with Trilogy showing for over 30 minutes that she was sailing backwards at over 65kts. Unbelievable performance under the conditions at the time (well, any time really). No passage would be complete without the odd gremlin appearing in the boat's systems and the trip did provide an opportunity to flush a couple of minor problems out, giving us enough time to fix them before the ARC.

Trilogy's landfall was memorable. Tenerife was visible some 50 nm out to sea, largely due to El Teide, Spain's tallest mountain at over 3500m. As we closed land the wind gradually built to a good strong, steady breeze. Trilogy reached at exhilarating speed into the channel between the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria with Dave (aka Captain Araldite) glued to the helm. Teneriffe was spectacular with jagged green hills collapsing almost vertically into the sea.

To cap a good passage, the entrance to Marina Santa Cruz was almost surreal, with Trilogy required to pass between two large oil drilling platforms (small versions of the Pillars of Hercules when departing the Mediterranean?) before gaining access to a well protected berth. The crew at trip end quietly celebrated what had been a memorable first passage on Trilogy in the Atlantic.