Picture: The rock of Gibraltar.


The one thing about sailing is that it will always be different. We are subject to so many subtle variations of weather and sea conditions that no two days are the same.

Reflecting back on our passage from The Cape Verde's to Gibraltar it is very surprising how different that portion of our voyage turned out to be. The weather pattern was radically different from the normal thus allowing us to take a most unusual route and in the latter stages to be so close to the African coast on our way past Morocco with views of Agadir, Casablanca and Mohameddia. We made excellent progress covering the distance from Praia to Gibraltar in seven days of glorious sailing with calm seas and even at times the wind from behind. So frequently on this route I have experienced head winds coupled with big seas resulting in hard beating with the boat heeled over, slamming and very uncomfortable for days on end with the passage taking up to twelve days. One always expects a layer of fine red dust blown from the Sahara to collect on the boat and taking the " inside " route raised my fears of this being a problem. We did have some but only a very light layer which washed of easily. Closer to the coast there were many more passing ships than on the conventional route. Having the AIS facility made this an easy task although there were many that did not have any signal at all. Their lights were visible at night and it emphasized the importance of keeping a good lookout at all times. We hailed a big red ship passing close by and enquired about our own AIS signal. Happily for us they had received it reassuring us that we are visible to other vessels as well.

Departing Malaga this morning we have had a marvelous days sailing heading almost due East along the Spanish coast. The wind has been a little from the southeast allowing us to motor-sail to good effect. In fact during on watch in the cockpit this afternoon I quipped about us just being out for a lovely sail along the Costa do Sol on a week day whilst everyone else was at work. Sure enough this is my profession and where I apply my expertise in a safe delivery but it does have it's immeasurable rewards on days like these.

Not that it is possible to be complacent. It must be remembered that we are now in the winter period which can produce some nasty conditions and we need to be ever vigilant to the possibility of approaching changes to the current situation. To this effect I have today down-loaded three sets of data including a synoptic chart of all Europe to be aware of what is driving the weather that we have locally. It is important to watch both the big picture and the local detail at all times.

As we approached Malaga the boat was dressed with our registration flag at the stern and the Spanish courtesy flag on the starboard spreader. On the port spreader we have an Italian and a South African flag signifying the nationalities of the crew on board. I thank Dudi for this gesture and consideration.

From position 36 deg 42 min North and 002 deg 10 min West at 21:15, I bid you all BUONE NOTTE as I catch a little rest before going on watch for my turn to play with the boat.

Cheers, Tom.