Next stop Gibraltar
09 March 2010 | 31 deg 55 min N ; 23 deg 20 min W
Tom
"Head west young man, they cried." In our case it was HEAD NORTH, which as you all know we have been doing ceaselessly. Last blog had us anticipating our way-point to turn and head East, not to be. There was little wind again and the predictions that were on hand showed wind ahead further to the north of our intended turn so we held our course and continued on the northerly heading for another day.
During the early hours of the morning on the three am watch Mark had the wind steadily increasing so that when I took over at six we were able to start sailing again. Continuing on our course whilst waiting for day light we gybed the boat at nine am to head at last for Gibraltar. Although still nine hundred miles away we feel that another important milestone on our voyage has been reached. As if to celebrate the occasion I had the most stunning sun-rise with out having a sun rise. If that sounds peculiar, let me explain. There was a heavy cloud bank on the horizon to the east this morning and as the light slowly started to appear the formed behind that cloud bank a glorious sunrise full of reds and oranges but being behind the nearby cloud bank the actual rising sun could not be seen. not only did i have this marvelous three dimension picture but it spread a myriad of lighter reds and pinks to other parts of the sky heralding a good day for us.
The change of course has also brought about a change to the point of sailing. Having reached the area of the upper level of the high pressure cell we have been on a "run" all day. That is having the wind from behind. A comfortable way to travel, the boat is quite smooth and easy in it's motion and one does not actually feel the speed of the boat sometimes surging ahead as it surfs on the swells of the following seas.
Our current position is 31 deg 55 min North ; 23 deg 20 min West a little northeast of Madeira. Hope you all have found it in your atlas.
Cheers, the crew of A4018.