Tradewinds
17:00UTC 21/11/07 17’26N 028’44W Wind NE4/5 Well, what a difference a day makes, as Jamie Cullum is crooning on the stereo. We are now well and truly in the tradewinds, with a good 15-20 knots of breeze from almost right behind us. The familiar rolling is back, something I’m used to from the first trip […]
Yeaaaaay
15:20UTC 20/11/07 18’06N 026’20W Wind NNE3 Yippee, woohoo, yeah. We got wind. And not just because yesterday’s meal plan had baked beans for breakfast and bean casserole for dinner. Engine off at lunchtime, under full sail since then, breeze building slowly and forecast to be good for the foreseeable future. At last we’re on the […]
Café Atlantique
16:00UTC 19/11/07 18’55N 024’46W Wind Zero Today has been somewhat surreal. We have enjoyed a near mystical night, and then had a delightful lunch with fine wines, great food and interesting conversation. We have been to a party. We have no wind, only the lightest of breaths disturb the mirror like surface of the Atlantic […]
Being connected
16:30 UTC 18/11/07 19’46N 024’29W Wind S1 A mere ten years ago, you would not be reading anything like this. We are all familiar with how much our world has changed with regard to communications, yet the implications rarely generate more than a passing thought. I am writing this on a very advanced, rugged computer […]
More of the same – but an unexpected breeze
16:50 UTC 17/11/07 20’59N 024’06W Wind S2 We’ve been motoring again for much of today after another quiet night, but during this morning a little breeze sprung up from the SE and we were able to set full sail and enjoy a stunning few hours of good sailing in flat seas, the sort of thing […]
More motoring
It’s been a busy day today. The weather is perfect for pottering, if not for sailing, as the sea is almost flat calm. Over the past couple of days, we’ve cleaned the decks, washed the solar panels, whipped and sealed various fraying rope ends, rewired the compass lamps, hung a couple of pictures, moved the […]
Light airs, flat seas and sunshine
16:50 UTC 15/11/07 23’03N 21.50W Wind ENE1-2 Almost perfect sailing. We’d happily take another 10 knots of wind right now, as things are a little slow, but we’re making enough miles, using the engine for about 5 hours a day and enjoying calm, warm but not too hot weather – about 27 degrees. The sun […]
Southwards
16:30 UTC 14/11/07 24’10N 020’11W Wind NE3 Very pleasant sailing right now, as we head south to pick up the easterly tradewinds. The traditional maxim is ‘sail south until the butter melts, then turn right’. Well, unless the fridge breaks down, we’ll not see the butter melt so we’re using the chart and weather forecasts […]
Departure
15:15 UTC 13/11/07 25’43N 018’53W Wind NE2 We’ve been at sea for almost 48 hours now and had the perfect start. Gentle breezes, a calm sea, sunshine of course, and dolphins, oh the dolphins. They’ve visited us six or seven times, including at night, trailing vivid streams of phosphorescence through the jet black sea. Yet […]
Waiting for the wind
16:00 UTC 12/11/07 26’50N 017’59W Wind NNE2 The first 24 hours have seen, as forecast, not much wind, but that’s been a good thing to allow us to settle into the routine of life on board. As usual, it’s taken a while to get our sea-legs, coupled with the general tiredness running up to departure, […]