Motoring out to the start we had a great send of from hundreds of people
lining the walls and breakwaters of the marina and port, bands playing,
loudspeaker announcements, etc. Everyone waving.
The Committee Boat marking the line and controlling the start was a Spanish
Naval Patrol vessel with a structure that wouldn’t encourage you to go near it
in a yacht! It looked like a stealth bomber on the water.
Fresh winds for the start and we went out to sea to avoid the gusts and
acceleration zone near the airport and the tip of the island but we now think
they wouldn’t have been a problem for us. Just before the start we got a
warning of a floating shipping container towards the Cape Verdes within the
course route of many of the yachts. Will avoid!
We had to hand steer the yacht for a while as a wire had become dislodged
behind the autopilot. We were travelling around 7 knots with the No 4 jib
and 3 reefs in the main. There were strong gusts with several other boats
broaching, including one which was flying a parasailor spinaker, however they
managed to snuff it very quickly and fairly effortlessly despite the wind and
rolling.
For much of the night we had breaking waves at the stern, only a few
threatened to, but didn’t, come in. Beautiful stars and quite a few
meteors.
Sightings: a few large dark birds with long slim stiff looking wings that
just glide over the water with hardly a single beat. Don’t know how they manage
that!