1700 GMT, Tuesday 29 November
15 18 N, 037 09 W
Distance sailed from Gran Canaria: 1612nm
Rhumb line distance to go: 1380nm
Dear Family and Friends,
Reporting in from Destiny, we continue to enjoy beautiful weather and now even better winds. Our (Graeme and Nelson's) plot to go further south to hopefully catch more of the trade winds seems to have panned out .... at least to this point.
We've had a great day today with winds of 20 to 30 knots, and as I write this they continue. We have a confused swell running, one from the northeast and another from the southeast. From time to time they meet under the boat and we get a great "swooshhhh" of motion. It sure makes barbequeing interesting as we did tonight.
But the motion and the wind and the ocean continue to amaze all of us in it's stunning power and magnificence.
I thought today that you may like to hear about how we stand watches. We do a continuous running shift of 2 hours on and 8 hours off. The exception is that Lynley does the 1000 to 1200 each morning, thus shifting us all later by two hours each day. Each day we always do a different watch. For example, today I did the 0400 to 0600, then this afternoon 1600 to 1800, followed by tomorrow morning 0200 to 0400. Each person sits watch alone, watching for other boat traffic, rain storms or squalls on the radar, and making sure the heading is correct respecting the ever varying wind angle.
The silent dark hour watches are amazing in their solitude while everyone else is sleeping. The sound of the ocean and swells rushing under us gives one the aural feeling of the power of the sea. In the dark of course, one can't see the swells coming. We just feel the boat rock and roll!!
Tonight's dinner was in celebration of passing the half way mark in terms of miles sailed and to go. We were treated to grilled pork chops in an olive oil garlic marinade, combined with creamy mashed potatoes and sweet and sour red cabbage, apple sauce (home made!), and gravy. This was followed by a fresh chocolate cake with yogurt complete with candle on top.
Love to R and S.
Hugs and regards to all friends and family,
Jim (Graeme, Nelson, Lynley, Matt, Skip)