Jeu D' Esprit - Log 2 - First night at sea

Day 2 and Jeu d'ESprit is heading South in search of the Trade Winds. Prior to start of the rally, we 'rescued' a crew member - Mr Fender Bucket - several times and are now confident that MOB routines are firmly in stilled in the minds of all.

In addition to the spectacle of the ARC fleet, we were lucky enough to be escorted from Las Palmas by a largish pod of bottlenose dolphins who treated us to some fantasitc gymnastics!

Settling the boat down, and finding clean air we had a superb afternoon sail under our small asymetric spinnaker. Supper was a pre-cooked 'cowboy stew'of belly pork & beans, which was polished off by all. Watches commenced at 15:00.

The evening brought higher winds, generally 30 kts, and a lumpy sea off Gran Canaria. Reefed mainsail and sustained good boat speeds. Sadly, Dee and our vegetable passenger (Basil) were both a little worse for wear by the morning.

A high point for Tanith was the zooplanckton (sea fairies) and the many stars that she could now see due to the lack of light pollution.

Currently making good speed (9-10 kts) under blue skies with a good force 7 breeze.