We had a wonderful start day yesterday. The
atmosphere and excitement in Las Palmas was wonderful and even the occasional
showers did not seem to dampen spirits. A brass band and jugglers and
clowns came down each pontoon before we left and Martin on Caduceus played the
bagpipes all the way out of the harbour. We left after the main rush had
finished and crossed the start line at 13.10. The promised acceleration
zone at the airport didnt really happen for us so we had a pleasant sail past
the bottom of the island. At one point we were within speaking distance of
Toucan but then they put up their cruising chute and off they shot. The
wind in the night was right behind us but as we had reduced sail we made very
slow progress. However at 6am we put the genoa back out and are now
cruising comfortably at 7 knots. As promised by David, a full moon rose
just as the sun went down and it was the lightest night imaginable.
Now we can only see 3 other boats out of 230+. The generator is on and
crossed fingers is behaving itself - no nasty smell of burning so far and its
been going for an hour. We have travelled 115 miles so far.