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Gwendoline - 1. day at sea



Hello everybody.

Here is the first daily log from S/Y Gwendoline M.
Onboard are: Lene, Bente, Annette, Maiken, Oliver, Orla and Kim

The first 24 hours have passed since we crossed the starting line - probably as the last boat - and all according to our plan.

It has been a perfect start with lots of sunshine, wind at 3-4 knots, and as Orla so elegantly put it, somebody has been ironing the sea, so all the wawes, bumps and swell had been flattened.

We have now sailed approximately 85 NM, giving an average speed of 4 knots. This is not very fast, but then again the sailing has been very pleasant. Exactly the kind of perfect weather to start out with, giving everybody on board time to find their "sealegs" before we get more wind and larger wawes.

We have chosen to sail the traditional "martini"-route, which means that we will sail alongside the African coastline, and when we are close to the Cap Verde Archipelago, we will turn west and sail with the trade winds.

It's called the "Martini"-route, because it should give one such a pleasant sailing, that one can have a martini standing on the table without it falling down. Until now the route has lived up to its name, except that we have had no martinis, as we are non-alcoholic until we make landfall on St. Lucia.

Right now (Nov 21st. 10 AM) we have 1-2 knots of wind, and we are flying the geneker. We are doing 3 knots in a very flat sea.

We are all getting used to the watch duty routine. We are running in 8 shifts of 4 hours each. We are divided into 3 teams, taking to shifts each per 24 hours. From 12-16 it's Orla og Kim. 16-20 Maiken og Bente. 20-24 Annette og Oliver. 00-04 Orla og Kim. 04-08 Maiken og Bente. 08-12 Annette og Oliver.

Lene is on duty "24*7" as she is primary responsible for all the meals. This means that she is the primary person in deciding what to eat at each meal, taking things out of the freezer, and calling in people to do kitchen duty.

We have all had a good nights sleep (when not on watch duty), and we have had several visits from dolphins. Half an hour ago, Oliver deployed our fishing lines, and two minutes later dolphins were "chasing" the lures. Oliver immediately started to wheel in the lines, as we did not want to catch a dolphin. As he was wheeling in the last line, two dolphins were "chasing" the lure all the way back to Gwendoline M. Fortunately none of the dolphins had a go at the lure, and they swam away again shortly after.

The sky is slightly clouded, so our solar panel is not giving as much electricity as yesterday. We have had the generator running for two hours, and the batteries are at 98% of full capacity.

Now it is time for a midmorning coffee break, before the next watch duty at noon.

Over and out from
S/Y Gwendoline M
Atlanten



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