Position 34:01N 009:2.5W
Mariposa Blanca Move
Skip- Andy Petty. Owner hard at work in office!
Sat 12 Jan 2013 12:32
Saturday1100 UT 12 th Jan
Log 2159
Distance to Tenerife: 472nm
Well after the fun and excitement of yesterday, last night was dull. Mike had a single ship pass by and that was it for traffic. No hitchhikers, no dolphins, no whales and no wind!!! And by the way, due to a total failure in the resupply organisation in Gib, no ice for the G&T either!
So we continue to motor sail at around 4.5 knots/1600 rpm but do expect wind to appear later today and increase to 25 knots later tomorrow, which should test us a little and speed us along (we hope). We seem to manage on 2 l/hr fuel which is pretty good and of course batteries are well topped up and the fridge working well. For anyone interested, diesel in Spain is about £1.20/ l: In Gib it was £0.97/l and in Tenerife, it will be about £0.85/l.
Compass checking at sunset proved the 3 degrees E compass deviation. Andy's secondary role on this trip is to teach the team how to do astro nav and the sextant will be out of hiding after Tenerife.
The cruising shute trial was successful and I hope Peter likes yellow! It is marginally small for the boat but is easy to set up and sets nicely so far.
The second headsail is fine but we found the hanks are rather small and tended to jam on the second forestay during hoisting, so we will have to change them for larger ones in Tenerife. The storm jib is OK but we hope not to need it of course.
I would like to wish good luck with the launch of Caicco Freedom in Manfredonia, Italy, to Matteo and Martina as I know this must be imminent.
Also a special message for my Grandson Ben Creanor, for doing well and getting in 86 practice laps in his go Kart last weekend. I understand these were not undertaken entirely without incident but that Ben walked away from a couple of crashes and carried on as before. For his Dad,- wishing he was here - believe me, this is not JNIC. Much more lively motion
Mike promises to burn his fingers typing a message to Heather "very soon". Meanwhile, Adrian prepared a great chilli with rice for last night's supper and even I finished my plate off. It's a good boat to have competitors in the galley.
Still cold at night but thermals are off during the day and Mike threatened to remove his shirt this morning! We bargained and instead, he has hung his socks on the rail to air.
Thanks Jan as ever for regular sms updates from home and glad the weather is suitable for gardening today.
Hi to Ben, Alexander in Dunfermline and Ellamaie and Andie in Poole, as well as the Mums, Vicky and Kyrah. Kyrah - I will try and skype you from the mobile when I find a wifi in Tenerife.
Time to go as my fingers may burn soon and I still have a survey report to complete before the wind picks up!
ETA Las Galletas hard to predict but most likely pm Tuesday.
The Mariposa Blanca delivery team