Gomera still and no break in the weather

Aurelia
Shirley and Michael Webb-Speight
Mon 11 Dec 2006 13:49
We woke up this morning all prepared to go out and do battle with the elements.
However our friend on the Alinghi team sent a timely email advising us that conditions were not favorable and that in his view we should delay our departure till Wednesday. (this advice has probably saved my marriage!)
So we wait......
It is really hard to tell what the weather is like from Gomera - we are in what is described as an "acceleration zone" caused by the geography of the islands, where the winds can be very much higher than the general conditions at sea 20 miles away. Spoke to some French people who came in yesterday through 60 knots - don't think we would choose to do this!
We feel it is really important to at least start out in reasonable conditions so as to give us a chance to enjoy the crossing - we have seen plenty of big waves and winds on our adventures to date and fully trust that Aurelia can handle it - but this is supposed to be fun!
so now we have created another list of jobs to do before we depart - no shortage of entertainment here.
Should mention that Skippy (aka Brian) continues to prove invaluable as crew. He can fix anything, is really great with the kids, cleans up after himself and is generally very easy to have around. He is traveling to the Caribbean to meet up with his girlfriend, and is as anxious as we are to get going. We all feel a bit like we are stuck in the movie "Groundhog Day", as each day dawns with the wind shrieking in the rigging.
Champagne sailing conditions must be coming soon!