FINNROSE 19:36.2N 30:42.9W
Finnrose
Tue 4 Dec 2012 12:21
The weather is still very squally - sudden downpours, lots of cloud, and shifts in wind direction and speed. The squalls seem to come mainly at night. For a time last night we had 35kt winds, but it doesn't blow long enough to raise an unpleasant sea. So we are proceeding along OK!
For the first time yesterday we saw flying fish. At first I thought they were sea birds, but, when we saw them come out of the sea and dive back in, realised the mistake. One of them sacrificed itself on our deck overnight and Richard found it this morning. Not enough for a meal by itself but a fascinating creature. It is about the size of a large sardine but with 2 enormously long fins that spread out in the air to make the wings. A few more and we may start to experiment with 'flying fish recipes'.
142 miles in the last 24 hours, a total of 1046 since we left Las Palmas, and 1769 still to go. We have decided on a classical trade winds route rather that a great circle route. That means that we are still going south of a 'straight line' passage - we are going the longer way but with the probability of more favourable winds. Time will tell whether that was the right decision, but the die is now cast! We will probably continue SW for another 3 or 4 days before running along the latitude to St. Lucia.