DAY 18 .... ONLY! 1000 MILES TO GO

Gaviota
Tue 20 Jan 2009 11:17
35:33.369N 24:49.789W
At 1000 local time (1100 gmt)  distance run in last 23 hours 177 miles
and yesterdays deliberate mistake.....  distance run should have been 172 miles!! ...very good for 23 hours
Today is more interesting for the statistics rather than the sailing
It is now less than 1000 miles to Gibraltar ....yippee ...  
All of the Azore islands are now behind us.... so we are onto the next phase of the voyage
The closest we got to the southern extreme of the Azores was about 80 miles
The closest we got to Horta (which is where I would have stopped) 180 miles
Pressurre still constant at 1034 mbar ... so definately not out of the high pressure influence yet
And the cabin temperature this morning was 18.3 degrees ..... 1st time below 20... ugh
 
The broad reach continued, I worked on the computer most of the morning ... by midday when I surfaced not a lot had changed 20 knots of wind and 6.5 to 7 knots of boat speed ... and so on east we went. The wind headed slightly in the evening and dropped a bit .. only sail trim of the day. Later about 11 pm got a bit bumpy as we got closer on the wind so I rolled in a bit of genny and had dinner!  Oh yes this has now become normal practise ... I start my sleeps just after dark ... get up again after a couple of hours ... sort the boat out for the night and have dinner..  It makes a world of difference to the nights.. it makes them fly by! and ...I get hot food in me for the coldest bit of the night which helps enormously!
I think the wind has just gone... better go see whats happening up top.....