day1

Gaviota
Wed 29 Jul 2009 09:45
38:58.90N 06:49.80E
Distance travelled in 24 hours 128 miles.... and half of that done in the first 10 hours.
And yesterdays deliberate mistake... august ... i really think it should have been july!
Got off 11.30 and set a close reach across bumpy seas and a twenty knot wind from the north.. so a really good days sail knocking on at 7 to 8 knots despite the wind dropping a bit.
By dusk it had just about gone, (as forecast) I contemplated putting the spinnaker up but decided there was not enough wind to fill it, so drifted on through the night making at best two knots, in under 5 knots of wind, but at least in the right direction!
With the morning came a little more (wind that is)... it even got up to 10 knots (true) briefly, so got the spinnaker up before 9 and have been ambling along in the sunshine since then at somwhere between 4 and 5 knots. I knew this was going to be a slow one and I think it is going to get even slower yet.
Oh yes and just one minor thing ... provided there is enough wind to keep moving now heading slowly towards Bizerte in Tunisia, and if the wind dies completely I will call in on the south coast of Sardinia and wait for some!
Time for a bit of sun tanning  - I think