Nearly there
Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Wed 29 Aug 2012 05:45
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29:23.82N 13:28.30W
Wednesday 29 August 2012 - 6.45am
Off Alegranza Island
Distance Run 253 Miles
We did sail from 11am yesterday and the winds came
in. It had been forecast to blow about 10 knots at the beginning, 15knots
about half way through and 20 knots towards the Lanzarote end. We
mentioned that the winds didn't reach 10 knots at the start but the rest of the
forecasts proved pretty accurate. The key thing was to get there before
midnight tonight when much stronger winds are due for a few days.
Most of yesterday afternoon was quite pleasant
but by 6pm the wind had increased enough to put some reefs in the genoa and
mainsail. This didn't seem to slow us down much but we had greater
control. As the wind strength increases so do the waves and swell.
This is not much of an issue with 20 knots of wind except when the waves come
from the side. We were sailing south east and the wind and waves were from
the north east - so pretty well directly on the beam!
We had anticipated this and attempted to sail well
to the east of the route at the beginning when the conditions were light so we
could take a more southerly course later when things piped up and bring the seas
more behind us on to the rear quarter. Perhaps we could have done so more
aggressively than we did because in the event the seas became pretty horrible,
producing violent rolls one way followed by equally rapid rolls back
again. This happened most when we had current against us (-when wind and
waves oppose eachother they create a bigger sea). We didn't expect
any currents from the south (Jan - what was going on - the recent
hurricane?). Moving around on board had to be undertaken
very gingerly and the jerky, rolling motion accompanied by the sound of the
boat through the water and associated creaks and bangs made it very difficult
for whoever was 'off watch' to sleep. Well, we didn't much
really but consoled ourselves that this was only a 2 day
passage.
The prevailing winds and seas off the west coast of
Portugal down to the Canaries are from the north and north east. This
means that a passage from say Lisbon or the Algarve directly to Lanzarote is
sailed with following winds and seas. Our diversion west and south to
Madeira went across the seas, as does this passage south east. We really
wanted to see Madeira so have taken routes we would normally avoid.
We made good progress despite the current being
against us at times and reached the north east point of Alegranza Island by
6.45am. This is really a large rock off the north east tip of Isla
Graciosa but it has a lighthouse which helps confirm our position. It was
still dark and we couldn't make out the land properly off the points of
Lanzarote and Isla Graciosa and didn't know whether the area would be full of
fishing pots and nets so we decided to 'heave to'. This is a way of
stopping the boat out at sea when in it is too deep to anchor. The motion
is more gentle and the speed drops to less than half a knot as you
gently slide downwind on the waves. We waited about
45 minutes until dawn and then set sail again.
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