Fw: 31.07.520N 12.45.596W

JENNY
Alan Franklin/ Lynne Gane
Thu 1 Nov 2007 14:14
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 1:49 PM
Subject: 31.07.520N 12.45.596W

 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 12:39 PM
Subject: 31.17 N 11.56W

After a windy and lumpy night we are now some 138 nm from Lanzarote and should arrive there in 24hours about midday our time (which is UTC+1).
Yesterday we noticed that the Wind Pilot was coming loose which meant that we had to recover the rudder (it just slots in) from the stern with Alan reaching over the back of the boat and me hanging on to his ankles to stop him slipping in.We then emptied the locker located the missing nut and washer and put them back in,so its secured for now and we will fix it in port.
 
Considering the amount of extra equipment we had fitted to the boat and the lack of testing time before we left the systems seem to be standing up well.Its really down to the quality of the work done thanks everybody particularly Peter W.
 
Since leaving Gibralter we have had mainly Northerly winds ranging from 6 to 26 knts as we are going South they have pushed us along quite nicely with 140 to 170 nm days.Showers are not a problem with the watermaker replenishing our stocks every day but there is a reluctance from the crew to all this washing business,after all were sailors but the female keeps dropping hints,so eventually we give in.Its now shower time every 2 days.
 
We have a radio net every morning when all of the 35 boats report their positions,give a weather report and generally confirm that all is well.We are positioned in the top half of the main group with the larger boats 50ft + and the catamarans 47ft+ out in front.(but its not a race) The largest boat in the fleet 63ft will arrive in port sometime today.
 
We are running 5 single 3hr watches at night to cover the hours of darkness generally and into day break,at night there is a clear sighting of all the stars without any ground clutter and although at first we saw other ships and yachts these are few and far between now so its sea,sea and more sea.Mind you there are the daily chores to be done like fixing the odd thing ,making water,checking systems,reading,writing etc.But mostly its peaceful unless the skipper gets a bee in his bonnet about trying some gear or sail out.
 
The most important decision of the day may well be what to have for dinner,on that note i'll sign off for now.