1st night in the Atlantic - 14-15th Nov

Kingfisher 2013
Peter Smith
Fri 15 Nov 2013 07:58
We timed our departure from Gib perfectly from both a wind and tide perspective although we did not hug the Northern coast of the Straits as closely as we should have done to avoid the adverse tide in the first 3 hours. However, when we started to cross over (a couple of hours after passing Terifa) we had a West going tide under us and got swept out into the Atlantic. We celebrated our first sunset in the Atlantic with a glass of champagne followed up by a pretty hearty meal (thank you to Sal for the creamy chicken recipe!). The wind increased to around 25-30 knots behind us and remained so all through the night. Fortunately, we had clear skies and a very bright moon because we quickly got entangled in the shipping lanes - both in/out of the Straits and up and down the African coast. There was not a great deal of sleeping done until the latter stages of the dog watch……Ben and Tash claimed not to have slept at all!

Not many takers for the skipper's breakfast fry up. For once, the boys tiredness has overcome their desire to eat constantly. I am fully prepared for a big breakfast delivery when they are next up on deck. All is well. Colin and Tash are chatting on the 0600-1000 watch and we only have around 500 nm to go to Lanzarotte. Just as well because Colin has a flight booked for 1500 on the 18th!