16th November - still en route to Lanzarotte

Kingfisher 2013
Peter Smith
Sat 16 Nov 2013 13:42
We had good sailing until around 0100 when the wind died to a level that made it difficult to sail downwind. Given Colin's flight time, we have been using the steel sail since then and have had a beautiful sunrise, rain and now increasing wind again. The Atlantic swell is here for real now as well and we have had several experiments with unintended food fights around the cockpit table. Absolutely nothing will stay where it is put down - but it takes a few rogue waves to convince people of this! The crew are not convinced……

We are about to put out the twin poles again in order to make the last leg of about 275 nm downwind to Lanzarote, still planning to be there at around mid-morning on the 18th. I have now confirmed with Puerto Mogan that we can be there between 21-23 November, at least, so when we have dropped Colin we intend to take a leisurely day trippers ride through the Canaries over the intervening 3 days. It has been a baptism of fire for Tash coming straight out for 4 days in the Altantic as her first trip on the boat so I suspect a few days of coast hopping will be welcome. All good so far though. The water maker got tested yesterday and is fine; Capt B made bread with dodgy Spanish flour and survived the experience; the crew seem happy enough and the clouds have disappeared again. KF is handling herself well in the much bigger swell that we now have - it is the crew who have to learn how to move around in it.

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