Atlantic Crossing Day 1
Macushla
Mark & Sue Owen
Sun 22 Jan 2012 12:31
Miles travelled in the last 24 hours: 144
Miles to go to Barbados: 2,700
We are on our way and all is well on board.
We finally departed Las Palmas marina at around miidday and had a comfortable first day heading down the coast of GranCanaria in brisk NE winds with a 1-2 metre swell. As the island disappeared and night approached we were treated to dolphins playing alongside Macushla and in her bow wave - as always, a magical sight.
The first night at sea is always tough as we attempt to establish our watch routine (currently 3 hours on, 3 hours off) and find those elusive sea legs! We enjoyed a spectacular starry nght, although there's no moon at the moment. The clear skies resulted in the temperature dropping off, so the woolly hats and sailing boots were dusted off once more.
Last night we were also pleased to be able to check out the operation of our HF (Single Side Band) radio by making contact with Herb in Canada who is very kindly assisting us with weather and routing information.
Dog tired this morning,but hopefully we'll get into the routine soon...