Madeira to Tenerife
Oldnick
Sat 3 Aug 2002 21:56
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Phase
1 complete!
After 5 relaxing days in Funchal, Madeira it was
time to leave for Tenerife. Steve and Mick had gone and it was left to just
Karyn and myself to make the 260 mile passage. Sunny, no-wind days in Funchal
had hardly prepared us for the 30-40 knots of wind that was to meet us a few
miles out of the harbour!
Suffice to say it was a bit of a shock to suddenly
have 40 knots over the deck but we put 3 reefs in the main, rolled the genoa in
completely and sailed at over 6 knots for a couple of hours before the wind
abated to a more consistent 30 knots. The rest of the trip was in winds of
20-30 knots and so we left the 3 reefs in and simply adjusted the amount of
genoa we unfurled. Old Nick moved along quite smoothly and whilst we could
have gone faster, we decided it was more pleasant by not pushing
it.
Things always happen, and we lost the top batten
when reefing and halfway thru the journey I discovered that the alternator was
not charging. Luckily we have an Aquair towed generator that consistently
produced over 6 amps for us and so it was not so much of a problem.
We arrived in Santa Cruz (Tenerife) just after dawn
a day and a half after leaving Funchal and were pleased to have arrived and
completed the first phase of our journey.
Yachty
Details:
Departed (Funchal) 1500 PST Tuesday July 30,
2002
Arrived (Santa Cruz, Tenerife): 0700 PST Thursday
August 1, 2002
Total Distance
travelled: 260 miles
Total Time: 40 hours
Total Avg Speed: 6.5 knots
Conditions: Broad reach 20-40 knots. Seas
mostly moderate with a 4m swell at
times. |