36 03N 08 23W
Osprey
John Bowering
Sun 21 Jun 2009 17:19
10 to 15 not wind coming from our port quarter. Osprey is flying along with
minimum rocking and rolling and a lovely speed rooster tail spouting from
the stern. We are trying to get to the start of the traffic separation lanes
at the Strait of Gibraltar early tomorrow morning so that we have a daylight
passage through the straights. There is a substantial adverse current on the
north and south sides of the strait so we will be heading as near to the
middle of the straits as possible whilst complying with the separation
rules. This will no doubt give some large tankers something to think about.
We have now started demobbing the boat ready for our arrival in Smir and
this morning the Whisker pole was removed from its seagoing position and
mounted on the mast, the weather clothes were removed along with the bow
netting and the anchor freed from its seagoing position ready for use. The
boat was also given a salt water wash down and a general tidy up - all in
the hope that we can have everything clean and packed away within a couple
of days of arrival. Its been a warm sunny day so Charles has been topping
up his suntan. We now have a lot of commercial ships around us and this will
increase the closer we get to Gibraltar. The VHF radio is now alive with the
chatter of ships entering and leaving the Mediterranean.
"Notes from a Small Sailing Boat" - this passage will for ever be known as
the one with strange weather, but like the leg to Horta we are finishing in
true sailing fashion and for the past 36 hrs have had extremely pleasent
sailing conditions.
Charles is never one to gloat, but as part of the work this morning the
fenders were dragged out of the forward locker for a clean. Now Charles had
suggested doing this the 2nd day out of Horta, as they had got particularly
dirty whilst rafted to the marina wall. However, Budda John, the Lama of
Osprey (strange animal/bird combination) said "don't worry we will do it
some other time." Well, he should have listened because whilst they are
cleaner than they were they are still a dinstinctly blue shade. Oh well,
looks like Anita will get her fender covers after all!
The food stocks have lasted us well this passage, in fact the crew feel that
this leg has mainly consisted of eating, sleeping and being thrown about by
the weather. We have tried our best to eat all the chocolate, but 3
toblerones, 24 snickers and 24 bounty are a big challenge even to such
established cholocate eaters as us! By some careful planning by Charles the
majority of the freezer & fridge food has been consumed, which has nothing
to do with the crew enjoying themselves but merely ensures that no food has
to be wasted when Osprey is closed down in Smir!
So as another dusks falls on Osprey, this meandering across the Atlantic is
drawing to a close - somewhat later than originally planned but with the
yacht still in good order, and more impressively John & Charles still
talking!