We have been making good speed and sometime last night passed longitude 30 west. Also during the night our track crossed that of another vessel, a container ship heading east. This was our only sighting since setting off from the Cape Verdes. This morning we were visited by a pod of whales that put on quite a show, leaping out of the sea and splashing down on their backs.

Out here beyond 30 west my thoughts turn again to Columbus. We have been following in his footsteps since the island of Porto Santo where he was employed as the agent of a sugar merchant and his house is now a museum.  Columbus’ little fleet anchored in the bay of San Sebastian on La Gomera;  we were there but used the new harbour. Columbus noted that the fresh water on La Palma was of excellent quality so we filled our tanks there too.

Columbus discovered the New World instead of finding a westward passage to the Far East but he did discover the Trade Wind route across the Atlantic, and it is this knowledge we are relying on today.

His two fastest passages from the Canaries took twenty one days each. A very respectable time which hasn’t been much improved upon by sailing yachts in the last 500 years despite advances in hull design, materials and sail technology.  So, on a twenty one day passage to the Caribbean at what point did Columbus cross longitude 30 west? I reckon it would have been at least the beginning of the second week. Is this the point at which some of the crew on the Santa Maria demanded to turn back, fearful of falling off the edge of the world?

Plenty has been written about how much Columbus knew in advance of his first voyage. Some historians suspect he had seen earlier maps with an outline of the American coast or Caribbean islands.  There is evidence to suggest French fishing boats sailing out of Brittany knew of the Grand Banks near Newfoundland long before 1492.  Could they really keep this a secret? I think Columbus had a pretty good idea how to cross the Atlantic westward.

At longitude 30 west turning back was not an option. Once in the Trade Wind belt, his speed boosted by the north equatorial current, he was committed to continuing westward or turning north. Finding the Canaries again would have been very hit or miss.

That’s enough historical musings.  Suffice to say that anyone sailing this route owes the great Genovese navigator a debt of gratitude.

Around midday we called our son Amir in Israel. He wanted to make sure we had a preventer attached to the boom. This is a line led forward to prevent, or at least limit, an accidental ‘crash jibe’. Yes, we assured him, all is in place. A few minutes later I lost my concentration on the helm and we accidentally jibed. The preventer saved the boom and shrouds but we snapped the rope that keeps the ‘lazy bag’  in place.  (This is a bag into which the sail folds neatly when dropped. )  The repairs took us two hours and were interrupted by a fish taking our lure and a phone call from Gil Blum in Hong Kong. We threw the fish back; it was another Dorado and we want to try something different. Gil heard me say, “Can’t talk now, call us in fifteen,” and hang up. He called back much later when everything had calmed down and chatted with Shmulik. Thanks for the call Gil it’s always good to hear from you.