Midnight Day 1 - 35:46.58N 6:01.94W
The first day was short as we left rather
late to catch the tide or what ever little tide there was. We followed our
course well clear of the shipping separation zone and then we crossed into Moroccan
waters and onto our heading for the island.
It was all very exiting because we were
pumped for our shake down run for the next 6 days to see how the boat would
handle and more importantly how we would cope on our own.
Special Comments by Fiona: We sailed
out of the Bay of
Gibraltar on a fine and
sunny afternoon. We were both happy and excited to be on the water again bound
for our longest leg so far, to Lanzarote. My excitement soon grew to intense
apprehension and worry as we’d passed through the Straits and the sun started
to set. All of a sudden I felt major fear of the reality of what we were about
to embark on. Not to mention that I’d forgotten that I hate night sailing! I
hate it mainly due to the fact, well, you can’t see for one and I hate not
knowing what marine life is out there. At least during the day you can see
Dolphins or whales (not that we’ve yet to see one). I know the marine
creatures are a beautiful thing but they scare me senseless at night. Ben
reassured me as best he could. My nerves soon settled as darkness was upon us
and I’d found my sea legs again. Our first night was quite enjoyable, just the
right amount of wind and the moon lit up the ocean. I even relaxed and layed
back in the cockpit taking in all the stars on my first watch for the evening.