Monday 8th October at Isla Graciosa
Spellbinder
Mon 8 Oct 2007 17:19
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Departed from Madeira at 1130 on Friday morning,
out into a moderate south westerly breeze and a fairly flat sea, so we
made excellent progress on our south easterly course. The wind gradually
decreased throughout the day, and we enjoyed a gentle night sailing in a force 2
to 3. A dark night with no moon until 3.30 am.Brilliant phosphorescence in
the water, and a bright milky way to keep us amused, only one ship seen all
night.
The wind continued to drop in the morning, and
backed into the south, so at 1030 we had to resort to the engine.Motored all
day, on a flat sea, and we were beginning to plan on a Monday arrival over our
dinner on Saturday evening when a breeze started to appear from the North east.
Enough to start sailing a little after 9 pm, and we then enjoyed another night
sailing in a lovely north east force 3 to 4, so by sunrise just before 8am we
were bowling along at 7 knots. Land sighted at 9am, and by 2pm we were off the
north corner of Isla Graciosa. Enjoyed the spectacular volcanic lanscape of
Graciosa and its close neighbour Lanzarote as we made our way down the narrow
channel between theem and into the marina on Graciosa. A very out of the way
spot, with the marina apparently unsupervised, the captain of the port was
reputed to be away on holiday.Not so unsupervised, we were asked to move berth
by a security guard who appeared a couple of hours later, the berth we had
chosen was reserved for catamarans. 257 miles covered from Madeira in just over
2 days, and 5,000 miles on the log since we left the Hallberg Rassy yard at
Ellos last May.
Today is a pottering day, with a bicycle trip
planned around the island tomorrow, only 6.5 x 3 kms. On to Lanzarote later in
the week, hoping to go on a volcano walk on Friday.
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