5th September - Approaching Madeira. The first 1,000 miles!

Sulana's Voyage
Alan and Sue Brook
Sun 5 Sep 2010 21:58
34 54.2'N , 14 58.8'W


The past few days have seemed to drift by from watch to watch. News from
home on Wednesday took our thoughts to friends and loved ones. We are
thinking of those who are in hospital and recovering at the moment. We hope
to be back in telephone contact within the next 24 hours for an update.

Yesterday I gave Hannah a break from the galley and took care of the meals
for the day, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I made some banana and chocolate
muffins, which I think went down well.
NB. Skipper's Note: (Crew voted them, "delicious!" Fiona has become the
Nigella of the galley).

We caught our first fish today, after much trial and error. The lure we
used at first was a big, lurid, plastic squid, used for catching Marlin and
the second was so small I don't think the fish would have seen it whizz past
them at 8 knots. Third time lucky and we caught a tuna just as supper was
ready. So we prepared it and ate it for lunch today, delicious!

The marine life has all but disappeared since Cape Finisterre and we have
seen nothing but a couple of birds. The sky has been cloudy too for a
couple of nights making star-gazing difficult, although the weather is
getting much warmer.

We have enjoyed some fabulous days sailing under spinnaker, reaching boat
speeds of 10+ knots. We managed to fly it all night last night. Although we
have found a lot of chafe on the sheets. A metal snapshackle, which attaches
the sail to the pole, has become so worn the hinge will no longer open!

Better to find out now and have the chance to fix and improve things than
once we have started the ARC and then have to make running repairs.

Today has been a busy day on board Sulana. Day seven of our passage to
Madeira and laundry has been done and all hanging from the guard rails
drying. The duvets have been separated, as it's now far too hot and Hannah
was making a Sunday roast with help from Sarah.

At last we had visitors again, this time Atlantic Spotted Dolphins; about a
dozen of them swimming around the boat but they didn't stay long.

We are making great progress and today passed the 1,000 mile mark for this
trip, which was topped off by catching a Dorado for a celebratory fish
supper, eaten on deck watching a beautiful sunset.

We are hoping to reach Madeira on Tuesday morning and once there will upload
some pictures for you all to see.