Noon Position: 46 33.5 N 053 32.7 W
Course: 140, Speed: 2.5 knots
Wind: East-southeast 8 knots
Daily Run: 103 miles
Average speed: 4.3 knots
As I look back over the log for the last 24 hours I am a
little surprised to realise that we have made as many miles as we have, light
head winds having persisted for much of the period. We made nice steady progress
overnight but as we approached Cape
Pine this morning the
winds shifted further into the east and eased, and the fog came back. Right
now we are struggling to get around the Cape in
the light airs, and Paul is having to steer because the wind is too light for
the wind vane to keep Sylph on
course. Just around the corner and to the south of us, as we commence our
run north to St Johns, are the famous Grand Banks of Newfoundland; the pilot
tells me one of the foggiest places on earth – more fog! We have
just 95 miles to go to St Johns Harbour and a favourable wind is forecast for this
afternoon so if all goes well we should be arriving in St Johns sometime tomorrow. Here we are
looking forward to at least a couple of days break before the next step. Unfortunately
due to our late departure from Annapolis and the light winds we have encountered
for much of the way, we are rather late into the season to be heading for
Greenland so I shall be assessing the feasibility of continuing to pursue this
goal once we arrive in St Johns, noting that our primary objective was always
to see an iceberg, not necessarily to get to Greenland, we shall see.
This is day 16 since leaving Annapolis and thus far have sailed 1,304
miles.