The Lights of Gran Canaria

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Tue 6 Oct 2009 11:46
Noon Position: 28 26.6 N 015 09.6 W
Course: Drifting
Wind: Calm
Weather: Sunny, warm
Day's Run: 20 miles

Twenty miserable miles! But we are getting there. Only 20 miles to go. Having worked this hard to sail across this wind forsaken patch of ocean I am loathe to start the engine and motor the remaining distance, my stubborn streak is showing itself, but undoubtedly common sense will eventually prevail.

We managed to close Gran Canaria sufficiently yesterday afternoon so that as evening darkened into night we could see its northern most lighthouse flashing; one flash followed by three flashes every 20 seconds, but at 11 p.m. we were once more becalmed. This morning we have sailed for a few more hours but now it is as calm as ever, the sea is mirror smooth and Sylph is rolling steadily to a slight swell. While I could see the lights of Las Palmas last night, now the haze has engulfed the island and we are remain imprisoned by the blue horizon unbroken apart from the superstructure of the occasional merchant ship steaming in the distance..

I have at last picked up Proust's "Swann's Way". Another of the supposedly great novelists I have attempted this work before but found it tedious. I must be closer to being ready for it this time round and am mostly enjoying it. Still reading The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus", its worldly adventures makes a pleasant relief from the lofty slow moving and complex elegance of Proust's language - and it is starting to be a bit of a wade to get through "Swann in Love."

Bob Cat got a good brushing this morning, then the boat a thorough vacuum so we are fur free zone for a little while at least.

All is well.

Bob Cat:

Fur free apart from the fur on my chinny chin chin, and skipper Bob's for that matter. I hear we are getting close to port, of insignificant difference to me. It is not as if I get to enjoy a change of diet after all, some fresh meat perhaps. I get to experience a few different smells wafting in through the hatchway, but many just tantalize the taste buds and leave me dreaming of a red breakfast. Oh well, I am nothing if not a filosofical feline, time for a nap . . Zzzzzzzz.