The first 24 hours

'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Thu 1 Jan 2009 15:41
26:57.923N 17:05.067W
After a slow start, with virtually no wind, things have improved encouragingly. We left Las Palmas at 1430 yesterday (31/12/08) and motored until 0500 this morning when we 'deployed' the gib. At 0900 (ish) we were under full gennaker and by about 1100 today we were under 'Trade Wind Rig', both headsails set, with the winward gib poled out. At the moment we are doing about 6kts over the ground, with up to 18kts of true wind. All is well onboard, we appear to be overhauling Moonshiner, not that it's a race, of course :) but it's early days. Making for our first waypoint at 22.40N 26.30W more or less on the rhumb-line track.
Hope you all had a good New Year's eve, we were sober and alert and looking at wall to wall stars, wonderful.
Trouters & crew.