We continued to make steady progress on our route going West from Malta. The night sky was clear with a 10 knot wind which veered from the SW to the NW around 05:00. We were still able to make a good course and Ceilidh felt well balanced as she moved forward effortlessly at 7knots. This sailing was in stark contrast to the previous leg and it has been inspiring to be onboard during such glorious sailing and weather. This morning we have a brilliant bright day with a temperature of around 27C, the wind has been a little variable but has started to freshen from the NW again as we head for Cape Bon on Tunisia. The Admiralty charts we are using are marked with precious Eastward and Westward courses which bring back memories of previous passages in this region. The GRIB forecast which we receive daily by email shows a very encouraging S or SE breeze kicking in tomorrow which should allow us to finally fly the code 0 Gennaker, can’t wait!

 

We have a daily run of 153NM this morning which is very reasonable in the light airs so far, we are currently passing around 20NM South of the Island of Pantalleria.

 

Here is the sweepstake choices of the crew for Ceilidh’s arrival time  at Ibiza:

 

Dave 24:00 on Monday

Zoe 16:00 Tuesday

Richard 18:00 Tuesday

Andy 20:00 on Tuesday

Ken 02:00 Wednesday

Jenney 03:30 Wednesday

Neil 04:00 Wednesday

 

Dave Sturrock

 

Footnote

When we berthed at Malta Richard bizarrely found he had to seek dental help to replace a filling. This was the same filling that also required attention at Las Palmas 4 years previously, history repeating itself or what! Thanks to the staff at the Royal Malta YC he was able to get an appointment very quickly and have the filling replaced.