60 miles off the African Coast - 21 November
Dearloves
Mon 21 Nov 2005 12:18
|
Yesterday, 20 November, was the start of the ARC,
and a very exciting day for us. Although we thought there was not much
left to do, we found ourselves pretty busy with final preparations.
We motored out of the marina around 12.00 noon, and were cheered on
our way by crowds of people, as well as a brass band. We had not expected
such razamattaz, but it really added to the occasion. We all felt a sense
of relief that all the preparations were done and we were finally on our
way.
 Leaving the Marina
 Charlie and Juliet, with Las Palmas
behind
The sight of 230 boats milling for the start was
quite a spectacle and there was a Spanish naval warship. At the start they
set off a maroon which was very loud.
  Pazienza
We started very conservatively, in the middle of
the fleet. However, we were encouraged to find ourselves
overtaking boats and, along with others, found we could fly our asymetric
spinnaker, which made the first couple of hours a lovely sail. The wind
then died and we rolled around a bit, watching boats ahead which were
beating. When we did get the wind it was a headwind and we were in the
Gran Canaria accelleration zone with quite a lot of flukey wind. It was a
tiring night as the first part of it was spent in nearly constant sail changes
with the wind fluctuating dramatically, both in strength and
direction. There was also some rain, so we were in full wet weather
gear.
This morning the conditions have settled to a
calm sea and WSW wind. It is beautifully sunny, and Pip has been on the
helm for nearly an hour, with only the occasional prompt from us. We are
heading for Africa and, although we are being lifted, we expect to have to tack
within the next hour or so.
 Pip on the helm
Earlier we opened our first week's worth of
snacks:
 Amanda, Alice and Pip with the
snacks
 Nick on the helm
There has just been a shout from the cockpit that
we have caught a fish so it is time to sign off.
|