Day 2 - ARC 2010
Sulana's Voyage
Alan and Sue Brook
Mon 22 Nov 2010 16:40
Day two and welcome to our friends in Year One at New Hall Junior School and Year One at Tring Park School.
We have now sailed for 24 hours heading south along the west coast of Africa. If we were to head in to the land now we would find desert.(see if you can find its name).
Although the real course we want is due west across the Atlantic to the Caribbean Island of St Lucia (some 2600 miles away) it is normal to continue down the to the region of the Cape Verde Islands where the natural "Trade Winds" will blow with us across the ocean.
It is strange to think that tall, square-rigged, sailing ships have followed this route for centuries, heading from Europe to the Americas, to trade, then continuing way up north to Nova Scotia, picking up the Gulf Stream currents for the return to Europe.
We logged 183 miles during our first day and the wind has been carrying us gently west of our line which is no bad thing. We are certainly in the company of some bigger boats, so we are probably doing reasonably well, but there is a long, long way to go..