38:12.247N 11:07.986W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Mon 3 Sep 2012 12:12
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"All At Sea - 3rd September"
We have been at sea for 24 hrs now and have done
125 miles so far. We have 398 miles to go, our destination is Porto Santo one of
the smaller is lands in the Madeira archipelago. We have a gentle wind (5 - 10
knots) on our quarter but the ocean is more like the Mediterranean sea and is
confused so we have moments of pitching and rolling.
The night sky was glorious a huge yellow moon lit
our way and the stars were crystal clear, Bambi (Orion) hung high above, us
always a delight to me.
We crossed the shipping lanes safely. l was more
than happy to have AIS and the Sea Me transmitting. The AIS was exceptionally
comforting on two occasions when ships seemed to be on a collision course with
us. One I was able lo see on the screen that he had altered course by a several
degrees before it was actually visible by eye so that saved me waking Noel.
The second confirmed that the ship would pass behind me when all I could
see was his port light and two steaming lights and he was doing 14 knots! Seeing
those white lights line up and the starboard light appear was a great relief
none the less. He passed I mile behind us! Its not a lot in the dark these ships
are huge.
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