33:18.346N 16:03.660W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Thu 6 Sep 2012 16:00
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"LAND AHOY! - 15:19 Thursday 6th
September"
We are nearly there, the island of Porto Santo is
ahead of us shrouded in haze. This confirms that our navigation is not too bad
and that we can trust our new compass! We have twenty miles to go with the
promise of a shower. If the wind would only fill in we could arrive a little
sooner otherwise it will take another four
hours. The wind died early this morning and we
are having to motor, at least the fridge is cooling the Tonic Water for two
very welcome Gin and Tonics when we arrive.
This morning we picked up a hitch hiker. a tiny
little bird landed on our jib sheet and took a five minute break before heading
off again. We think that it was a Warbler of some sort. How brave these little
birds are in their migration. I do hope that he makes his destination
safely.
Noel woke me this morning as he needed
help.Yesterday as the wind was mostly behind us or on our quarter we used the
spinnaker pole to pole out a small amount of
headsail so that we were goose winged, with preventers on both sails we made
good progress in the right direction and WB was excellent at steering a
difficult point of sail and kept Whisper on course. We left the rig like
that over night as the wind remained stable and gentle.! However, this morning
in day light Noel noticed that the pole had warn the starboard jib sheet through
all bar a few strands. Now, I know that one person who will read this blog will
have a wry smile on his face remembering our jib sheets, especially
when I explain that the head sail was rolled in and the rope cut off the
sail, then it was pulled back to the cockpit, turned around and
rethreaded back to the foresail and tied on, the broken end now at the winch
end. New jib sheets in Madeira? I think not. The best to hope for is that the
port jib sheet will most probably be turned around too!
Photo: "Hitch Hiker"
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