Captains Log: Gibraltar to Lanzarote, Day 2

Listen while you read:

It is a much better day today, we have fair winds and the sun is shining and we are clear of all of that traffic. We have the jib up but are still motor sailing, the old swell from the southerly winds is now mixing with the waves from the northerly wind making it pretty bouncy. We will wait until that settles out before we pull up the mainsail.

We have 616 nautical miles to go, fortunately the winds look great for the rest of the trip.

At 11.30 the swell eased and we raised the main and jib. Flying along at 7.5 to 9 knots, the boat is much happier with the sails up and so am I. If the forecast holds we will be on this same tack for the rest of the way, does not get any better than this. A nice reward for yesterday's hard slog!

5.30 PM on Thursday, 16th

Good conditions prevail, the wind has dropped a little, now at 14 knots, but at a great angle, allowing us to sail on a beam reach. The swell is building, now around 3m, but it is a gentle long ocean swell, so very comfortable. The boat handles it very well. We should get a better sleep tonight, I hope!

We seem to have the Atlantic to ourselves—only one freighter visible on AIS, and that one we passed a couple of hours ago, a big change from Gibraltar.

Our day starts at 11.00 am, as that is when we left Gibraltar. If the wind holds, we should have a 150-nautical-mile day. We have taken it easy today, just flying the main and jib as we rest up after yesterday. Tomorrow we may pull out the code zero and pick up the pace.

Dinner was some of Cheryl's pasta sauce she made and froze for us. We had some mushrooms that needed to ne used up so I fried those and added them to the Bolognese sauce. That went down well. Thank you chef Cheryl.

The wind dropped a bit overnight and the swell eased, this made for a very comfortable night, but slowed us down a bit, even with that we managed 165 nautical miles in the last 24 hours.

We are doing 4 hour watches; Nine until One, One to Four and Four to Eight. Bothe getting good sleep when off watch which is a must if you are going to survive four nights.

History snippet:

On this day, in 1812, the USS Wasp captured the HMS Frolic off the coast of Virginia during the War of 1812. The Wasp, commanded by Captain Jacob Jones, engaged the British brig in rough seas. After a fierce battle, the Wasp emerged victorious despite significant damage to both vessels. This battle is a testament to the challenges and unpredictability of naval engagements, much like the varying winds and seas we saw today.