sy Timoneer

Date: 12/04/02

Time: 1200 noon local (0600 eastern standard time)

Position: 30 miles SSW of Cartagena Spain

Weather: Clear and sunny Wind: NW calm < 5kts
News: Timoneer is back at sea again – Left Palma at 12:45 yesterday

afternoon. The work continued right up until we left the dock in Palma

as the electricians put the finishing touches on the frequency converter

installation and testing. The crew used the morning to go through the

safety drills and equipment orientation, along with making sure the boat was

well stowed as the weather forecast was less than ideal. The weather near

Gibraltar, the first stop on our journey back to the Caribbean, was fine.

Although locally, a low pressure system over Italy was reinforcing the North

Westerly in the Mallorca area with wind speeds in the 25-35kt range. The

weather forecast was for the conditions to worsen by Wednesday so we elected

to leave in order to catch the favorable weather near Gibraltar. Departing

from Palma we hugged the sheltered shoreline as you head west, raised the

main with one reef, and unfurled the headsails to get the proper halyard

tension, prior to heading out into the open Mediterranean sea. During the

daytime we sailed with a reefed main and a double reefed genoa which was

pushing us at a sustained 13kts, as the sun set we put in another reef in

the main and changed to the staysail from the genoa. During the night

as the wind built to 35-40kts we would reef the staysail accordingly as the

boat close reached along at a manageable 11 kts. This continued until dawn

this morning as we reached the Spanish main land, where the wind has

continued to taper off to almost flat calm. The break in the weather

coincided perfectly with Kent’s 26th birthday, as the boat settled down

enough for Penny to bake a carrot cake for the celebration. Weather

permitting we should arrive in Gibraltar tomorrow morning, load fuel and be

off to the Canaries in the afternoon.

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