sy Timoneer

Noon Position  36deg 08N 008deg  31W

Course  – 99 Degrees   Speed –  11.8  Knots        Day’s Run – 260  Miles

Weather –   Sunny with 6′ (2m) swell

Wind  –   knots from    degrees

Last night was a night none of us are in a hurry to repeat. We had wind over 40 knots and big seas breaking over the boat. Paz got thrown across the galley and twisted her ankle. We are hoping it is only sprained, but it is badly swollen. We had a tiny amount of main  and stay sail and yet we were still crashing along at over 11 kts. Not a lot of sleep was had.

We changed the clocks forward another hour yesterday and when we arrive in Gibraltar we will change them 2 more hours to GMT +2 for European summer time.

The seas and wind have dropped a lot in the last 3 hours now that we are in the lee of Portugal. There is a lot of shipping around all heading for designated lanes to pass through the Strait of Gib. We are flying along with 1 reef in the main and the genoa, a very different scene from sunrise. 

We are due in Gib in the early hours of tomorrow morning. There are 3 yachts to fuel up tomorrow so not sure what time we will get away from Gib.

JC

Noon Position  37deg 03N 13deg  45W

Course  – 100 Degrees   Speed –  11  Knots        Day’s Run – 283  Miles

Weather –   Partly cloudy and very rough

Wind  – 29  knots from   030 degrees

We had a great afternoon yesterday when the wind filled in and covered a lot of miles. Wind got stronger in the evening and we  had to put a second reef in the main sail and down size to the staysail. This morning the wind has increased even more and we now have the staysail reefed as well. We have very rough conditions with 13′ (4m) swells from behind and then 6-10′ (2-3m) waves from the NE making for a very messy sea state. We are still making good speed but not having a lot of fun doing it. Paz is having the least fun out of all of us cooking up a storm in a storm.

JC

Noon Position  37deg 16N 19deg  37W

Course  – 80 Degrees   Speed – 12.5   Knots        Day’s Run –  267 Miles

Weather –   Partly cloudy with 10′ (3m ) swells from behind

Wind  – 16  knots from 355 degrees

Yesterday afternoon we spotted several whales blowing but were not close enough to identify them. Once again the breeze dropped in the evening and we motored through the night with just the staysail up. By the morning the wind had swung to the north and picked up a bit. We put up the main with 1 reef and the genoa and have been doing good speed all morning. No luck with the fishing yesterday and we are going too fast to stop if we hooked one, so no lines out today. The wind is due to turn to the NE and strengthen later today. When it does we will turn 15-20 degrees to starboard and head to Gibraltar.

JC

Noon Position  36deg 31N 25deg  05W

Course  – 79 Degrees   Speed –  11  Knots        Day’s Run – 269  Miles

Weather –  Partly overcast with 6-10′ (2-3m) swells from NW 

Wind  –  19 knots from  230  degrees

We had a great day of motor sailing and surfing down the swells yesterday, reaching seeds up to 13 knots. Some whales were spotted but the species not identified. We are now only 25 miles from Santa Maria, the most SE of the Azores Islands which used to be a big whaling center. Now people come to the Azores to see the whales. In the evening the swell picked up and breeze dropped and we rolled  through the night motoring with just the staysail. This morning we put up the genoa and have been making good speed again

JC

Noon Position  35deg 42N 30deg  31W

Course  – 79 Degrees   Speed –   11 Knots        Day’s Run –  249 Miles (23 Hrs)

Weather –   Sunny 6-10′ (2-3m) swells from behind

Wind  – 19  knots from 250   degrees

We have changed the clocks forward another hour to GMT -1 hr. Spain is GMT +2 hrs so still a few changes needed but we are heading E fast now that we are not trying to get North anymore. Yesterday afternoon was very rolly but the seas have settled a bit overnight and conditions are much more comfortable. This morning we have been motor sailing with the genoa out. We are now targeting to arrive in Gibraltar Saturday morning which means we need to maintain over 10.5 knots all the way.

The clouds have cleared and the sun is out for the first time in a few days, now all we need is some fish and breeze in the right direction.

JC

Noon Position  34deg 49N 35deg  26W

Course  – 75 Degrees   Speed – 10.5   Knots        Day’s Run –  250 Miles

Weather –   Partly cloudy with 17′ (5m) swells from N

Wind  –  15 knots from   250 degrees

It has been another sleepless night of rolling with no wind to fill the sails and it looks like we have at least another 24 hours of it. We are starting to see a lot more sea birds as we are now only 400 miles SW of the Azores Islands. We have had the fishing lines out but without success.

JC

Noon Position  34deg 00N 40deg  20W

Course  – 75 Degrees   Speed –  11  Knots        Day’s Run – 241  Miles

Weather –  Grey skies and 17′ (5m) swells NW

Wind  – 20  knots from  330  degrees

It has been a very uncomfortable night with light wind from behind and big swells. At times we have been rolling so much that the rails are in the water. Not much sleep for anyone. At 5am the wind swung to the North and we put up the main with 1 reef and the genoa and have been motor sailing in much more comfortable conditions. With 1700 miles to go to Gibraltar we are now on a course of 75 degrees to enter the Strait of Gibraltar.

Conditions have been too rough to fish. 

JC

Noon Position  32deg 57N 44deg  52W

Course  – 50 Degrees   Speed –  12  Knots        Day’s Run – 241  Miles

Weather –   Cloudy, cool and 10′ (3m) swells from the West

Wind  – 20  knots from  260  degrees

It was a beautiful afternoon and evening yesterday and then the wind began to build overnight. This morning we have been motor sailing in big swells and doing speeds up to 13 kts. Unfortunately there is not enough wind from the correct direction for us to turn the engine off. We are all enjoying seeing boat speeds in double figures again.

This morning we saw a small whale breeching ahead of us and had to alter course so as not to run into it. Now we are waiting for the wind to come from the North and we will start heading due East.

JC

Noon Position  deg N deg  W

Course  – 42 Degrees   Speed –  9.5  Knots        Day’s Run –  226 Miles

Weather –  Sunny but not tropical.

Wind  –  5 knots from    010 degrees

It has been another slow 24 hours with wind on the nose or very little wind at all. We have finally put behind us the band of rain that we were in for 2 days. Today is a gloriously fine day and very little wind. Everyone is enjoying the smoother seas and making the most of it and doing washing for the first time since leaving St Maarten. The swells have become very long and lazy, just how we like them.

We managed to catch another Mahi Mahi this morning. Not as big as yesterdays. Today we have seen a lot of plastic floating around which is always sad to see.

Tomorrow we are hoping we will get enough wind to give us some good speed and maybe even turn the engine off.

JC

Noon Position  27deg 07N 50deg  43W

Course  -040  Degrees   Speed – 10.3   Knots        Day’s Run – 234  Miles

Weather –  Partly cloudy with 6′ (2m) swells from the North

Wind  – 10 knots from 55 degrees

Yesterday we got a little wind assistance but not enough to turn the engine off. This morning we have been motoring into 10-13 kts of wind to get further North in search of Westerly wind.

The day started well with 3 big flying fish on deck and then got even better with a 15lb (7Kg) Mahi Mahi at 7am. Looking forward to fresh fish for dinner. The lines are back out to see what else we can catch.

The temperature is slowly cooling off and so is the sea temp.

We are all hoping for some good wind so we can increase our speed.

JC