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We hurried to check out of Queensway Quay Marina, Gibraltar, so
we would be able to arrive at Puerto Calero on Lanzarote, Canary
Islands, in daylight. This leg of our voyage will take a little
over four days to cover 600+ miles. We had a good weather report
and hoped the weather would hold. Our sail to Lanzarote in 1992,
on the America 500 Rally had been a hard one with forty-knot winds
and twenty-foot seas. On that passage we had aboard an experienced
sailor and good friend, and his lovely, but sailing inexperienced
wife, who did not like sailing. He had coaxed her to join us in
Madeira for the leg to Lanzarote because everything had been wonderful
from the Azores to Spain, and from Spain to Madeira, while he was
aboard. He owned a Gulfstar 54, sister ship to Sea Gem, and wanted
his wife to like sailing. It was not an easy passage for any of
us, but for her it was a nightmare. After we tied up to a large
fishing boat in the harbor at Arrecife another friend and crew member,
as he was going below, said to her, as she was sitting on the settee,
staring at the radar, " Do you want me to change channels?"
Her husband sold his sailboat. This time Saundra and I are alone
and an easy passage would be welcome, however we'll take whatever
comes. As the saying goes, "Attitude is the difference between
ordeal and adventure".
Although we
left at 11:45 am in a twenty five knot headwind, it was expected
to lighten and the tide would be turning in two hours to help us
clear Gibraltar Straits, noted for its strong easterly set current
into the Mediterranean. Getting the tide right is important since
you can spend all day in a sailboat just trying to clear the straits.
When we arrive
at Lanzarote we will cross our path of 1992, when Sea Gem participated
in the America 500 Rally, a replication of Columbus' voyage from
Spain to the new world. We will, at that point, have technically
circumnavigated the world. We would really rather mark our successful
circumnavigation the first of May when we expect to sail into Titusville,
Florida, where we departed January 16,1999, for our circumnavigation
as part of the Millennium Odyssey Round the World Rally.
We're sorry
we didn't have more time to spend in Gibraltar. We were there briefly
in 1992 and things have changed for the better since then. Knowing
we have a schedule to keep leaving when the weather is good is the
most important thing.
SEA
GEM LOG:
July
28, 2001- First Mate's Log . . .
July
29, 2001, So far the seas have been kind and today we sailed without
engine with the winds and the currents with us. We are about thirty-five
miles off the coast of Morocco. The wind is out of the west, off
the vast Atlantic. The air is clean and clear. This afternoon we
are within thirty miles of Casablanca. What a temptation to go in
for a visit, but that might not be the best port to visit as a lone
yacht. Besides, the ambiance may have changed since Bogart and Bergman
were there listening to Sam "play it again."
July 30,2001. Good winds and silent sailing came to an end, the winds
died and motoring was resumed. We still are seeing quite a few ships
coming and going by us. Radar is a real necessity in the heavily traveled
shipping lanes of the world. We are skirting the coast of Africa,
sometimes as close as sixteen miles. The weather has remained benign,
the days are even a little cool and at night we are sleeping under
a com fort
as we take our turns off watch. Part of the trip was pretty roily
but no rough seas. On July 31, we saw a school of pilot whales playing
off the bow. We have had dolphins come to the boat and play in the
bow waves. How I would love to communicate with them more fully. What
magnificent creatures they are.
August 1, 2001, Charlie had originally estimated our arrival time
in Puerto Calero as 2:00 PM on the basis of averaging 6 knots per
hour. However with a good current and favorable winds (or no adverse
wind) we averaged better than 7 knots per hour. At 04:00 the lights
of Lanzarote became visible and we slowed our speed so that we would
not arrive at the entrance too early. The trip had been a breeze;
it proves it is a waste of effort to dread something, for many things
we dread or fear never come to pass. The trip according to miles logged
under the keel was 683. By chart calculations it was 612 miles but
in either case it took ninety-one hours and 419 liters of fuel. Going
into Puerto Calero proved to be as pleasant experience as we expected.
More about that in the next installment. Until later . . ..
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