Almost there - and glad of it!

August 14, 2008 Thursday Day 6 37d10.6'N 10d14.5'W
For the past 2 days, we've been riding in a washing machine - and it wasn't always on the gentle cycle either. The winds were just forward of the beam (about 60 degrees off the bow) which is a fast point of sail. And we have been going fast. For two days we have averaged more than 171 miles per day - that is not at all shabby for a 41' boat. The cost to all that speed has been discomfort. It's not as bad as if we were going upwind - there the boat slams into every wave and slows down on each impact. Our course takes us across the waves at a gentle angle; sloping up the face of a wave and then sliding down the back side. But with the strong winds, the waves were up to 8 feet high. The waves weren't so bad, but the wind chop on top of them was really a nuisance. The crests of the chop would break from time to time and if one of those breaking tops happened to occur just as we passed, it broke against the boat, throwing water all over the place. Now this boat is better than decently watertight, but days of flying water can start to show places where the water forgets it's place - outside!
But we only have 60 miles to go and are tearing along at almost 8 knots, so we are enduring the punishment. We could have reduced sail and gotten the speed down into the 6's at which time the motion and spray would have been much nicer. But we want to be there! We've just been sleeping and reading - moving around has been an effort. Andi gets high marks for cranking out good food under these conditions.
For those of you who thought we were crazy to be out here, the last two days are your "I told you so". For land folks, its like a very bad dirt road.
We've been seeing some ships that you don't see at the Panama Canal or normal harbors - the supertankers. These guys run from Ghana or the Red Sea up the Atlantic. They are huge! One passed us that was 250 meters long - that is 1/4 of a kilometer!
With luck we'll be anchored at Sagres before sunset. Send mail. Here is a video that Andi shot before the waves got too big. These were nice conditions.