August 13, 2008 Wednesday Day 5 6AM 37d25.9'N 14d8.14'W
Well, up until now we have had the wind generally behind us, which meant that we were sailing along pretty flat - which meant that life was pretty normal. Now we have reached the Portuguese Trades (so named because the old Portuguese navigators could rely on these steady winds blowing down the coast of Portugal). These winds are coming from the front of us which means that the sails are sheeted in close and the boat is heeling. So now life is on a 20 degree angle. Hmmm, this could aid weight reduction - having to jungle-gym your way UP to the refrigerator is something of a deterrent.
On the other hand, we are moving along rather smartly. We only have 250 miles left to go with 550 behind us. We should arrive sometime tomorrow. For the sailors among you, we are finding that GRIB files have proven quite accurate in this part of the world. GRIB files are highly compressed weather data files that we can download and then overlay right onto our electronic charts and see little arrows showing predicted wind strength and direction.
This part of the ocean seems like a desert. We haven't seen fish or birds working - no dolphins - no seaweed - nada!
Every once in a while we see shipping. When we do, we are on our toes until they are safely past. But when we reach the lower corner of Europe at Cabo Sao Vicente, all the worlds' shipping is rounding the corner there bound for the Med or upcoast to England or France. It will get busy for a while. Fortunately, we have AIS which shows each ship on our electronic chart with it's true course and speed (and a lot of other interesting facts).
So we are well and decently rested, so now that the sun is up I am going to wedge myself back into a corner and go back to Tom Clancy.
As always, we love hearing news from YOU when we are out on passage. Use our Sailmail address.
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