There is something particularly lovely about a Moroccan sunrise, especially when viewed from one hundred miles out in the Atlantic, it's the deep desert red converging with vast open ocean blue; a magical combination. We are now properly at sea, Mediterranean waves have given way to deep ocean rolling swell; hump shaped, house sized, and ceaseless. We have good wind but are still motoring for now, yesterday a crew member took a tumble; a false step into an open hatch- Art is fine. A bit banged up and sore, he's angry with himself of course, but it could have been much worse. With one less person on the watch schedule, and one uncomfortable crewman laid up, Giamma's opted to keep the motor running for now.
It's early dawn, another Moroccan sunrise, but this one's cloudy. Our injured crewman is up and about, Art's now walking freely on his own and doing much better after a load of painkillers, Carmen's lasagne Napolitano, and a night's rest. We have amazing wind so the sails will be going up today, Giamma is preparing the boat as I write this, we've already throttled back and pointed upwind, Andrea and Maira are at the mast- soon we'll be sailing again!
Depending on conditions, We'll be preparing another round of pasta con tartufo bianco, the whole galley has been softly permeated with the aroma for days, time to finish them off. The food has been fantastic on this passage, not just the exotic provisions from Palma, but the fresh meat our resident fish guru Andrea has been landing. Most recently a small tuna which we feasted on yesterday with a complete menu that included ceviche, tartar, sashimi, and finishing with lomo seared in olive oil, salt and lemon.
We are an international crew, nationalities on board: Italian, French, Brazilian, Swiss, and the tiny Caribbean nation of St Kitts & Nevis. Languages spoken include: French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, and English. So needless to say not all of our posts will be in English. With sails up our speeds have increased dramatically even though we have the main sail on the second reef, there was some cheering on deck a moment ago when Gustavo hit 18 knots surfing, a mark that will no doubt soon be surpassed- she's a fast boat! Everyone is raving over the new Spectra steering cables, even in these conditions, the helm is light as a feather. We're in a big Atlantic following sea with 30 knots of wind behind us and all 46 tons of her surfing the big waves; we are feeling good!
Canary Islands ahead! Spotted land early this morning through a grey sea fog dimly lit by a colorless sunrise. We've made 235nm in the past 24 hours, just under five days sailing from Mallorca and here we are, next stop Lanzarote! We've paused upwind to lower the main, then it's on to the harbor. As soon as we have the boat sorted we're all going out for pizza. Our first leg is complete, we have arrived in Puerto Calero- woohoo!!