Northern Portugal

After a grey and drizzly day on Thursday, by Friday lunchtime we finally had
sunshine and the 15 knot winds which were forecast. We could see the blue
skies on the horizon all morning as they gradually worked their way to us
and what an afternoon when they did!

We are still being slightly conservative on sail area due to the heavy swell
on our aft quarter, but even so we were flying along at 6 knots in bright
sunshine and finally engines off and a full day and night of sailing. We
were joined by a pod of around 40 dolphins for about 30 minutes as they
circled the boat and performed acrobatics all around us. I will try and post
the video when we get on internet again.

Last night there was considerably less traffic than the dramas of Cap
Finistere where you are literally surrounded on all sides, but those ships
which were around made their presence felt. Kevin passed a cruise liner in
the night, with all cabin lights blazing obscuring navigation lights it is
impossible to see the direction it is travelling, he took a cautious
approach using MARPA to track their course and moved away, which is just as
well because they did not flinch an inch from course.

This morning we have been dodging a series of squalls (rain clouds which
carry high winds), the first which we clipped had 30 knots of wind, again we
were ready for it but preferred to avoid the rest!

The blue skies are on the horizon though and we are hoping when the squalls
have passed we will get another great day of sailing in as we make good
progress along the Portuguese coast. We are currently level with Cabo
Mondego.
Position @ 09:00:
Distance run = 217 miles
Position = 40 15'.238N, 09 33'.731W (type into Google Earth or Maps to see)
Distance to Graciosa, Canaries = 691 miles

Final Update: Just as I was typing this we have had our first catch on
board, we are on Garfish for lunch and probably dinner too!