2700 nm to our next beer...

DAY 1 - 25th November 2007

Pos: 28 06 1.8 N 15 24 0.8 W

After a lot of briefings and anticipation we're off. We slipped our lines a couple of hours before our official start time of 13.00 so we could spend a bit of time sailing together. I think we woke a few people up as we were leaving the marina with Rick on deck playing the bagpipes. The alarm call went down well and we left the breakwater with a round of applause, probably the first time Northern Child has been clapped for leaving a marina (although I can't confirm that!).

With a few tacks and gybes under our belt, Julian the skipper, took the helm and we crossed the startline in a great position in the head of the fleet. We stayed quite close to the Island as we headed South watching the majority of other boats head further out. A few spinnakers went up but as the wind crept over 17 knots they soon came down again.

The rest of the day was a mixture of winds from 10 to 20 knots. We now have 2 watches and I'm in B watch whose illustrious members include Dave (watch leader), Tim, Mark and Jeremy. More to come from all of these guys during the crossing, although Jeremy has our sympathy at the moment as he is still finding his sealegs and being sick.

We had 2 watches on the first day, 18.00 to 22.00 and 02.00 to 06.00. We are definitely getting better at putting reefs in and taking reefs out and putting them back in taking them back out. Unfortunately by the time we finally got in our bunks our speed was down to 3 knots. The only saving grace was that we were heading in the right direction.

Overall a great first day spent getting the know boat and getting to know the crew. Full marks go to Susie, our cook and second mate, for a fabulous lasagne that went down very well.

We were reaching most of the day as we sailed clear of the Canary Islands. No downwind tradewinds sailing just yet.