Current position: 28:30.5 N 013:43.6 W  (6 miles east of Puerto del Rosario, Fuerteventura)

Position timestamp: 9 Jan 2021 16:45 WET / GMT / UTC

We slipped our berth at Marina Lanzarote at exactly midday. We were ready to go at 11:00 but a very wet and windy squall made an appearance just as we were about to start the engine so we decided to let that pass before setting off.

Squalls have been a bit of a feature so far. The straight line route would have taken us between the southern tip of Lanzarote and the northern tip of Fuerteventura and then west across the top of Gran Canaria and down the eastern side of Tenerife. However, the forecast is for 3 to 4 metre waves along that route, the aftermath of the high winds on Thursday and Friday. So we have decided to sail down the east side of Fuerteventura where the wave height is considerably less and more conducive to helping us regain our sea legs. Had we gone between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura we would have enjoyed this squall.

Shortly after that one, we skirted around this one, the big red blob that was picked up by our radar.

The base wind is 15-18 knots from the NNW, rising to 30+ knots in the squalls. We have one reef in the main and the main headsail out fully. Speed over the ground is 7 to 8 knots, 9 to 10 in the squalls.

So far we have seen one flying fish, one pilot whale and four men in a rib, one of whom had lost his own rib when it came loose in the high winds yesterday and who had convinced his mates it was worth going out to see if they could find it. I have his phone number on the off chance that we spot it but I fear that it is half way to Morocco by now.

This is likely to be the last post with photos before Grenada. In a few hours we will be out of sight of land and out of 4G mobile phone signal. Posts will then be made over our satellite phone link, 90s technology that is incapable of delivering anything more than plain text.

Stravaig at the ready with the sun rising behind the marina buildings.

The optimist.

The realist.