37-13'N 7-24'W Ayamonte, Spain

We have had a rainy few days here as a few fronts spin off lows which have pressed the Azores high south such as to slip by and catch us here on the boarder between Spain and Portugal. (Molly wanted me to apologize for starting this post with weather-geek-speak!) We are nearly caught up with boat projects and stocking the boat with food. Yesterday afternoon the entire salon and galley area was awash in canned and dried foods as we loaded up in Spain before sailing for the Canaries. This morning I awoke and made coffee with the last big roll of paper towel taunting me to find a place for it. We have plenty of space but where is the right place... Always the question.

We again are "waiting for a weather window" which is both the true joy and the Bain of the cruiser's life. Frantically one prepares to be ready only to then wait. It is the ultimate in "hurry up and wait." Yet there is a glorious upside to the waiting. We then have time to be with one another, time to slowly explore a small town, and of course time to come to terms with the fact that when push comes to shove, Mother Nature wins and it is folly to argue with her. That is a lesson worth soaking in.

Sometime early next week, we will slip the lines and head 600 nm south to Lanzarote Island in the Canaries. On Sila we have sailed a few hundred miles off shore but this will be nearly three times longer and a good shakedown for crossing the Atlantic in December, as it it is typically a downwind passage from here.

We will be in the Canaries for a week or two. This will give us a chance to implement any final tweaks to the boat, wedge in the last of the stores, and explore the Canaries. Mid-November we will again head south, this time to the Cape Verde Islands, a 850+ nm passage. In the Cape Verdes we are looking forward to exploring the classic jumping off spot for crossing the Atlantic. Here my sister Mary will join us in Late November. 

Sometime in early December we will head west for Antigua. If the trade winds are set up it will be a 16 day passage and if not, 20 or more days. We are leaving prepped for a month or more, but that is simply caution run wild as we ease into a new type of remote wilderness exploration for us. 

Crossing an ocean via sail has been a dream of mine since childhood. I spent many blustery days hanging over the stern contemplating the possibilities in the way that only a child whose father has been reading the Horatio Hornblower books aloud can. To be on the cusp is very exciting and intimidating. More or less we have all the experience, equipment, skills, and supplies needed for the endeavor. The only available improved preparation would be to have done it already. So it is time we got on with it. - Christopher