LIFE: Part 2

Current Location: Portimao, Portugal
Current Position: 37 8.2 N 008 31.7 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 0 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

All the work is done. This afternoon the big crane will put us back into the water. Then, on Friday (all things permitting) we will take off for Madeira.

The crossing is 470 nautical miles. The winds will be behind us, expecting 10 to 20 kts, and we will also have half a knot of current in our favour, so we expect to average at least 6kts. That would give us an expected arrival at Porto Santo sometime on Monday morning.

It is difficult on a longer passage like this, but we try to time our departure to give us the maximum chance of arriving during daylight as we don’t like to arrive at a strange new place in the dark.

While we are gone, we will have access to weather forecasts through our satellite phone, which we have just activated and set up. Through that we will also be able to post to our blog. In fact, this post was sent through the sat phone just to test that all is working well. Photos take up too much bandwidth, but at least we can tell you what we have been up to, and how many fish we have caught!

We may, or may not, post again prior to our departure, but unless you hear otherwise we will be out of communication from Friday to Monday. Having said that, I believe that we can receive SMS text messages through the phone, the number is +881631514902 and all you need to do to send us a text is go to: here, write in your message and send it. Free!

Bear in mind that we may not receive it straight away. In fact, we may not receive it for a few hours. Note that we can reply, but the reply will go to your email address, not to your cell phone. I just tested it, and it seems to work.

So, next contact should be from Mid Atlantic! Au revoir!