24 Sept 2011

[Captains Blog] La Coruna

Last night on watch I saw something I had never encountered before: Two fishing boats working in tandem with a purse-seine net strung out behind and between them. I had to steer the boat away to leave them a good several hundred metres searoom in case their nets had billowed out to the side. Otherwise, nothing significant to report from the watch. Several stars out, some shooting stars visible from the deck, and the temperature is definitely getting warmer. I was distinctly overdressed in my oilskins, but we had had a weather forecast that predicted rain and I didn't want to be caught out.

Hopefully we can get the foresail sorted today, if not we will be sailing off tomorrow under main only en route to Gibraltar. I am learning all about the benefits of Navtex and AIS on this trip. Both essential for long passages and full of useful information necessary to manage a safe trip. My attempts at creating a spreadsheet to calculate the Lat & Long position need to be revisited, but I have been looking at the calculations and have a way of improving it (I think!). I have been working through some sun sights and have a much better understanding of it now. Still much to learn, and practice will make perfect.