Hazel’s ready, the Captain’s ready, the weather looks good, no orca encounters or sightings over the past several days—we are ready to roll.
It’s about 2130 here (9:30 p.m.) and I’m just about to “turn flukes” as Melville would say in Moby Dick. Tomorrow morning about sunrise, we’ll return our marina access card (and get our €15 deposit back!), cast off Hazel’s slip for the past three days, bunker at the fuel dock (take on diesel), and start sailing west. It should be pretty stiff breezes, 25-30 knots but an excellent direction, from the northeast allowing us to sail on a fast port-tack broad reach. We’ll sail due west for 30 miles to the 7º West line of longitude and then head for Porto Santo, Madeira. I’m thinking it will be a 4-6 day sail. You can track our progress and get my daily updates on the chart on our home page.
I’m so glad I stayed in Cadiz and had 2 days to tour the city. It’s a beautiful Spanish town…especially in mid-October and well off the season. Many Spanish seaside towns have fully (and recently) constructed marinas (without the break wall there would be no harbor). However, Cadiz has a natural harbor so it has been an important port city literally from the beginning of civilization.
Fair winds and following seas.
