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The time has finally come to escape the cold grey weather of the U.K. and head south back to the boat in Las Palmas to complete the final few jobs before the start of the ARC 2018 #arc2018.

The last few weeks since delivering SV Gitana to Las Palmas have been a bit hectic finishing off work and trying to avoid new projects both at work and at home. The last few bits of kit have now been purchased mainly odds and sods from Alpkit and Amazon, however the guys at Sports Pursuit had timed their Musto sale well!

I have started a little project on Instagram called #121days which is a photo journal of my travels over the next few months. A simple concept one photograph a day for the duration. However the first photograph was a tricky one due to the travel and the grey start in the U.K., then when I arrived it was raining in the Canaries! So a damp night shot to start proceedings.

So in the end it was six legs and approximately 1400 miles of sailing or more appropriately motoring to get us this far to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. Not to mention one fish!

Similarly to the early part of the trip a fast departure from the Portuguese coast soon led to a dying breeze and two or three consecutive days of motoring. This then left us sort of fuel which led to a one hour pit stop in Lanzarote yesterday evening before a fast sail across to Las Palmas overnight arriving earlier this morning.

The trip has been good and has allowed us to get to know the boat and test out some of the work done and potential ideas for the crossing.

So we left A Coruna bound for Las Palmas in one hit, we thought the trip would take 6 or 7 days so in theory I should be writing this whilst packing up the boat for the return flight home. However our plans have changed slightly due to the weather.

The first thirty six hours out were glorious with a slight upwind start and a dying breeze we soon picked up the long awaited north westerly to send us on our way down the Portugal coast. The second night out we entered a bank of sea fog which lasted all night, we thoroughly tested the AIS system with a few close passings. The following morning was distinctly autumnal with grey skies and a building wind and sea. The lunch time forecast showed a period of strong winds in excess of 30 knots despite this being behind us we thought it would be better to head in and wait for it to pass. So we hardened up onto a beam reach and picked up the pace to 7 or 8 knots heading for the coast. We arrived at Cascais in the early morning enjoying coffee and crossaint before entering the harbour.

After showers, laundry a boat tidy and well earned lunch with a beer followed by an afternoon snooze we consulted the weather. The charts still had big winds on the menu and with time window for returning to normal lives for the time being closing we decided that we needed to let the weather pass but be on our way by the Friday.

So with a couple of days in Cascais on hand we set about a few jobs and some exploration of the town.

Friday will see us embark on the last leg of the trip to the Canaries all being well a Thursday arrival is our eta at present.

The good news we slipped our lines on Monday 20th August 2018 and said farewell to Falmouth. Our final destination is Las Palmas however the route is in the hands of the weather gods.

I write this post as we are settling in for our third night at sea having transmitted the channel then on into the notorious Bay of Biscay. Unfortunately this year the bay is a tranquil scene and as such this is our third day under motor!

We hope for more wind later tomorrow which will help the fuel consumption. We have settled into our routines onboard although I am yet to find time to dig out the sextant and tables and have a play. Today was spent working out why our freshwater tanks are not filling when using the water maker.

The wildlife has been good so far I had a pod of dolphins on the first night watch, we had Orcas of the lizard and this morning a 30 to 40foot whale surface alongside and chill out with us for a while during breakfast.

Anyway turning in for the night to start the day early again at 0300! Hopefully the elusive 15 knots of north westerly will be with us by then.

So after three days of motoring we had no choice but to divert to the Northern Spanish town of a Coruna to refuel and drop off our two crew members. For the three of us on-board it also allowed a quick 24 hour recovery after a long and busy night run into the port.

So with fuel, fresh water topped up and fresh supplies on-board we put to sea again on the Saturday lunchtime aiming for Las Palmas with a waypoint to keep us near the Portuguese coast if we need a stop before jumping to the Canaries.

A sea breeze tempted us to sail to windward out of the bay and down the coast however as with all good sea breezes this one died out and so we returned to the familiar sound of our now run in Beta Marine Diesel engine.

On my watch at 0300 the breeze finally filled in as forecast and with the main and Genoa set conservatively for the night watch I settled in for some downwind hand steering.

Current Eta to Las Palmas is Sunday however if we keep this wind and boat speed then we could be there in time for a beer on Saturday.