Monthly Archives: February 2009

Welcome to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Posted on by
2

This morning lights from Las Palmas first became visible at 0200. The lights gradually grew bigger and brighter, and by 0600, we could see the clearly see the glowing up ahead, illuminating the dark morning. We had another nice sunrise this morning, pictured below.

pb240046-small.jpg

We pulled into the bay around 0830 on our clock, 0730 on the new local time, just as the sun was starting to come up. Like Mallorca, the waves were big and rough until the second we were around the corner of the breakwater into the protected water. From what we could tell on our way in, Las Palmas looks like your typical modern city. Most buildings look to be Continue reading →

Passage to Gibraltar Days 3-5

Posted on by
Reply

Day 3

It was another relatively warm, sunny and beautiful day. At 1000, all was still status quo. The only change was that sometimes the wind would move to starboard aft corner for a while, but it usually stayed on the port aft corner. The wind speeds are consistently between 7 29 knots apparent, though they sometimes sit for a while at the higher end of the spectrum, and sometimes stay at lower end of spectrum for a while.

The waves were still big and lumbering, coming at us in long intervals, hitting primarily from the port aft quarter, which makes that terrible corkscrew motion. The waves definitely feel worse when the wind kicks around to the starboard, and the seas become mildly confused. It is still hard to Continue reading →

Passage to Gran Canaria – Days 1 and 2

Posted on by
1

Yesterday we wanted to get up early so we could leave ASAP. Mind you, early for us these days is before 0800, when the sun rises. It was cold and dark, making getting out of bed painful, but we had to do it. We had no time to dilly dally. Fortunately, it wasn’t as cold as it had been all week, so getting up before turning the heater on was a little more bearable. The wind was calm when we awoke. We knew it would change soon.

Eric gave Kosmos a quick wash down. There was jet fuel residue all over the boat, and we are afraid if we go out to sea that it will turn to cement and be difficult to remove down the road. Christi ran to Continue reading →

Stabilizers, Fuel, and Chores in Gibraltar

Posted on by
2

Eric is starting to stress out about the Atlantic crossing. We were originally going to be here for only three days, leaving us lots of time in the Canaries to get things ready for the big crossing. Now, thanks to the stabilizer delay, it looks like we will only have a few days in the Canaries to get things ready. The “to do” list is long, and sadly, most of it is last minute stuff.

So, needless to say, yesterday and today have been chore days. The biggest and most important news is that ABT repair technician came today at about noon for the stabilizers. He was done by 1400. We now have a new hydraulic cylinder actuator. This time we Continue reading →