After an easy overnight run, we view the northern coast of Lanzarote and the island northwest of it, Graciosa, with the morning light.  Both of us are feeling better to be near islands in the Atlantic Ocean once again.  We motor between the mainland and the island to discover both the anchorage south of the harbor and the "bare-basic" marina.  We are allowed to remain on the main dock, secured far aft on the floating pier.  Little did we realize what a treasure Graciosa is among the few and far-between anchorages in The Canary Islands.  Remote but hospitable. 

The remaining part of the day is uneventful even though we are beginning to see more targets on the radar as we approach The Canary Islands, so named by the Spaniards when they discovered dogs native to the archipelago.    

Today is Election Day in the States and what a contrast!  A large high pressure system has surrounded us:  clear skies, calm seas, no useful wind.  On Jackie's first daylight watch, Chris decided to hoist the mizzen staysail, a large triangular postage stamp that flies between the two masts.  A great sail for light wind but hard to handle in quick maneurvers.  At 1130 she attempted to radio the tanker aft of us, Jackie called him from the engine room.  Luckily a fellow freighter heard our efforts and identified the tanker as "Jost."  Then he returned our call and deviated to port to miss us. Whew!  Green flash at sunset makes the day a success!

The day of changing weather patterns as we adjust to sleeping and standing watch, 3 hours on and 3 hours off, 24/7.  After the first two days, three hours sleep even feels healthy.  Midnight found us sailing under a three quarter Carolina moon under overcast skies in 20-25 knots off the port bow.  By noon the wind died to 10 knots and we activated the iron sail (engine) to maintain a speed of 6 knots. Overnight Chris discovered that the forward cabin door was jammed close by three drawers which had fallen open under the rough sea conditions yesterday.  Another trick, not a treat to solve!

The first 30 miles or so were uneventful if you can call crossing the Straits of Gibraltar from north to south with incoming tides (either the charts are wrong or we read them backward) while darting across the 12-15 freighters normally inbound and outbound each hour.  Whew!  We breathed a sigh of relief when we reached the southern part of the traffic separation zone for the big boys.  Only to be flagged down and boarded by the Moroccan marine patrol.  After lunch Chris caught two small tunnies which ended the day right!

Watch Schedule: