Around noon today I could fold the chart so that I am now closing in to Europe. A big step this is! I am truly in mid-Atlantic, happily skirting the southern edge of a big Atlantic depression. And while gales rage to the north of my position, I only have a gentle westerly wind of about 15 knots. This is likely to slowly increase tonight and tomorrow to 20 or 25 (force 6), but that's OK with me.

At the moment I am:
244 miles off Flores, on my starboard bow
1181 miles off Camarinas, on the northwest corner of Spain, due east from here
1367 miles off the Lizard, England
1122 miles off Whitehead, Nova Scotia (this is measured in a straight line, as the crow flies. It does not take into account the dogleg I made to get around the Grand Banks)
1589 miles off Newport, Rhode Island.

Depending on the long range weather forecast for the Western Approaches, tomorrow, I might skip a visit to the Azores and head straight for Europe. So far, the trip is going very smoothly, and it is a shame to visit exotic and remote islands as Flores (or the other Azores), without having time to enjoy them properly.

Bart

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