Wednesday morning, October 15, we departed Madeira and headed toward La Graciosa in the Canary Islands. We had a great two day passage, sailing the entire time on a reach with winds NE, mostly 15 knots. The only difference were the seas during the two days. On Wednesday the seas were 3 feet; on Thursday the seas were 6 feet, causing water to be taken over our deck at times. During our two night sail we enjoyed a full moon. Due to the favorable Canary current, we made fantastic time, covering 310 nautical miles in two days.
The Canary Islands, an autonomous region of Spain, were volcanic in origin just like the Madeira Archipelago. We spent 2� months in these islands before sailing across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and during our stay we visited 5 of the 8 islands: La Graciosa, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and La Gomera. Each island had its own unique beauty, with the drier, more barren islands located along the archipelago�s easternmost section. |
