After filling up the diesel tanks we left smoke covered Funchal, Madeira at 09.30 am Monday 16 August. After a few miles we left the wind shadow of the island and the wind picked up to a steady NNE 5 beaufort, a perfect wind for our trip to the Canaries.
With just one reef in the main, Dutch Link was easily making 8 knots SOG on a broad reach. However, as we only needed 6 knots to reach Las Palmas by daybreak 48 hours later, we decided to take the strain off the boat, the crew and the autopilot and put in a second reef and partly furled Genny. By 0930 the next morning we passed the Selvagem group of rocky islets which, in the past, has claimed many wrecks.
Our invaluable AIS once more proved its worth as we crossed the busy channel between Gran Canaria and Tener
ife in the early hours of Wednesday morning as we found ourselves in the middle of 3 ships. The Saga Odyssey , which was on a potential collision course answered my VHF call and steered a few degrees to starboard to clear our stern by a few miles.At 0930 Wednesday morning we
were safely moored in La
s Palmas Marina on Gran Canaria.
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