update from Dec 3

We had not had good Globalstar satellite phone reception for several days now, but last night we had one quick chance to get on and receive and send emails.

The ARC control center sends updates daily on positions of the whole fleet and weather reports. They also send out updates on boats with troubles.

Two yachts are still in Gran Canaria for repairs. One got a line caught in his prop the first day. One had a repair made on a critical line or halyard. The splice was not done properly and they had to return to Gran Canaria.

On Nov 29 one of the 60 foot yachts in the racing class was flying its spinnaker, when it encountered a large gust of wind and the boat broached. Broaching is when the boat is pulled so far over by the wind against the sail that the mast may actually touch the water and boat is nearly turned over. A sail boat will nearly always right itself from a broach. When this happened one of the crew members was burned by boiling water in the galley. ARC control was called and the medical team advised of how to care for the burns and recommended that he be evacuated to a cleaner environment. The next morning a merchant ship bound for Las Palmas picked him up.

On Nov 30 one yacht started taking on water from 2 keel boats and is now changing course for Cape Verdes.

On Dec 1 a yacht not in the ARC sent out a mayday. They had lost engine power and the chain plates holding up the mast were broken so they had abandoned ship. One of the ARC yachts heard the mayday call and picked them up. The boat is still out there sailing, but abandoned. It is a bit of a curiosity for me as to why they chose to abandon ship. A standard mariners rule is to always stay with the boat as it will be the safest place to be, until it is actually sinking.

During the briefings held by the ARC, the Captains were advised to be on the look out for boat people. It is quite common for Africans trying to escape their country to put too many people on a boat and head for the Canaries seeking asylum. The ARC recommended that if any one of us saw one of these boats to report it to the authorities, and stay at the site but well away from the boat until the authorities had arrived. The short mail from ARC indicated that 2 ARC yachts saw one these boats and stayed at sight. One of the ARC yachts was actually boarded by 2 immigrants who they then had to control. The next morning the Spanish Navy arrived and took away all of the immigrants. The ARC yachts are back on their way to St Lucia.

So, we are thankful that so far our trip has not been nearly that eventful. The last few days have seen mostly winds at about an average of 17 knots and seas with 6-8 foot swells. Our average boat speed is maybe around 6-8 knots. We are averaging between 150 and 170 miles a day and now are halfway across this ocean.

Last night we had a small dorado for dinner that we caught the night before.

Other than that we are all fine and looking forward to landing somewhere around Dec 12^th.

That is all for now.