Are we nearly there yet?
Or, more relevant, are we halfway yet? It is surprisingly difficult to answer that simple question. The straight-line distance from Mindelo to Grenada is 2163NM, but our route, which took us south to avoid the worst of the weather, is 2285NM. In addition, we measure distance covered with the ship’s log, which is a paddle wheel mounted in the hull, spinning as it moves through the water. It is notoriously inaccurate. Distance to go is measured by GPS, accurate to within a metre or two, but it assumes a straight line passage, not something we do when sailing with the wind. So halfway is a guess. Nonetheless, we are confident we reached the halfway point at around midday today, a big milestone, and one that gives us a real sense of our progress and arrival in perhaps just over a week.
Celebrations consisted of a lovely lunch prepared by Cate – the beers will have to wait until we arrive! The seas are still pretty rough – today and tomorrow are forecast to be the worst, so we hope things will be calming down in a couple of days.
Well done !
A great achievement and you’re smiling still xx
Hi Ros, Thanks. We’re hanging in here but it’s really hard work and we’re getting tired. Apparently we’re having the roughest weather of any Vikings Rally in the past eight years, and a professional yachtsman on another boat who does three or more Atlantic crossings each year says this is the roughest he’s ever encountered. Oh joy! You can imagine how much I will enjoy a drink when we get to dry land. Love to you and Godric xx