06-Oct-2008 Noon Position

Noon Position
36'46.9N/0'23.2W
Mediterranean Sea

• 90 nm last 24 hours
• 728 nm from Malta
• 96 nm to Almeria, Spain
• Winds E 5-10 knots
• Seas E 1 foot

Sailed last 24 hours!! Great 24 hour run with the wind from the NE, right off the stern, the main sail out to port, and the jib sail poled out to starboard. Winds held to 10 knots all afternoon giving us an average of 5 knots. After sunset the winds dropped down, giving us 3-4 knots.

Algeria's coastline has curved away to the south and we are now midway between Algeria and Spain. We are 96 miles from Almeria and should be making port by tomorrow afternoon if all goes well.

Still plenty of ships around, but they are thinning out a bit the farther offshore we get.

This morning while Amy was sleeping after her night watch I head her yelling down below. I thought she was yelling about a fire! It turns out she was yelling "Bird!". Somehow a small bird had flown down below and was flapping around. When I heard what I thought was "Fire!" I ran down the ladder only to be greeting by a bird flapping his wings in my face. He has been around all day today and keeps flying below for some reason. He looks like a small land bird and Sandpiper is probably the closest thing to a nest for him. Not too cool being full of bird first thing in the morning.

This afternoon using one of our new lures purchased in Malta we hooked up a Mahi-Mahi. Actually he was a bit of a baby and did not even know we had hooked him up till we looked back and saw him dragging along behind us. He was about a foot long and we felt sorry for this kid. So decided to return him to his parents. This fish has many different names in different parts of the world. Here it is known as a Dorado. Other places it is known as a Mahi Mahi, or Dolphin Fish.

More when moored in Spain!!
Tom and Amy