Running with the Big Boys

Today we passed within a mile of a very large American freighter heading west. I think it was scared of us because as we drew nearer to check it out and take pictures, it kept on veering away! Our little boat can be pretty intimidating I must admit.

We have been making excellent progress on beam/broach reach these past couple of days, averaging just shy of 200 miles a day. The storm system that we are trying to outrun is providing us with very cooperative tail winds. A low pressure system currently off the coast of Newfoundland is forecasted to join the low pressure system hovering over Ireland in a couple of days. It will then most likely proceed south along the coasts of France and Spain and meet up with us about the time we are passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.

We saw sea birds for the first time since we left the Grand Banks. The Azores are just a day’s sail southeast of us at the moment. A high pressure system typically resides in the Azores that we can duck into if the weather gets too bad.