First night onboard

Current location: 27°30′2″ N  15°18′3″ V South East of Gran Canaria, 20,21 UTC

Everywhere I look I see little lights. Some are white, others green or red. It reminds me of approaching a city by sail in the middle of the light. Much is the same - sails are up and the mast is squeaking every now and then. But the difference is that we are not approaching land, we are heading out in the middle of an ocean. That’s how many boats are participating in the ARC rally and heading for the Caribbean. And we are somewhere in the middle of it all. Getting prepped for leaving was a bit stressful as our list of tasks to complete constantly grew, but as  I watch these little lights bob around I feel how the stress melts away. Much like our butter will do in a couple of days were we to leave it out. Because we are heading South. And when the temperature gets warmer, or the butter melts as the saying goes, it’s time to head west. Why the detour you might wonder? We want to catch the trade winds. One might be tempted to take a different route, but it seldom pays off. Especially now. The weather forecasts have been very undeceive about how the weather systems are moving and there are many high pressure systems that are creating zero wind at the moment. So we are heading south, as seems everyone else. Tragedy of the commons? I hope not. Great minds think alike.