Porto Santo by Lochlann

Passage Rio Guadiana, Portugal to Porto Santo, Madeira November 014

After leaving the Rio Guadiana we sailed straight out to sea. We were going through the shipping lanes so we saw lots of tankers and large ships. I had the 7pm till 9pm watch so I ate supper as I looked out for ships.  There is nothing really to say about that crossing except that it took six days out of sight of land.

Our faithful self steering gear

Navigation - Lat and Long by Finbar

Since the beginning of our voyage, we have been using GPS (Global Positioning System) to determine our position. This has allowed us all to concentrate more on learning to sail. Now that we are all more confident we have been relying on it less and less.

Navigation is the process of finding your position relative to your destination and then, after plotting the shortest, easiest and safest route to that destination, calculating the information needed to follow that route.