Position Noted Twice A Day

July 22, 2005: I've noted our position twice a day on our computerized chart and have listed them below. They will vary from the positions I've noted when I've sent emails. Anyway, you might want to note the ones below on the blog. So when I send email I'll give you my two new positions for the day and the position at the time I send the email.

07/19/05, 1424 UTC, 46 29.655N, 53 55.076W
07/20/05, 0424 UTC, 46 09.530N, 52 06.023W
07/20/05, 1500 UTC, 45 52.700N, 50 44.800W
07/21/05, 0524 UTC, 45 27.096N, 49 04.191W
07/21/05, 1815 UTC, 45 03.704N, 47 33.512W
07/21/05, 2100 UTC, 44 56.800N, 47 10.600W Encounter with Virgin Atlantic
07/22/05, 0424 UTC, 44 41.828N, 46 30.508W
07/22/05, 1700 UTC, 44 30.614N, 45 12.562W

About 680 miles to the Azores! As far as our itinerary goes, I've given that out so many times I give up. One step at a time - for now our itinerary is the Azores.

Position at time of transmission 2200 UTC 44 20.743N, 44 49.821W

Editor: Nancy and Mark send their e-mail to me (John Krill) and I post the e-mail to the Blog. They haven't seen the Blog yet. Maybe they will view the Blog when they get to the Azores.

We finally seem to be out of the fog

Day 4: 07/22/05, 09:30 UTC (GMT)Position 44 35:86N 45 58.11

We finally seem to be out of the fog. Fog this morning. We motor-sailed the first 30 hours in light winds wanting to get away from the coast of Newfoundland and off the Grand Banks as quick as possible.

We've been pure sailing the last 48 hours, averaging 5-6 k. We're getting a shift in the winds so all that might change soon. Being this is our first ocean crossing we've been conservative on our sail configuration. But Tamara is a very capable boat and we've been very please with her performance.

We were hailed on the VHF radio late yesterday afternoon by a young Brit who's attempting to be the youngest person to row across the Atlantic. He was two miles off our port side and hardly visible on our radar. We had a nice chat with him and kept him company for awhile. He's been out 50+ days and has another 50+ to go, rowing 12 hours a day. You can read about him and his progress on his website, www.virginrow.com.

The following is a typical (?) day's schedule:

Nancy on watch from 1 am to about 7 am. Want Mark to get as much sleep as possible. He usually gets interrupted by sail changes.

Mark gets up and we have breakfast. Send/receive email.Mark on watch and Nancy sleeps from about 9 am - 12 pm.

Lunch and then Mark tries to get some sleep for a few hours while Nancy on watch.

Dinner about 7 pm. Email check about 10 pm.Mark on watch 10 pm to 1 am while Nancy sleeps.

Nancy & Mark

Sailing at 5k, fog, visibility .25 - .5 miles

svTamara: Position 45 22.475 N, 48 48.776 W, July 21, 2005, 08:15 GMTSailing at 5k, fog, visibility .25 - .5 miles.

I'll make an effort during the next 24 hours to give a more detailed update since leaving port. Still getting into the routine of things.

s/v Tamara On It's Way To Azores

July 18, 2005: The s/v Tamara will leave Fortune, Newfoundland on July 18th, 6:30 pm, Newfoundland time, unless the weather changes drastically.

Editor's Note: They have to travel over 1300 nautical miles on this first leg of their journey.