Anyone following Quijote's progress closely (https://share.garmin.com/SVQuijote) might have detected a left hand turn last night. We knew at some point we were going to need to get further south. We just didn't know how that would work out. Would the wind shift and allow us to take a direct path or would we be forced to make a couple of jibes and maneuver our way into the desired approach? With so much ocean remaining in front of us we were content to wait and see. Well last night we saw. The writing was on the wall much sooner, truthfully.
Observing the weather forecasts, it was clear that we were going to run out of wind pretty quickly if we kept to our path. Last night the professional weather forecasters following our progress removed all doubt: turn south or be stuck in calm air for a few days. So we turned and were rewarded with a wild ride through squalls on a bumpy, sleepless night. At least we won't be sitting still. The plan is to jibe back again to our original heading, probably some time tomorrow. Dipping south as we did, allows us to skirt around a ridge of high pressure that was building in front of us.
Three cheers for meteorologists.
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