We didn’t feel like leaving the island of Lanzarote, either. But my mother was to fly and visit us for a week, so we sailed off to sea again, not waiting for the sunrise. We’re heading to another Spanish island called Tenerife and, as usual, navigating by GLONASS.
GLONASS expedition’s going on. But, frankly speaking, we have long gathered strength to leave the welcoming island of Graciosa. It was so great there. And only the feeling that it will be even better further made us to weigh the anchor.
A passage again and GLONASS brought us to the Canaries.
The first small island called Graciosa is less than 10km in diameter. It’s a small town and a cozy harbor.
The number of GLONASS satellites in the Earth orbit has been brought up to full strength of 24 spacecrafts and is now equal to the number of US GPS. Previously this year, five GLONASS satellites, four GLONASS-M and one GLONASS-K, were placed into orbit.
When leaving, we tested how GLONASS navigation worked. GLONASS works even in Africa. We passed by Casablanca, decided not to enter it, but we saw the Mosque which is westernmost and second largest in the world after Mecca.
At first, the weather during a three-day passage from Lisbon to Morocco did not make us happy. The sky was overcast by the coast of Portugal. However, that’s no obstacle for the reliable coverage of the GLONASS system. On November 21, 2011, our GLONASS navigator led us to the coast of Morocco, the vicinity of Casablanca, to the fishing port of Mohammedia.
For us it was a must to test the operation of the GLONASS navigation at the edge of Europe, in the historic harbor of Lisbon.
The expedition around the world started on Russia’s Indepence Day, June 12, 2011, from St. Basil’s Descent in Moscow. The voyage will last three years. Astern yacht Delta left the Russian rivers and lakes, the Baltic and the North seas, the English Channel, and the Bay of Biscay. The yacht is now at the pier of Lisbon and getting ready to sail through the Atlantic to the shores of America. Some of these days, a new member will join the crew, Doctor Alexander Vozdvizhensky. The yacht’s captain Andrey Nevzorov told the audience of the Central House of Journalists (via videoconferencing) about the readiness of the crew, the boat’s technical conditions, and the operation of the Russian navigation system GLONASS, autopilot.
Another passage and we’re in the town of Bayona.
Medieval fortress at the entrance the bay and a fact that is no less interesting – that’s where Columbus’ ship Pinta returned after he discovered America.