Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Squally days

Monday night began calm and Ellen was looking forward to a quiet watch, before long however Nick was woken by the violet motion of the boat and got up to find Ellen struggling to reduce sail.

The majority of the day was overcast and wet, with the skies clearing later in the afternoon, the squally conditions left a large lumpy sea.

Highlight of the day was Nick's scrumptious Shepherds Pie. Soya mince marinated in the remains of yesterday's red wine with a drop of Lea and Perins. Nothing from starboard locker insight.

11.45 utc Nick notes: The skies are now clear and the moon has yet to rise; the only light is from the 1000s of stars. We're making good progress at around 5.5 knots, on a lumpy sea, giving a slightly wild exhilarating ride; its great to hear the roar of Kika's bow wave making determined westerly progress. I've just spent an hour re-jigging the foresail rig; our new extendable pole snapped. No harm done and now it's clear that the pole was undersized for the job. Our single pole is holding out the windward genoa with the leeward genoa now unsupported. It appears to be working well, if anything the sails have a better shape then when they were both poled-out.


Position at 14.40 UTC: 15deg 36'N, 37deg 57'W
Daily distance run: 121nm; cumulative distance: 1632:
Engine hours: 0
Distance to go: ~ 1331nm
Conditions: NE 15 knots, rough sea, 1012 millibars

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