Not the Wet Watch Anymore - BlueWatch

Adventure_iceland
Tue 5 Aug 2008 20:21

After an enjoyable morning sail with a light breeze and regular sightings of dolphins alongside the yacht, blue watch moved onto mothering duties. Due to the light winds, the mother watch was uneventful – not having to stem the galley every 2 minutes. Trying our best to top Windy’s cooking efforts we attempted our own five star menu with a lamb curry and apple crumble and custard desert. We’re not sure we managed it but the meal went down well nonetheless.  The curry came with the usual condiments, chopped onions, chilli, peppers, and Na'an breads.  The Banana Chutney donated to the ship by Peters’ wife Sheila has become a firm favourite with Richard.  He has asked for the recipe to be sent, but Peter thinks it is just a ruse to get Sheila’s email.  (Editor's note: whilst skipper finds the chutney delightful and Sheila lovely, he would be happy with the chutney recipe!)

 

 

Neil creating Curry

 

In the afternoon, Blue team presented a surprise afternoon morale-boosting snack to the rest of the crew.  Peter had smuggled some popcorn on board and made some the old-fashioned way – in a pot.  The most common comment was “don’t you need a microwave for popcorn?” Pah!

 

With the light winds we all took the opportunity to do those extra little duties, such as washing our smalls.  Peter went into grunting man mode and got stuck in checking over the engine and dipping the fuel tanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter showing off his bald spot

 

 

 

Spinnaker set

 

The winds have been so light that the White team got the Spinnaker out this morning.  What a beautiful sight.  The Red team then took over, and used the Spinnaker to good effect that the boat actually ended up further away from Greenland than when they took over.

 

 

The proud Red team in reverse gear.

 

Greg  (seated on the right in the Red team picture) is showing that he is very much the typical University Student.  Whilst reading out a recipe, he came out with the classic “….and then preheat the oven…..whatever that means.”

 

Allan has had a relatively better last couple of days with the weather having moderated considerably since the tanking (Scottish word for beating :) we took with the weather on our later watches before going on mother shift. Taking at times 40 knot winds over the bow and steering on a bearing in the pitch dark, howling wind and heavy rain made white water rafting in Slovenia seem like a trip round the local pond. Those of you who were with me in Slovenia will know what I mean! At time of writing the day has been somewhat uneventful and the current watch are taking down the spinnaker due to lack of wind. I am due back on watch at 2000 hrs for four hours then another 4 hours at 0400 hrs. It really is something to see the sun going down and coming up at 5 am over the horizon in the middle of the Atlantic and am hoping to get some good pictures of it over the next day or two. This has been a fantastic trip so far and well worth the effort to go on the training weekends to get here. Being the least experienced of the crew has been a massive learning curve with no room to have a second go at something in heavy weather. However the Skipper has taken a special interest in ensuring I learn all the skills of life at sea before I return!

 

Taking in Sail in heavy Rain.

   

We are now over the half way point and 450 nautical miles from Cape Farewell off Greenland. It is hard to believe how quick the time is flying by. The weather should be getting colder over the next few days as well and we should soon be seeing ice and maybe hitting fog. After that we will be following the Greenland coastline up to Kangaamiut which will take another few days and is another 600 nautical miles. Hope that the guys are enjoying getting ready for Cyprus.

 

 

Catch up with you on next blog (Allan).

 

Thanks for the email from Terry.  He requested some more technical details, so here they are:

 

Position: North Atlantic  (57deg04.84N 30deg11.52W  (1800Z-1 5Aug))

Direction: Greenland  (WNW  following great circle route Bishops Rock to Cape Farewell)

Weather: Yep, lots of it.(Wind generally ENE, av speed F2,/3 vis good, sea state calm (1))

Sail Set: Big white one at the back and huge coloured one at the front (No1Y, symmetric spinnaker)

Inside boat: Dry (oil topped up today, 350ltrs of fuel used / 1150ltrs remaining – not enough to get to final destination if no wind!) Food: going down well, although on-track for ration plan. 8days fresh, remained on dry. Have some cash to purchase fresh provisions in Greenland. Water maker: daily making 200ltrs a day, at 1.6ltr/min – although this doesn't equate to anymore showers! :)

Outside boat: Wet (weather generally favourable, tracking the dropping sea temp at the moment – 12.6degC, misty / thundery spells, stratus grey days cold, but overall been good for our sail plan todate)

 

That’s all ... data above provided by Red Watch  

(Blue Watch update from Anne – will keep you updated with lots of hot information on Transglobe trip if I get organised :)

 

 

Blue Watch update complete for now: regards, Anne, Pete, Allan,Neil