Sailing around the World

A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Thu 4 Nov 2010 04:49
WEDNESDAY  3rd   NOVEMBER     2010      ( Day 5 at Sea  )
 
00.00hrs Another beautifull night at Sea, but miss a full moon.  However , the wind is steadily increasing
so we drcided to take down the " Bag of Fear " anjd set up a goose wing,  ie headsail out on a port pole , mainsail out to starboard
and the staysail inbetween.  The wind was now blowing a steady 26knots from the E.
 
06.00hrs  As mentioned previously, there is a lot of ships passing at all times, but now, with Aileen and Skipper on deck
a container ship passed just a mere 300m away, and that was after we altering course. For us , that was too blinking close.
Sunrise was spectacular, this huge ball of fire creeping up over the eastern horizon, words cannot describe the view......
 
The waypiont is just 8 miles NW  of our position and we now have a 1,5 knot current pushing us along.
Richards Bay is plus 20 degrees to starboard, ( Or as Terry says, to the right please. ),  But we do not change course for the moment
as the wind will not suit us,
 
06.30hrs,  We passed the waypoint,, We have sailed 636 n miles so far on this trip,  that is almost 100 miles more than the direct route,
but , thats what happens when the winds are not suitable..... Zig ,zag down the route. adding all those miles to the journey. 
 
The course to Richards Bay is now 255 degrees T , and a distance of 808 miles..
 
09.00hrs  Radio Transmission,  Today " Tzigane " is the radio net controller,  Jenny did the buisness and was excellent,
later we spoke to some of the other boats behind on the SSB radio and they were still struggling with adverse currents and lack of wind,
meanwhile we are scooting along with everything going our way,  happy bunnies.
 
11.00hrs Distance travelled ..........................675.5 n miles    ( 194 miles in the last 24 hrs. )
             Distance to destination ...................772.6 n miles
             Weather , a good clear day, but very windy and choppy seas,
we spent the day reading, playing Backgammon, having naps, and generally fiddeling around the boat, checking the rig, the sails,
and the boat in general.....  We gave up on the fishing as we were out of wire traces and lures, ( manmade fish or octopus with big hooks )
 
 
15.00  We reached our half way point to Richards bay,  As we say, its down hill from here.
The seas have moderated , the current is across us from SE  to NW  , and the wind is still 26  /  28 knots. and the sun is shining.
Skipper is having a lot of trouble with the computer, so had to ring " Arnaud " our french man at home who looks after our I.T.
Arnaud also informed us of impending galeforce winds, which skipper passed onto the fleet,
We also got this information from Sandro on " Lady Lisa " who got it from a German station.
 
19.00 hrs   We had a goulash dinner by skipper, this included steak, lot of onions, pineapple, carrots, garlic, soya sauce and other bits,
plus rice,  A one bowl dinner, suitable for the sea conditions prevailing.
Dessert, was an Aileen boat made Jelly and cream , simple and delicious.
We definatly will not get jelly belly from this food....................
 
21.00hrs,  We covered 208 n miles in the last 24hours up to 21.00hrs tonight.............yipeeeeeeee
 
22.00 hrs,  Things were beginning to heat up. the wind was now 35  /  38 knots, so we reefed the mainsail ( 2 reefs ) and the headsail ( 3 reefs )
and the staysail  ( 2 reefs )   and we were still sailing merrily along at 9.5 knots.....and now, were making great progress.
 
Skipper was on first watch tonight,  ( 10.00hrs  to  12 ,00hrs ) followed by Neil, Terry, Collette, and Aileen  on the 6 to 8 watch,
However, its never that simple, and every one has to get out of the scratcher at different times during the night, usually when skipper
wants something done in a hurry........
 
 
Well,  Thats it for today,
 
Signed :-  Stephen Hyde ,  ( Skipper )