Sailing around the World ( presently at sea between Thursday Island and Darwin, Australia. )

A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Sat 21 Aug 2010 01:25
FRIDAY  20th   AUGUST  2010
 
00.30hrs, The skies are cloudy and the moon is all covered up , the wind is 27 knot from behind and we also have the benifit of a 2 knot current.
 
03.00hrs, the wind is still holding up.. and we have plenty of big sea's, thats the good thing about the trade winds, they usually blow
from the same direction and roughly the same speed every day.  20  /  35 knots,   sometimes of course, a little ( LOT ) more
and sometimes a little less.
 
09.00hrs,, we tried in vain the get the SSB working, but we think all it needs is a code typed into the unit and then we will be in buisness.
However we were still close enough to the rest of the fleet to get them on VHF...... we were all within a 30 mile radius of one another,
 
It's fantastic to look at our charts and see all the places we are passing and sailing through,, places we never heard of and would nerer hear of , except for this extrodinary trip.  I even surprise myself from time to time.
 
12.30hrs  
Distance travelled.............................170 n miles. ( in 24 hrs )
Distance remaining...........................660 n miles
Wind.................................................25 knots  ESE
Sea .................................................moderate to rough
Weather............................................clear, hazy and humid
 
14.00hrs,  The wind was getting steadily lighter, so we set up all the spinniker before hauling Niall out og the scratcher to put it up.
Today , we are going to fly our favourate " Kite "  the 2600sq, foot parasail.. yes its a big sail for us,
 
15,30hrs, When we had the " KITE " flying and doing a nice steady 8.3 knots, Aileen did a light lunnch.
The afternoon was spent relaxing , reading, sunburning, and showering, Showers are great in this sticky climate, and especially now that
we can make 160L per hour. No shortage of water.
 
18.35hrs,  we are at sea now 30 hrs ,, we have sailed 211 n miles, averaging 7 knots,
Shortly after, we passed a huge hammerhead Shark, what a monster.
 
19.30hrs,  We had a G&T in honour of " Fats " today,, 
 
20.00hrs,  We had dinner in the " Starlight Restaurant " cooked by Aileen,  It consisted of rolled stuffed chicken, roast potatoes,
and green beans,. it tasted yummy.    No more drink, we are at sea and skipper insists only ONE when we are night sailing.
 
The moon was shining brightly in the sky, and we were really enjoying the night sail with the KITE  flying,
the wind had increased to 20 / 24 knots and we were doing a good steady 9+ knots,
The most impressive thing about this sail, ( as we said before ) is its stability,  It really keeps the boat rock solid, no matter
what the wind is throwing at us.......
 
Any, thats all for today,
 
Signed  :-   Stephen  Hyde   ( skipper )