Sailing around the World ( presently at sea between Thursday Island and Darwin, Australia. )
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Sat 21 Aug 2010 01:25
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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 )
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