En route to Australia
Anastasia
Phil May and Andrea Twigg
Sat 21 Jul 2012 00:06
|
17:39.3S 164:06.2E 250 miles covered, 800 to
go
We left Vanuatu two days ago, drifting across the
start line using our asymmetric spinnaker. This was the first time we have
used the spinnaker since it was patched up in Port Denerau and it worked
fine, if looking a bit ugly with the jagged seam across the top. We get a
new blue and white spinnaker (and a new genoa) in Mackay.
Once we got out of Mele bay the wind picked up and
we had a good sail for the first day. This was an unexpected bonus because
the prediction was for light winds for the first two days. The light winds
arrived yesterday afternoon and we spent 12 hours overnight just drifting
around waiting for the wind to come back. The majority of the fleet was
motoring overnight, but we decided to stick it out and sail all the
way, which meant we were right at the back of the pack when the wind kicked
in at 2am. Now our challenge for the remaining three days is to overtake
all the boats that passed us in the night. These wind conditions are good for Anastasia so, all being well, we should be
able to pull back into the top few boats arriving at the finish line, which
is at the start of Hydrographers Pass through the Great Barrier
Reef.
We caught a Mahi Mahi yesterday, the biggest we
have caught so far. It is nice to have fresh fish, the only problem is
that we have to empty our freezer before entering Australia and we now have 20
large fish steaks to eat, in addition to the rest of the meat in the
freezer. It was fish steak sandwiches for lunch yesterday (and probably
today and tomorrow as well). |
