Off soundings in the Norwegian basin. Monday July 2nd

Awelina of Sweden
James Collier
Mon 2 Jul 2012 12:39
62 32.10 N, 001 09.10 E
 
The wind yesterday afternoon filled in from the W to NW, reaching force 7 for few hours, so we got a great push northwards although it was rather rough - all as as forecast by Shetland Coastguard. We seem to be living on our side, starboard side – this is good for the wet locker access and the head but not so good for the galley where we now have to tie ourselves in to do anything appreciable. The wind necessitated 2 reefs to the main and the rolling away of the main jib.
 
Under the reefed main and staysail Awelina was cruising along at more than 8 knots at times, spinning about on the tops of the rough waves. Gradually over the course of 5 or 6 hours the wind dropped to a more sedate force 5, which it still is. When it came to unfurling the main jib to take advantage of this, the clew of the of the sail became unhooked from the roller reefing unit. Fiona was on watch at the time so she got to crawl to the foredeck to reattach it. While double- handing, if at night any movement outside the cockpit is carried out, both people have to be up; no-one wants to go over the side nor wake up and find their watch mate has vanished. So a more broken night than usual for James. Once again it didn’t really get dark – it in fact it stayed light enough to read all night,and the sunrise was from due north.
 
The upside is that good progress north is being made. It’s now apparent how big the distance is to Svalbard from Scotland – the marks across the chart showing each position are not very far apart despite sailing along like a freight train. Also of increasing importance is moving about on the boat – last night was just too swirly to get in and roast the planned joint of lamb – we’re going to attempt that this evening.
 
This morning we saw another sail. Over an hour or so we caught up and have now overtaken them. Bizarrely, they are motor-sailing with jut the main up.
 
@ Pink Emma – Enjoy the bumps but only if you have really sent that awful cold packing. I’m fine. Fiona.