Story - 1000 miles to go
Kalandia Web Diary
Bill Peach
Wed 2 Dec 2009 12:12
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1000 miles to go
We are heading a bit south of the line we want
because that is where the winds are which will keep pushing us forward. We
have become very competitive and are not satisfied with being 6th in our
class.
Don't know when I am going to have my mid-ocean dip
though as the rollers are up to 3 metres high and Bill won't even let me
consider 1.5 metres. But I say to him, surely the are never going to
be totally flat. In any case we must get video footage of the Mobmat
(manoverboard device I designed) and let's face it it is more likely that it
will be in a rolly situation when you may have to use it.
But certainly today is not the day. Had
a good watch last night where I actually did something more than just keeping a
look out. There were some squalls that I had to take into account and
shift ourselves (with the autopilot) to port or starboard, not
necessarily to avoid them but to take advantage of the
accelaration of wind that they might provide. I am not capable of
taking sail tweaking decisions yet (ever?) so the boat has to point in the
favourable direction instead - even if it is not where we actually want to
go. However, we are getting some weather routing knowledge from an expert
(a bit of a cheat) and he says to take a more southerly route anyway and then
make up later when the wind changes and actually works to our advantage. With
such distances this is all possible.
Well that is probably as technical as you will ever
get from me. I am learning a little more - I think I just need to be more
confident. It is going to be very strange standing and doing things on a
surface which doesn't roll all the time. Legs, hips, back and arms are
always compensating so I have no worries of my muscles wasting - just no aerobic
exercise.
Liz
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