500 miles to go
Kalandia Web Diary
Bill Peach
Fri 17 Jun 2011 13:33
The days and nights merge into each other punctuated by events.
Event 1 The day before yesterday we caught a small tuna
Event 2 I cooked the tuna to death in an slightly awkward sea but at least we all had a meal before the sea became uncomfortable
Event 3 Everything always seems worst at night. We caught up with a depression which gave us Force 7 winds producing high seas. The instruments occasionally gave 34 and 36 knots but mainly around 28. The sea was beam on so we headed east towards Portugal to try and give a more comfortable night to those trying to get some sleep. At one point an exceptionally big wave hit the stern quarter. I was thrown over and the contents of the starboard side of the boat tumbled across the cabin. It cannot have been a proper knockdown, because when I came up Ron was standing in the hatchway with his earphones whistling.
I am full of admiration for Ron. He is not, shall we say, a young man, but is blessed with an enthusiasm and cheerfulness that allows him to embrace the experience and even enjoy it! He is also blessed with ‘good bones’, to quote him, which allows him to hold that standing position for his full watch.
Me, I sit at the nav station and pop my head over for a good look every 10 minutes or so. The nav station has AIS and radar but it has been drilled into me that they are only tools to supplement a proper watch.
When our easting became a southeasting I am afraid I roused Bill to change our course (poor man, he never gets a full sleep on my watch) and with our self tacking jib we managed a heading north east, although not enough to take us back on track. This created a better angle to the waves and when Tony came up I was able to go back to our stern cabin and managed to sleep. I don’t know how Julie and Tony managed in the forepeak but when I came back up this morning Julie was lying in the saloon which is the most stable part of the boat. Good move.
Now we are heading towards the Lizard, further east than our original track and waiting for the sea to calm down. The wind has subsided but the sea it has created has yet to follow suit. But it all looks so much better on a bright sunny day. This evening we will be half way there.