BRITISH SOLDIER ARC BLOG - DAY 9 (MON 29 NOV)
Britishsoldier
Mon 29 Nov 2010 23:07
BRITISH SOLDIER ARC BLOG - DAY 9 (MON 29 NOV)
Another heavy airs day saw British Soldier and her
crew continue to beat into 20 - 30 knots of westerly wind. Sticking it out
on Port tack for most of the day, our intention is to keep on this tack (making
about 310 degrees heading) in search of a north westerly wind shift later on in
the evening. Once that kicks in, we'll tack onto starboard (turning the
boat 90 degrees through the wind) which should give us favourable winds and
direction for St Lucia. It's been a tough 48 hours, all of it upwind with
strong winds and big waves/swell (approx 8m high). We've found out that
the 2 yachts to our north (Swan 45 and the X562) have both
retired and are currently heading towards Gran Canaria and Cape
Verde. Whilst we're unsure why, we suspect that they've suffered some
storm damage which is a shame. From our daily HF radio calls, we also
understand that a lot of the cruising fleet have gone to Cape Verde to
refuel (in our racing division we're not allowed to use our engines) and wait
for the north easterly trade winds to kick in. So far the trades are
proving reasonably elusive...
Morale has steadily improved commensurate with the
wind and seas easing off. Everything and everybody on board is damp
and we're hoping to dry off in the next coupleof days. Fresh cooking
took a bit of a hit over the last couple of days and instead we've resorted to
the far more simpler option of Army 'boil in the bag'
rations. Whilst some of the crew may complain and grumble, they all
get polished away with next to nothing left!
That's it until tomorrow,
Tim