18:07.93 N 45:51.50 W
California Blue
Mark Bashforth / Jayson Bashforth
Thu 6 Dec 2007 20:37
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Blog nr.11 from California Blue - Be careful
what you wish for - we got squalls, squalls and more squalls
6/12-07
Hello Everyone,
Wow what a day! They say be careful what you wish
for - we wished for more wind and got squalls! We have pics for you
too!
After a pretty quiet time of it yesterday and light
winds - max up to 18 knots we managed to complete over 175 nm. One of our best
days ever.We had the Parasailor up and down
several times today and averaged over 9.0 knots for about 3 hours until a major
squall came and we had to take it down again - just in the nick of time I might
add!
We have experienced some small damage today - one
shackle broke and the spinnaker halyard was partially severed (see
our jury rig repair pic) and the Parasailor sock has a small tear in it. All
these were brand new and in the span of a few days flying the Parasailor they
have been damaged by the sheer strength of the elements.
This afternoon we have had winds up to 23
knots. We are sailing downwind at the moment and this gives us a speed of about
8.5 knots on average. The way the wind is blowing
right now, I think we are in for a bumpy night! We are now about 950 miles west of St Lucia and still expect to arrive by
the 13th of December. Our current position is 18:07.93 N 45:51.50
W.
Dinner was a quick affair of steak and the
remaining fresh veg we had which was potatoes and canned peas and corn. Yummy
especially after being wet through from all the rain and tired from fighting
with pulling sails up and down all afternoon.
Today we saw our first boat for 6 days. They passed
by us after the squall and continued on their way. It looked to be a Russian
flagged sailboat.
The boys are busy reading and helping out wherever
they can. We are all a little tired at the moment
from nightwatch and not having slept so well at night do to the noise and
swells.Otherwise we are happy campers and still
in awe of this great ocean and mother nature. We are also happy that Beneteau
make strong boats :)
Well that's all for today. I need to get some sleep
before my watch.
Enjoy the pictures.
Take care,
Mark and the crew of California Blue
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