CALISO FRIDAY 7TH DECEMBER
CALISO
Mark
Fri 7 Dec 2007 17:53
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every day i think i will have nothing to report,
but then i sit down and start typing and all sorts comes to mind.
yesterday i think i left it with the sun back out and a gorgeous sunset.
had pre-prepared lasagne as it was still a bit rough - those pre-prepared meals
have come in really handy. having another one tonight. started
normal night shifts if somewhat blowier than usual. generally very squally
night and i was on last shift with dave from 4-8am. it was one horrible
little black cloud after another - gusts up to 36kn and rain. to help the
shifts go by i have gotten in the habit of having a mandarin after the first
hour and then a treat from the sweetie box after 2 hours. so at 6am dave
and i picked something out - i normally have a very healthy muesli bar or a
small packet of maltesers - which i much prefer. i was in my usual
position between the winches just watching the waves breaking nearby in the
darkness. no moon at all last night but stars in between the clouds.
saw 3 shooting stars again. just opened my maltesers when i saw a huge
wave rolling and breaking just off the port side near me. it made me think
of surfers in australia. i then saw another one forming and watched with
interest when i suddenly realised the boat had gone into a trough and the wave -
which was huge - was about to come aboard without permission. i started to
jump down, dave was already sitting in the cockpit and it not only drenched us
both but there was about 3" of water in the cockpit - we were paddling in it
until it drained away. however, the worst thing was that the girls had
opened their inner hatch as it really is ridiculously hot down below now and the
wave drenched and woke up becky. her bed is now wet and her bedding is
hanging throughout. i was wet through to my trousers beneath my foulies
and was then cold and yuch for the last two hours. not nice. might
think twice before i sit up there any more - see photo taken before the wave!
nils and jussie - this is where your mother gets to when she's working
nights!
day broke and basically it has been either white
and windy or wet and windy all day. the thunder storm of the day before we
have since heard had an average wind of 44kn and gust ups to 50kn so mark thinks
we were lucky and hit the tail end of it only. storm reports of some
damage to other boats would indicate that not all the fleet was so lucky.
but thank goodness no one was hurt. this is another front, hopefully not
so bad, although we have had some heavy gusts today - but the boys are all ready
and prepared and hopefully this will be over by tomorrow lunchtime and the sun
will come back out.
to try and describe the motion at the moment, we
are basically surfing down these big big waves which follow us all the time but
never seem to quite catch us up. every now and then though we go into the
trough at the bottom of the wave at the same time as a 30-34k gust comes through
and this makes the boat veer sharply round either to port or starboard -
depending on tack - and then jerk itself back on course again. this motion
happens about every 10-15 minutes and it is this that sends us all over the
place when we are trying to sleep. it is worse at night as the wind tends
generally to be stronger then. what will it be like not to move any
more? even as i am writing this i am constantly going on to one foot and
then another and my mouse is sliding up and down the chart table.
we had a huge success this morning and awarded the
lads 10 out of 10 for big nasty black wall of cloud avoidance maneouver.
lisa and i went to a weather seminar given by chris tibbs in las palmas and he
said because a squall moves at about 15 degrees difference to us that it is
possible to port or starboard gybe - depending on wind direction - and miss
it. this one this morning was horrible looking but we managed to catch
only the tail end again, so well done boys.
we are all just hanging around today really - the
boys on deck in their foulies and us girls lazing around, reading or sleeping,
preparing food and drinks for the boys and sweltering. i had two little
cheapo thin cotton elasticated top sundresses on board to sunbathe in - the
girls are now wearing one a piece and looking very fetching and feeling much
cooler.
we changed another hour today as we crossed another
meridian last night - saving the celebration for better conditions. we are
now only one hour difference to the rest of the planet again - we plan to move
the remaining two hours when we arrive. speaking of which.... we are now
under 900 miles to go and are hoping that we will only have one of each day of
the week left - 7 more night shifts - to go. we are all coping well, no
one seems irritated or short tempered and everyone pulls their weight and all is
well. however, we do all now want to get there especially after the last 2
days and nights! still, caliso is a star, she rides the waves beautifully and
she is lovely and snug below decks. more of sunshine and blue skies
hopefully tomorrow. jan xx
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