Day 3, broad reaching at 6 knots!

Calypso's Web Diary
Joe Drury
Thu 23 Jun 2011 12:40

Hello to all,

We have had a very relaxing morning, this is the first day that the fleet has split up sufficiently that we cannot see any yachts on the horizon. We fear, however, that we are being left behind but the boat is at top speed; we can do no more.

Last night around midnight whilst I was on watch the wind increased and veered 20 degrees, so the asymmetric spinnaker started to become unstable. I quickly made the decision to get it down in case the wind strengthened. Still, it was not an easy task, Alex accidentally tripped the halyard too early and we trawled half of it before I could get it into the bag. She reacted quickly though and hoiked it out of the water. Sadly, we lost a sheet in the process. Not an easy night’s work for a short-handed crew.

Anyway under full sail we are ploughing along at between 6 and 7 knots, wind on our starboard quarter. With a following sea this is very comfortable and dare I say it... this should continue for 3 days. We have already done 75 miles since midnight, so another impressive 150 mile day in store for us, if the wind holds.

Percy has been fed today, he is currently sitting next to me at the chart table. I’ve got my feet tucked under me for stability and occasionally he pecks me to let me know he’s there. We gave him a treat today, pine kernels, he liked these so much he forgot his crumbs of bread and tried to peck at the nuts through the clear Tupperware. He is looking less bedraggled than he did from the beating we took coming out of the shelter of the island two days ago - he just sat in the forepeak, wedging himself between the storm jib and the survival suit. We have made him a water bowl (a 2l bottle end with non-slip glued to the bottom) and he’s had a good glug this morning, and now he’s just wandering around the boat.

I’ve looked ahead to the 26-27 June, I’m trying to make sense of the pressure systems there... It looks like if we continue on our present track to Falmouth we may sail straight into a hole and then get headed, so any advice as to whether we go north or south of track would help. I know it’s 3 days away and maybe the synoptic situation will become clearer as the days pass. I’m going to download some charts anyway to see if I can come up with a strategy.  

Alex is fine, a little sleepy which is fine, she’s just lying on her bunk at the moment - we are trying to get some more sleep during the day to make it easier on us to stay up and alert on the night watches. We were both struggling to stay awake last night. I have a couple of housekeeping jobs to do now, a bit of packing away and tidying, then I’ll read my book for a bit and then go off watch, hopefully to sleep.

Thanks to all who have emailed us, AK, no Alex is not a fan but will be when we get back I’m sure! Hi Dave, thanks for your email, we both laughed out loud! Yep, I’ll get you that beer when we dock!

Any update to the fleet’s position would be great. Don’t worry about upsetting us if we are last... we can take the crushing disappointment! (sobs quietly). Seriously though, I’d be interested to see whether they are going still further north to tap into this low.

Joe