29:09.9N 64:34.5W
After outstaying our welcome in the BVI - (we had to apply for an extension
to the dates stamped in our passports, due to the officious immigration
officer when we checked in. And what a palaver that turned out to be! ) -
we set off north, bound for Bermuda last Sunday. It's a distance of about
850 nautical miles, and we should be in sometime late tomorrow (Friday).
The conditions have been very good, with the wind being on the beam (the
best place for it to be) almost all the way. We are currently bowling along
with the spinnaker up, at around 8 knots in about 12 knots of true wind
(this is good). We'll probably slow up a bit later tonight and tomorrow, as
the wind is forecast to decrease and come further aft, thus decreasing the
apparent wind which is what actually pushes the boat along. (apologies to
the non-technical non-boaty readers). We'll probably be motoring by then, as
I want to try and push on to get to St.George's before it gets dark
For the weather, we download a forecast every day using the satellite phone
hooked up to the laptop, and end up with a thing called a Grib File, which
can give us the predicted wind strength and direction for anywhere we want
at three hour intervals for up to seven days hence. It is an incredibly
useful tool, and I wonder how we managed without it crossing oceans all
those years ago. I guess that was it - we just managed.
Anyway, there's very little to report - we're going along in near perfect
conditions - and that's about it. We're all well back into the routine now,
only running a formal watch system at night, with Lorraine and I alternating
every three hours and Lucas sleeping like a log from dusk till dawn! Having
left the tropics, as we get further north we are noticing the air
temperature dropping, and the machine is telling us the sea temperature is
now down to 24C, having been 28/29C for months. We'll definitely notice
that next time we go for a swim. Soon be time to get the duvet and long
trousers out of the locker!!
Stand by for the next installment from Bermuda - somewhere none of us have
been before.....
Graham.
