(No.23) Force 3 under bare poles!
Catou
Paul and Sylvie Tucker
Wed 24 Nov 2010 13:31
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24:05.06N 20:00.34W
Noon Position 24deg 05.6'N 20 deg 00.34'W
Daily Run :124 Miles
Av Speed :5.17 Knots
Total Av Speed: 5.20 Knots
Total Distance covered: 373'
Total Distance to go: 2390'
ETA St. Lucia 13th Dec 1830hrs (based on total average
so far)
What a Tuesday afternoon! After eating three (very
ripe) avocados between us for lunch, Sylvie went for a sleep, while Ben and
I hatched a cunning plan! We decided to try some sail combinations,
since being under mainsail & a goose-winged genoa didn't seem very creative,
so we set about the task. First, we prepared the cruising chute (a bit like a
spinnaker) on the fore-deck. Then we furled up the genoa and removed the whisker
pole. Then we set the c/chute. It seemed to be shadowed by the main, so we
decided to drop the main completely. This is not so easy when it is full of wind
(normally you point head-to-wind to drop the main, but that entails snuffing the
big cruising chute first) - and we forgot to set the lazy jacks (that
help to stack the sail neatly as it drops). It all became a bit
of a dog's dinner as we struggled to fold and tie it down. Ben said it was
just as well that we weren't entering Lymington marina in front of his
father-in-law! So we got back into the cockpit very hot and sticky - only
to discover that we were now about a knot down in speed! So we decided to
reverse the whole process, but first we took the C/chute down to save the risk
of damage to it. By then, we had no sails up at all! Hence
sailing under bare poles in a force 3! So we eventually were back at
square 1 (and sailing faster!) so a lesson learnt.
Until today (Tues) we have been heading SW'ly to pick up
the NE Trade winds. Thus for (approx) every 3 miles run,
St. Lucia gets 2 miles closer. But, due to an excellent GRIB weather
forecast from the United States, that Ben has managed to download some
software for, we have noted that there is a most unusual wind pattern
about to happen over the next 3 days. Tonight winds go to SE, then tomorrow to
SW and then W - NW, so we have some interesting times ahead. However, they are
predicted to be very light, so it will be pleasant, if somewhat slowish
sailing.
Now - on Wed morning the wind has shifted to SE'ly
direction and we have hoisted the cruising chute again and are cracking along at
6 knots on a lovely broad reach after a rather slow night. It does lift
the moral to hear the water rushing by and the foam hissing past the
stern. We had a visit by a pod of dolphins this morning - for about
an hour. Now that we have lost all sight of other yachts the dolphins were
a welcome sight - but didn't half make me jump at about 0730 when the first one
leapt out of the water about 20 metres off the port beam when I was minding my
own business and thinking about the world in general!
I gather that my sister Angela in Barnes, West London
has advised everyone of an easier way to get onto the fleet review on the ARC
website. She has taken up the role of CCC (Catou command Centre) in
London! At the other end of the globe is my old Kiwi pal David Balderston. (He
has taken up the role of Antipodean CCC I think) He and Sandra live in
a town called Kiama about 80 miles south of Sydney, Australia. He sent me
a message that we received yesterday saying "watch out Tucker for a Croatian
yacht called 'ICHTYS' " . He had obviously been looking at the fleet
review page. The strange thing was, we had passed within about
300 metres of that very yacht the previous evening !! How scary is modern
communications!?
Back tomorrow with more tales from the North
Atlantic
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