(Blog No. 27) A big surplus of vitamins!
Catou
Paul and Sylvie Tucker
Sun 28 Nov 2010 16:10
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20:52.34N 25:07.09W
Sunday 28th November
Noon Position: 20deg 52'N 25deg
7'W
Daily Run: 110'
Av. Speed: 4.58 Knots
Total Av. Speed: 4.52 Knots
Total distance covered: 759'
Total distance to go :2094'
We are now bashing very hard to windward with
Force 7 - 8 SSW'ly wind. It started last night and looks like
will go on for next two days. We are pounding hard and
now have 3 reefs ( I had the 3rd one put in by a sailmaker in Las
Palmas - thankfully!) in the mainsail and genoa well reefed down too.
Taking 'green ones' over the bow - (that's spay and waves to any landlubbers
reading)! Not comfortable at all! Trying to sleep is hard
work. But we are making about 6 knots so that is good progress at
least! Perhaps the most uncomfortable thing is having all hatches and
portholes closed so it is very hot and humid down in the cabin, making sleep
harder.
Today marks our first full week at sea. We have
just passed our way point north of the Cape Verde Islands, so we are now heading
direct (well, sort of) for St. Lucia some 2000 miles ahead. We are also
starting the get squalls at night - you have to be ready for them, since they
can really catch you unprepared if full sail is set. The hydrovane (self
steering) is working well, and in this weather we are grateful that we got it
working in time.
The fruit is ripening fast! - we will all have so
much vitamin A, B, C , D, E, F, G.... H, K, Z and everything else soon,
that no chance of scurvy aboard 'Catou'!
Today we retard the clocks by 1 hour due to the westing
that we are making now.
We hove to this morning to check some things on deck,
have breakfast, and then continued sailing on course - only to immediately
discover that one on the sliding luff connections on the mainsail had
sheared off, so hove to again, while I removed it and took one from the bottom
of the sail and replaced it. Difficult in a heavy sea. I have no spares,
so we will have to be careful with tension on the main luff in future. Then the
trailing log line got caught around the Hydrovane rudder, so hove to again to
clear it in heavy seas. Then, soon after getting going again, I noticed
that one of the navigation side lights had been washed off it's bracket on the
bow and was swinging by it's electrical cable! So heave to again
- to go forward and sort it. I just fitted it back on and
then tied it up with gaffer tape and hope it stays! Then, we decided to
put in the 3rd reef, so hove to again! As we set off after the extra reef, both
Ben and I heard a loud 'ping' and looked at each other, wondering what it
was. Ben found part of a shackle in the deck scupper, but it was a few
minutes before we spotted that one of the main sheet (the rope that controls the
mailsail) blocks had come adrift - turned out the shackle holding it to the arch
over the cockpit had completely sheared - I had another to replace it
fortunately. That meant heaving to yet again today! This heavy
weather is sorting man and machine out for sure!
We also experienced our first flying fish today.
They are amazing creatures which leap out of the water and have been gliding on
the strong winds!
Too rough to write any more today!
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