(Blog No. 42)
Catou
Paul and Sylvie Tucker
Sun 12 Dec 2010 17:12
14:24.20N 50:42.95W
Sunday 12th December (Day 21)
Noon
Position:
14 deg 24'N 50 deg 43'W
Daily
Run:
147'
Average
Speed: 6.12
Knots
Total Av.
Speed: 5.15
Knots
Total distance covered: 2610'
Distance to
go: 596'
No. hours
motored: 57.7
hours
ETA St. Lucia: @ 6
Knots Thursday 16th Dec @ 1515 hrs
@5.5 "
Friday 17th Dec @ 0020 hrs
@
5 "
Friday 17th Dec @ 1112 hrs
@ 4.5 "
Saturday 18th Dec @ 0030 hrs
I've learned not to say 'Well, that was an uneventful 24
hours' - usually some disaster then occurs! So far so good. We have
goose-winged out the genoa on one side, with the main on the other - this
is typical downwind sailing. It's not the most comfortable point of
sailing by any means, since it allows the boat to roll, and with quite large
swells still, the rolling is quite pronounced. In fact the sea has dropped
considerably, as has the wind. We have had 6 days of force 6 - 7 almost
continuously, and it was becoming hard work. The wind is now down to about
force 4, so the sea has eased a little too.
A number of boats that we are in touch with have
reported bad squalls (a very common problem in these latitudes). We don't
seem to have had them anywhere near a badly as many others. When these
black clouds catch you up, the increase in wind speed can be almost immediate,
and you have to act very fast so as not to allow any damage to sails and
rigging. Last night I was coming off watch at midnight, and just as I was
going below, Ben got a real soaking - and it was on and off throughout his
watch. (Made me feel very guilty as I tucked up into my bunk, listening to the
heavy rain outside!). Then Sylvie got much the same in her watch at 0300 -
0600 hrs. Of course, everything had to be battened down, so it was very hot and
humid below when trying to sleep.
After our knock down two days ago, I have now discovered
that my blackberry has packed up, as well as Ben's. I have also lost my
camera - they were all ruined by the sea water getting in. I have to see
if the office can get me a new one and sent out with our friends next
week! I am lost without my blackberry! Fortunately, Ben had
downloaded all my contacts onto the boat laptop some time ago - so at least I
have them to check.
Moral is high! Only 4 days to our landfall - if
all goes well! Just under 600' to go from noon today. By the way, I
think I have explained before, you will note that there is a difference in
the distances and ETA's between the ARC figures and our own. This is
because all the ARC calculations are worked from 1200 hrs (noon)
GMT. Our noon position is worked out at local 1200 hrs. As
already mentioned, we are now 3 hours behind GMT. The way the
ARC calculate the ETA is by using our average speed since the
start. We do not work the ETA in the same way - we work it according to
our present speed (which is more realistic, and considerably higher than the
total average speed to date). We are still hoping for a Thursday afternoon
arrival in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.
Very exciting news just in! Just before sending
this, we have had a call on VHF from Alan & Mary on board 'Stella'. We
have been in touch with them by e-mail throughout the trip, since we met them on
our pontoon in Las Palmas. Nice to hear a friendly outside voice, since we
have only had one conversation with another vessel in the last 3
weeks.
Will be back with more tales from the deep
tomorrow!
Best Wishes. Paul, Sylvie and Ben.
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