where west meets east

Cefnforhud
Sarah and Graham
Mon 4 May 2015 10:38
64.25N 00 00E
 
Sending this as we cross Greenwich meridian. Been good sailing in moderate winds, SW early on then moving through N to NE now. About 2 -3 m swell so not too bad for comfort. There are some strong winds to S of us but GRIBS tell us that is where they will stay so all looks good for rest of passage, anticipating arrival tomorrow evening.
 
As always will reply to emails when have wifi but for those that asked - it was really time restraints that led us to abandon north Norway and possibly Svelbard, not so much us but for Andrew's sake. We always knew this was a risk leaving early in the year and with no certainty of getting permit for Svelbard we decided the extra few weeks we would get by not going further north would allow us to complete probably everything else on our agends and stll get Andrew back to London before September.
and...
we carry 3 mains, standard (new this year) with 3 slab reefs which is hoisted for this trip, a storm main which is about 2/3rds the size of the standard but is cut flatter and with heavier cloth, double or triple stiched and re enforced at the more vulnerable points with 2 reefs that allow reefing down to trysail size that we use particularly down wind when above 35k and a trysail which we have only ever used once and frankly it was more trouble than it was worth. We rarely change mains at sea and make a decision before departure on what to use.
we carry 4 gennies, 2 standard 150%, one new this year, a very light and very full 150% and a heavy cloth 100% with double / triple stiching and longitudanal re enforcement. we can hoist two at any one time for poled out downwind sailing which is incredibly effective, we dont bother with a spinnaker. We always have discussions with cruising folk about the pros and cons of more weight aloft in heavy weather but we have never found it a problem and it is years since we blew out a sail!
 
anything else of interest let us know! cant beleive so many of you follow our blog
 
cefi at mail dot com