Weather Changes Ahead

Cerys
Tue 11 May 2010 15:59
31:47N 54:42W
Wind S F5
Speed 7.3 kts
Distance to Horta 1342
 
Really calm night tonight, motoring. We have lightening storms to North and South of us, distant. I can see two heavy rain showers bon the radar approaching at 4 and 6 miles. Visibility closing.
 
At 1300 RPM the engine is smooth and giving us 5 kts.
 
Creating our own barely cool breeze as we motor eastward. Sea is oily calm and we can see our white trail for some distance on its surface. We carry our home with us, leave a wet trail behind us,  progress is slow, S Cargo.
 
 
Ships time changed today so we have a longer evening. It will probably disturb our sleep patterns somewhat. We are getting used to the two hour windows where Joey wakes Ruaidhri, wakes David wakes Tom, wakes Joey, the cycle continues....tick..tick..tick..tick.
 
Checked on weather a little earlier. A few changes. We are running into a hole on the current course, the centre of a high pressure system which will have no wind. A more northerly course to avoid it could bring us into the path of a low pressure system which currently has 40 mph winds could be gusting 50 so we will try and stay south of that. Sandwiched a little.
 
In order to get through this we have re assessed our motoring options, filling the tanks, calculating what we are using per hour and working out our range, reserves and margins of eeror back up etc. We can motor at 1500 rpm for about 900 miles. This should be plenty although we want to keep 300 miles of fuel for possible loss of wind in our last two days into the Azores.
 
Still havent broken out the sextant, kind of lazy about that. Will get it out in the next few days.
 
Tom spotted one large ship passing at 2 miles.
 
Joeys bread has improved. Davids first effort is the best yet and 58 degrees West is nselling well. We have found the clothes peg.
 
Wind picked up and we are making up to 8.4 kts and long periods of 8.1 on a relatively flat night sea. I didnt think Cerys was capable of this.