Greetings bloggers.
Well the sun is out for the frst time in a while. It gets pretty eay to
forget why we're out here when the clouds are low, the squalls are frequent,
no stars at night are visible and the below deck area is less than
hospitable. However all it usually takes is a sweet night sail like last
night with just the odd squall to tack around (yeah I know what a bunch of
cowards) plenty of stars and a gentle beeze.
Today is (yet another) dry out day with the decks covered again.We also did
some maintenance (shortened the steering cables as they had no adustment
left - my favourite job in the gimp locker) engine checks and so on.
We are making OK time in light winds of NW 8 knots and hope the breeze will
veer round through the next 24+ hours to bring us into spinnaker conditions
again. It will be light at first but should build and hopefully will see us
in, and in front of the chasing pack.
Below are sone entries from the crew; see ya!
Andy.
2-12-10 1553
Last night we had some low pressure sh...There was plenty of rain to take a
proper shower. Unfortunately at the same time the wind changed and increased
and the yacht needed some attention (to put it mildely). We had no time to
shampoo but we got that shower during approx. 8 h. Andy and Will guided us
elegantly trough all those wheather changes. Nobody complains but there is
an increase in interest in gin-tonics, pizzas and beer. All things
anavailable at the boat.
While still waiting for those tradewinds to bring us to Santa Lucia we are
doing fine in the race. It makes the whole thing more exiting.In the
meantime I realise that the whole passage takes more time than expected.
Some pessimists on board consistently mention that we are just half-way.
Dutch:
Hoi jongens, het gaat goed zoals je ziet. Uitendelijk hebben we toch een
tweede vis gevangen en ook opgegeten. Ik zal er niet zijn met SinterKlaas
maar hoop, als ik een vliegtuig krijg,nog in de week van 13 dec in Nederland
te zijn. Fijne SinterKlaas kleine helden.
Misa
03/12/2010
Hiya All
Purfect day today, alls good in our strange little world afloat, its a bit
like a reality show but you dont get voted off, and you dont have to eat
animal parts!! and of course its very real. Looking forward to some downwind
sailing probably sometime tommorow and romping into Rodney Bay in a few days
time for a few well earned beers.
Seeya Scully
03-12-2010 15.00 local=GMT -2
The last week has been upwind sailing, which is unusual at this time of the
year. Apart from the constant healing by the wind, the seastate has added a
level of caotic movement, which has made life onboard quite a challenge.
Squalls and extended periods of rain has made boat wet, and down below has
been damp and warm.(30+ deg C.) The team led by Andy and Will have done very
well in the circumstances, keeping watch schedules without a hitch, and a
good teamspirit.
The weather is now gradually improving, and all clothes etc. are out for
drying in a perfectly sunny afternoon.
Hopefully we can get out of the fairly low westerly winds and into the
easterly trades within the next 24 hours. We have still more than 1200 NM of
sailing to St. Lucia, and need the stronger reaching winds in order to
arrive in a reasonably good time. We have been 2 or 3 in racing div, for a
week, and are working hard to maintain or improve our position.
Big Spirit with Jakob onboard have caught up, as they should since the are
much bigger (+25 feet), and designed for upwind
sailing. They are approx. 40 NM to the north, and given that we are faster
in the light winds, we hope to gain on them, before the trades set in, with
stronger winds. Very interesting sailing and racing with the strong weather
routing tools available.
We will get much closer to competiiton in the next couple of days, and its
most interesting to see who eventually benefits the most from the winds
available in a vast theater of sailing of the southern atlantic.
Torben
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