The Storm passes 39:37.0N 22:50.2W
Ellatrout3
Sat 28 May 2016 16:06
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Nothing special to report today. Last night was
pretty lively as we ran out of the eye and into the back/western side of what
was left of the storm. We had 30 knots over the deck for 3 hours and then it
slowly eased down to the lower twenties at which level it stayed all morning.
Unfortunately our heading declined in simpathy going from west to southwest with
only 16 knots by 3 o'clock this afternoon. Mind you it is all very
pleasant, the sky is blue and the sea is quite gentle, if we could only sail
directly to Terceira instead of zigzaging all the time it would be
perfect!
The 'Jester Storm', that's how I like to think of
it, has certainly impacted the 24 starters in this years Jester Challenge. I do
wonder if knowing what others are doing influences your decisions. How many
retirees were influenced by others? I am sure I took a more cautious
approach, attempting to sail round it, than I might otherwise have
done left to my own devices. I suspect my shore based team were also
influenced. It will be interesting to talk to Dennis Gorman when he arrives as,
I believe, he has no shore base communications to know what others are doing.
The 700 miles from the Portuguese coast against
the wind with any free sailing spells being few and far between, and
short lived, has not been entirely unpleasant. There has been lots of sun,
strong wind does not necessarily mean cloud and rain, although I've had my fair
share of rain squalls. With just 250 miles to go my cautious approach, which saw us avoid all the
major winds in the storm, was probably in the true Jester
tradition.
Poppa/Dad/Roger
Ps. It's just occued to me I have seen very little
wild life this time. I wonder if the route has any bearing on
this.
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