Galapagos to Marquesas 18 - 19 March 2015
Exocet Strike
John & Stella Dyer
Thu 19 Mar 2015 11:37
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Today was one of those sailing days, we were going
very well until the afternoon when the breeze tailed off. When we checked in on
the SSB net for the afternoon roll call, the chat afterwards was about the wind,
or lack of it. We had 10 to 12 knots at the time and thought we were hard done
by. However the boats well to our east in the middle f the fleet only had 5 to 7
knots and some had succombed to motoring, not an easy choice when you are still
approx 6 days away from port. The problem is that even when there is little wind
there is often a big sea running. We have wind swell from behind us, but also a
much bigger swell from the South. The waves from behind don't matter too much
often help us in surfing, but the waves from the side really move the boat and
make the mainsail crash, when this happens we look up to see if the mast is
still there, it shakes th whole boat - not fun. Tonight has brought a nice
12 to 15 knots of wind, the direction could be a bit better but not too bad.
Thursday we hope that the wind will change to the NE and we can gybe and head to
Hiva Oa. From the weather data we have downloaded that is what looks to be the
case, but its not always correct.
John
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