2. From uneventful to all hands on deck
Telefonica Black
Lance Shepherd
Mon 20 Jan 2020 15:02
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24:48.995N 017:11.848W
Distance to go: 2542nm
When you put a diverse group of people with
different nationalities (6!) on a boat you always have to wait and see how it
glues together. It is amazing how everybody has settled in and that there
(again) is no seasickness. Especially considering the fact that we just only
left the marina of Las Palmas yesterday.
We had a great day of sailing today with about 18-22
knots of wind on a broad reach. Even the people who have never really been
sailing before did really well and with the current watch system (3 on, 6 off)
you actually also get to hang out with the other watches from time to time. We
practiced some knots, explained different wind angles and talked about why
people chose to do the trip on this particular boat.
On my watch there are Johannes (GER), who got on board
in Gibraltar and is voted the best dressed person on the boat. We still have not
found out his secret but will let you know as soon as we do. If you just started
following this blog: Johannes is doing this trip simply because he can. He has
some time on his hands and is currently making a dream come true: crossing the
Atlantic. 'And why not do it on a race monster like Telefonica Black if gotten
the opportunity..' he says.
The other person in watch 1 is Drew (USA). It took him
more than 22 hours to get to Las Palmas but up till now he has no regrets. He is
also making a dream come true. He has been sailing smaller boats and recently
passed his coastal theory. In his area (Toronto) he can sail max. 30 nm off
shore though and he always wanted to know how it would be to sail out of sight
of land. While searching on Google he stumbled upon the website of Kraken and
the rest his history.
So today was a rather uneventful day. We
replaced the J4 (small jib) with the A7 (gennaker) and did some nice speeds
up to 14.5 knots. At 1700 we did our first gybe of this trip. At around 2000 the
wind started building though to a point at which Lance took over the helm.
Gusts of 30 knots slowly melted together to a steady wind of 30-32 knots. Just
before he made the call to drop the A7 I got a chance to helm for a bit.
Somewhere in that period the computer measured a maximum speed of 19,9 knots. We
are still having a discussion about who put that number in the books. The game
is on..
 Doing the headsail switch was an 'all hands on deck'
situation for the regular crew and you feel we are getting used to working
together. I am not sure though if Alex will ever forgive me for getting him
soaking wet while he was on the bow and I was helming. From now on I will have
my eyes in my back.
To be continued.
Angela
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