Day 6, Antigua to Portsmouth. Sail chat!
Telefonica Black
Lance Shepherd
Fri 17 Apr 2020 22:41
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31:07.92N
056:00.80W
After almost 1000 miles at sea, we have gybed the
boat! Woohoo! You cant imagine what the excitement was like onboard!
Since leaving Antigua we have been in a North Westerly
breeze, allowing us to point North. The wind was then due to slowly veer to the
SW and we followed the wind round so we were pointing at the Azores. The wind
carried on round to the SE where we gybed and started pointing North again.
After the gybe we were waiting for a front to go over us, once that passed the
wind would shift from the SE to the NE allowing us to point at the Azores
again......All went like clockwork, the weather did what it was meant to albeit
it stuck in a 4 hour wind hole for no reason!
Over the next 4 days we will be heading East, to start
with we will have wind from the NNW, then a wee wind hole and than a blow from
the SW. We will be staying pointing to the East until the worst of the SW is
above us (as it looks a bit fruity in the middle!) and then we will use the
tail end of that to get North again.
We currently have 2 reefs in the main and the J2 up,
after the wind hole before the Southwesterly we will be swapping down to the J4
or even the storm jib. We haven't really had the chance to get any downwind
sailing or a good broad reach in yet. Since leaving Antigua we have been at an
apparent wind angle of about 40 - 50 degrees, sometimes we get to 60 and she
lifts up her skirts showing the crew what she has underneath and you should see
the looks on their faces! We should soon have the opportunity to crack out the
big sails and let her go, it will defiantly help with the mileage
count!
All is well onboard, The Balbeggie News Desk (my Mum!)
is keeping us informed and updated. As we have such an international crew
onboard she is also doing a daily international piece. So far we have had Swiss,
German and Antigua. Tomorrow it may be French, Slovakian, Polish, Dutch or
Canadian!
We are loving the news about Veteran Tom Moore raising
such an amazing amount for our wonderful NHS, congratulations Tom from the
middle of the Atlantic!
Love to all at home
Claire and the crew x
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