Flying Fish
Flyer of Lorne
Dave Sturrock
Sat 29 Nov 2008 02:54
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17:48.57N 22:45.14W
Friday 28 November, Days Run 174NM
This has been Flying Fish day as we saw shoals ( or
is it flocks?) of these amazing creatures passing us with one landing on deck
overnight. They fly with such speed and energy over the wave tops that they do
look initially like small birds, we saw as many as 30 at a time as the warm
bright conditions continued. We also saw 2 leatherback turtles close by although
this was only a fleeting view due to our speed through the water.
The weather patterns are beginning to frustrate me
as we have continued to push South in search of the forecasted fresher winds.
These are now blowing from North the ENE which means we cannot yet sail our
rhumb line course directly towards ST Lucia. While our log continues to show
good distance through the water our VMG distance was only 143NM today. The
latets forecasts show mainly Easterly winds at our, latitude which means this
situation will continue, the only NE winds to be seen are either South ofv the
Cape Verde Islands or beyond mid Atlantic. Oh well, just have to keep sailing
the angles downwind. The gennakers remained in the sailbag today as we had
up to 24knots of wind which frequently gave us in excess of 10knots
boatspeed as Flyer surfed down the waves. The extra sail area would just
give us a lot of broaching in the quartering seas without any increase in
speed.
I have been taking midday sun sights with the
sextant over the last few days with a view to completing my Ocean Yachtmaster
qualification. Taking the sight from a heaving deck is proving difficult and
keeping the sun in view in what is basically a mini telecope with mirrors is an
art in itself. I do seem to be improving each day at least.
We had to replace the domestic electric Fresh water
pump onboard today as the old unit packed in. You may recall we had already
repaired the terminals on the old unit earlier in our travels, Chieffy did an
excellent job of installing bthe new unit.
I was just working out I have been at sea for 6
weeks now as I came directly from the " bouncing Banff" FPSO to live aboard
Flyer. That is something of a record for me which looks like being 8 weeks now
at least if current conditiions prevail.
A commercial reminder that we are fundraising for
the RYA Sailability Scotland charity whilst competing in the ARC. This charity
allows disabled people to take to the water and enjoy the thrills of sailing.
You can make a donation at the following website: www.justgiving/dave.sturrock
Dave Sturrock
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