You think the channel is busy?
Sham Insha'Allah
Graham Vickers
Wed 27 May 2009 07:43
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At last after 28 hours the sea settled but the
downside is we have lost wind so had to motor through the night. Autohelm has
developed a fault and loses control if a strong wave pushes beam on. At least it
works if boat speed does not exceed 5knots. Will ring raymarine when we get a
signal off the coast of spain.
Currently heading for coast north of Rio Vivero
expect to be 10 miles offshore at nightfall. Will check weather for big push to
Bayonna a further 200 miles away.
Crew: Aaron is on deck at last after 30 hours of
hell and is now a useful member of the crew especially as we have to man the
helm 24/7 Dave settled in like he has lived at sea for 20 years and is excellent
at the helm when the wind is up. Frosty is meeting expectations and I have a
list of ships engineer jobs for him to do when we get in port.
Last night was the busiest for shipping that I have
seen and subsequently had only 1 and a half hours of sleep. We ran 210 degrees
through the middle of the lane for 50 miles. At 4am I decided to get out of the
lane by cutting 180 degrees and as we headed for a coaster he lit us up with his
spotlight. I was concerned that with a clear night there was a high chance
of mist or fog at dawnand in that position we would surely get run
down. Later Aaron and I saw an aircraft carrier which passed by within
.5km heading north.
We are now south of the lane and have seen only
boat we have seen for 6 hours is a british flagged ketch going north. Had what
was left of the eggs for breakfast and settling down and resting for another
night ahead.
Weather gribs downloaded from sat-phone have been
acurate so far and this has been comforting.
GV
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