23 May 2014

I came on watch at 4.00am to find the wind increasing and as the light dawned it revealed a very different day to yesterday. By 7.00 am we had 23 knots of wind from the south, an overcast sky and a good English drizzle. Since then the day has brightened up and the wind has thankfully returned to a more normal SE direction. The southerly wind meant that the wind and seas were on the beam which makes life more bouncy than when further astern.

Hanging on to the Pernod in case of need – our friend Proboscis doesn’t like what he sees.

However, the wind has not dropped and we are back to a big lumpy sea with swells up to 4 metres pushing us about and making life uncomfortable below. It makes everyday tasks difficult and going to the loo a major feat of athleticism. The GRIB files suggest that by Sunday we will have too little wind.  At the moment that seems like a good prospect but a lumpy left over sea and no wind might be worse than our current fast ride.

Difficult light but the log is showing 9.0 knots which is very fast for Gryphon II

At least we are making good progress in the right direction. Our last day’s run was 146 miles which beats our target and we have completed over 1/3^rd of the journey. Rodriguez still feels a long way off.