Settling Down
Halcyon
Rob Withers
Mon 19 Sep 2011 07:59
Morale is high and progress is good.We're making great progress down
the African coast. The F7 of the 1st night moderated slightly to F6/7
yesterday and last night. It has now eased a bit more to allow us to
put out a corner of the main genoa for the first time since near
Cascais. The wind is pretty much dead astern making for a fast but rolly
sleigh ride. Our run yesterday was 160 NM or so and we're nearly
1/2 way. A 'concern' is that for the Yachtmaster Ocean qualification,
you need a passage of at least 600 miles (which this is), lasting more
than 96 hours - but we might be too fast for that!
We're now settling into the ship-board routine a bit more. Finding out
what works and what doesn't for sleeping arrangements, eating. Steve
has done stirling work cooking on both nights so far in very trying
conditions. His beef stew last night was inhaled instantly by
everybody.
The cabin looks rather like a small bomb has hit it. Our
normal stowage arrangements aren't really good enough to cope with a
large following sea and the the tidiness of a new all-male crew, but
we're gradually reducing the crashing and banging. The huge number of
kitchen rolls we bought from the UK make good cupboard padding.