On the one hand damp, on the other tasty

Hamsi
John Anderson
Sat 17 Jun 2017 18:02
The wind shifted in the early hours and came from the north - where we are wanting to go.  We have been close hauled on port tack since then in a force 5 ( Position   46:35.93N 36:18.96W  ). For the first 9-10 hours of this we were unable to sail sufficiently close to the north wind to follow the great circle route home, and have drifted east of the ideal track.  However, in the last couple of hours the wind has moved a bit to the west of north, and we're slowly clawing back a little more north of northeast. We might make it back onto the great circle track by tomorrow morning - unless the wind changes again ! 
 
Sailing close hauled is never as gentle as other points of sail and more water has come over the deck.  This would matter less if it hadn't shown that water is STILL leaking onto Lorna's bunk - probably via the starboard aft chainplate bedding which Neil and I didn't renew in Halifax.  The previous offenders whose sealing we did renew (both middle chainplates) seem no longer to be leaking.  A political view of the situation would be that our efforts at re-sealing the chainplates have been 'largely successful'. 
 
The Canadian partbaked loaves (Dempsters Bakery) turned out to be a big success at lunchtime - as much for their filling the boat with the smell of freshly baked bread, as for for their jolly fine taste.