Day
7
12:01 22 to 12:00 23 November 2006
I
have made myself a little note and stuck it on the binnacle. It is to tell me which way to turn the
wheel and whether to let the sails in or out, this is for when I am very tired
and have no spare brain capacity.
I
don t think I have gone for the wrong sail yet, but I have let them out when I
should have been pulling them in.
That is excused by the phrase – just checking for chafe. It has become my phrase of the month,
whatever happens, just checking for chafe.
You
think this is worrying. Simon told
me that when he single handed he did not complain when he hurt himself, there
was no point, nobody to give him sympathy.
He also found he was leaving little notes, we all do that, but he was
doing it in the third person. ie get the engineer to check the oil. I m not that bad, I know it is just the
two of me out here, usually we get on ok.
Milestone Day
1-1600 yesterday the wind went East.
2-1800 we got to 500 miles since starting
3
-0800 this morning we have crossed and are just inside the 4000 metre contour
line. Only another 3990 metres and
I have to start watching the depth.
4-
0900 only 250 miles to go to Sal
5 –
7 days and nights at sea on my own is current maximum, from noon today that is
overtaken
6 –
THERE IS A YACHT BEHIND ME. A
catamarran, but I don t think I know them as all cats I know are going in the
ARC, this is presumably going to CV.
They are going to overtake me, well there s a surprise.
That is why I can sit in CV and let the ARC go by, they leave on Sunday
and as they cut the corner straight for the Caribbean they should all be ahead
of me by the time I set off again.
In
the Med it was the same. I would
get up early and set off and the other bigger boats would roll out of bed later,
have a leisurely breakfast and cruise past me late morning and I would turn up
last. Yes Mike/Helen this means
you.
The
thought of 250 boats all overtaking me would be rather bad on crew
morale.
7 –
there is CV boat traffic on the radio, must be good reception to get it this far
away.
And
now for the less exciting stuff.
Wind was E, but not NE yet, 10-18 knots. It makes such a difference to be on 120
AWA it was a bit euphoric for a while.
The waves were adding 1.5knots to the speed as they went under me. It is nice to be going with the waves
instead of having them come from the side.
However it is not quite level yet and the sea was still rather big.
I
did put two rees in the genoa last night and 3 in the main. I have let the genoa out today, but not
the main. It is so much a faster
point of sail, about 2 knots more, with the same wind as
previously.
Arrival actually seems more than a remote possibility
now.
I
haven t had to put the engine on to power the lights, and I can use the inverter
for the computer. There is always a
down side and that is that the engine makes hot water. My shower this morning was luke
warm. I have a water bag I can put
outside to warm up, but I might need the engine soon for the
radar.
It
is hot now, but the sun is still struggling to get through the cloud cover. I have not been able to sunbathe yet but
I have managed to get the bread to rise outside. Today we are having pitta bread. It seems a lot of rising and resting and
rising for something that is eventually flat. Had a bit of trouble lighting the
oven. It can t be out of gas,
because I can smell it. Is it the
wind blowing out the match, no, I m turning the wrong knob – another note
needed. I shall have 3 for lunch,
hot from the oven with butter and the other 3 for tea with one of the tins of
fish whatever.
I
have one very small bag of rubbish because I threw most of my packaging away
before I left and anything biodegradeable can go over the side until we get a
bit closer.
I
did start to mark what was in the tins and then decided that the shapes would
tell me. I can tell the tuna from
anything, the others are a bit close to call, but they are all the same sort of
thing. Variety in food is not my
forte.
The
only other tins are mandarins and evaporated milk and they are on a separate
shelf.
It
could have been a bit more serious if I had got that dog.
The
weather people have sent me a revised forecast, which is ok. I said I would tell them when I was
leaving and as I didn t say I had left then they didn t tell me that the
forecast was changed. It gave me
someone to focus on when it was tough going, otherwise perhaps I would have been
more worried than annoyed.
I
have done everything except check the leak progress. It is not as bad as it was, the T shirt
is obviously helping. I will check
this afternoon, but the bottom of the transom is not my favourite place and it
would not be hygenic to go mopping up before I have finished the
cooking.
Time to send this and have those pitta breads, the first three are
ready.
