DAY 2 - December 2006

Only day 2, it seems a lot longer.

I put the seat back together yesterday morning, it was just the adjustment knobs had unscrewed.  I hadn t noticed anyone fiddling with them, must have been the continual movement of the boat. 

The loaf did not rise outside and I tried putting it under the bedding, but gave up and cooked it anyway.  It was dense, but lovely.  I was going to have the other half with something for dinner.  I have finished all the cakes I made, but I have lots of eggs.

I was back on course and 16:00 put the main away,  back to 150.  It was a pity I had fought so hard uphill and now I am having trouble staying from going too high.  The wind and waves were strong most of the night and I closed down to 2 reefs.  At 22:48 I was thinking about a third, but was it necessary.  By 23:00 I had 3 reefs in the genoa.  Wind was generally 18 to 23 knots with some big gusts and quite a few breaking waves.

I was able to listen to the radio for over an hour, without feeling too ill. I did not hear the boat that should be nearest to me, but I did hear one that is a day ahead of me, a bit more than that in miles as he is bigger and faster than me.  He had 25-30 knots, but did not want to go S if he could avoid it.

I went out to tweak Horatio in the early hours and trod on something, one of those flying fish was in the cockpit.  It did not make my morning, but then I don t suppose it did a lot for him either.

I have not felt like eating in the evening and haven t done so since Saturday, so today I am going to eat properly lunchtime.  I finished the loaf for breakfast.  You do seem to need very strong sea legs and stomach for this trip.

I have managed to start the book reading and the sun has peeked out a bit today.

The nav lights and the slower speed at night take care of all that DG can generate, but during the day I have more than I need.  I am recharging the radio and torch batteries in one of the hand held radios. 

That small inch of stitching that I could not reach on the corner of the genoa, the one that would be ok, is not.  I now have an air bubble, but there is nothing I can do about it at present.  I promised the genoa that I would let it out if the wind stayed below 20.  I have let it out except for the last reef as the wind keeps gusting, but I will probably relent now.  Sometimes 21/22 only seems like 14/15; but the speed is still good at 5-6 knots most of the time.

I have done 129 nm in the last 24 hours.