26 Nov - Day 10 Position at 16.17 hrs 21:39.2N 030:28.7W

Imagine Of Falmouth Online Log
Jon Constantine
Mon 26 Nov 2007 18:37
Day 10 Distance to Antigua 1793 nm (nautical miles).

The blog will be a bit short today as we have been concentrating hard on the sailing. This morning we put up our smaller inner jib on the other side to the poled out genny. So we now have 3 sails up and are doing about 7 kts, sometimes 8 and our record stands at 9.6 kts.

The angle we have to sail to keep all 3 sails filled is quite critical,we need to keep the wind about 160 degrees off our starboard stern. Any deviation and one of the 2 foresails will start stalling. The main with 2 reefs is very stable unless we let the wind come around too much behind us in which case, it could gybe but we use a preventer line to stop that happening. So, today we have been doing quite a bit of hand steering rather than using the autopilot. The autopilot is a godsend but is less sensitive than the human hand. Concentration is the key! When you get it just right, the bow starts to lift (even with all our weight) and we start to surf along. You can hear the difference in the water rushing past. Usually a wave then comes along, lifts the stern and tries to skew it around pushing us up into the wind and causing the sails to flog and the speed to drop off. To be avoided at all costs!

It's fish again tonight. The second half of our 2 fish catch. The potatoes are on the stove, the sun is going down soon so I need upload this report asap.

Sorry, but time just flies when your having fun.

Jon