Wet and Windy!!
Magnetic Attraction
Roger and Margaret Pratt
Sat 30 Nov 2013 15:29
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Saturday 30 November
2013
19:52.3N 26:16.0W Course: 245 Engine Hrs: 4hrs Day's Run: 138miles Total: 906miles Air Temperature: 24.3C Water temperature: 28.1C Well what a 24hrs it has been. It has rained since about 1230ish. Just as Bryan had the leek and potato soup heating up a squall came through Roger spotting it go up to 31kts! It also swung 180 degrees and heavy rain fell. Bryan, Roger and Margaret got very wet whilst I tended to the soup on the cooker! Once they had reefed the genoa it was all settling down until Roger saw that the Auto Helm was not working. This lead him to dive under the back berth to see what the problem was. The pin and washer holding it together had vanished so he had to put another set in! This led to a point of the day and
probably trip that I would not like to witness again. The vane
male members of the crew decided that they were going to make the most of the
rain and wash their hair. The female crew
stayed down below and averted their gaze!
Margaret felt is was time the full offshore
waterproofs to came out of the cupboard, they have had a lot of use
since!!
We then had our delayed lunch of soup and
toast.
The afternoon consisted of Roger organising some
rain water harvesting devices. This led to buckets being hung off some rails and
the dinghy was drained of the dirty water and the bung put back back in.
You will be pleased to know that the water we collected is low enough in
salt to drink, it is even lower than the water maker produces. Our main
entertainment for the afternoon consisted of watching the wildlife - lots of
fish, about 25-30cm long and silvery, jumping out of the water. We were unsure
if they were being hunted by something or thought we were hunting them. The
other wildlife was a larger black swift like bird
with a wing span approx, 45cm, but with a white tummy not tail! Any ideas please
send on a postcard..!!
Roger and myself spent some time organising things
before dark. The weather forecast showed that we could be in for a windy night.
We reefed the genoa and ensured the decks were clear and that all the ropes / sheets
were correct and not tangled. We also made sure that things down below
were stowed away to prevent low flying objects during the night.
Whilst Roger was on the early night watch
(1900-2300), winds went really light with Roger at about 2100 doing only
1knots!. The calm before the storm! on Margaret's watch (2300-0300) was
generally straightforward apart from a wind shift that meant she needed to put a
gybe in. At 5.30 Bryan reported the latest's
stats:speed of 8 knots and wind speed 22-24knots!! This lead to Roger jumping
out of bed, dressing for the elements and helping Bryan reef. The
genoa was first and with to reefs, then Margaret helped put the two reef's
in the main. The wind consistently 25 to 30knots.. We have since taken a reef
out of the genoa as the wind has dropped slightly. The current statistics
are:speed 7.5knots and wind around 24knots. The other thing to mention are the
waves and swell. The swell got up to about 2 metres and the waves were choppy
and from all angles. This leads to a very bumpy, rocking and rolling ride. The
sea sickness tablets have been taken as
precaution.. It is also proving very difficult to do the cooking and
coffee making. The boys were adamant they wanted proper coffee. So the
coffee pot was on the hob and had just performed its trick and it then
proceeded to fall over causing the hot coffee to spill everywhere!! The clean up
operation took two of us plus a boat hook, to get to the hard to reach
places...at least the galley floor has had a wash!!
Bryan and I are lucky enough to have a little
porthole next to our beds. When it is this wavy Bryan keeps asking for his
snorkel and I am trying to sell tickets for a glass bottom boat
trip!!
To save a bit of energy the people on watch this
morning have been steering the boat. This have proved very difficult due to the
wind shifts, strength and waves. We have had some almost near misses just
avoiding a gybe. Thankfully we have a preventer fitted, to stop the main sail
flying across the boat.
The wind is due to start dropping off, fingers
crossed. But lunch will be simple, cheese & pickle sandwiches followed by
an apple!
Until next time, Lucy (Mum).
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