position report
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Fri 2 Dec 2011 19:22
We have been at sea for just over 5 days, having left Cape Verde at 1100 on Sunday and we are nearly a third of the way across having completed over 700 miles--it is still likely to be about 17 to 20 days because the 700 miles has not been in a straight line! We have had north east trade winds blowing at about 15 to 22 knots most of the time and as usual it is blowing onto the rear end of the boat. With Nick's (Gore) expertise we have been trying various sail plans, 2 reef main and genny, genny poled out, and a three reefed main. All with various degrees of success but not enough success to sail straight down the rhumb line----shame really as the other rum is waiting at the other end! Another of the problems is trying to keep the boat stable in what is a rolly swell. We have been averaging 140 miles a day although the last day we dropped to nearer 100 miles as the wind has dropped off. The towed generator (Stacey) and the hydrovane (Gavin) are both working well. The hydrovane nickname comes from a chap called Gavin who we met at Cape Verde who gave us the some know how and the confidence to persevere with it.
We are operating a three hour watch system at night starting at 2000 and ending at 0800. It does mean that one night in three someone has two three hour watches at the start and end of the night. Helen has made yoghurt and a carrot cake ---both excellent as are all the other culinary dishes. We had dolphins alongside the boat yesterday morning which was good to see--they have a rather comforting effect when they visit. Flying fish pay regular visits to the deck! It has been sunny, with a little more cloud than we expected, but warm and we are able to wear shorts on watch at night although a fleece is required towards the end of a three hour stint. We are operating on Cape Verde time which is UTC-1 hour. In Antigua it is UTC-5 hours but we are not altering our clocks as we go across----far too complicated and confusing!
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