Blog Thursday 25th July 2019

METSUYAN
Martin Ransome
Sun 11 Aug 2019 16:36
Position 54:05N 013:10.5W

We have had very strong winds for the last few days and rolling heavily at times. Surfing down the 7 meter seas at 10 knots. The Hydrovane was very well behaved with only the occasional broaching. We are both very impressed with the way she had steered the boat, with only the two of us onboard, working 6hrs on 6hrs off, it would have been very hard to hand steer for long periods, the auto helm could not be used for lon periods due to low battery voltage, a real pain as the two turbines were not producing so only had the solar panels.
The genoa blew out today even though she was well reefed in, certain does not look repairable. We removed it and replaced it with the spare which we will have to nurse as it is a light, single stitched genoa.
389 miles to Plockton and 106 miles to landfall, NW Ireland. Both of us are feeling worn out but looking forward to seeing land which I am sure will make the trip worth while and all our trials and tribulations worth while.

Martin and Craig