Novelties
Miss Molly 4
Bob & Peggy Wilkerson/Geoff & Merel Pettifer
Tue 12 May 2009 08:10
176:18.44E
There are always firsts to be had. For us that involved thermals, 2 fleeces each, hats, boots and the full foul weather gear. Never before did we have to dress up like that on Miss Molly! We did have a good start, but as soon as it got dark the squalls arrived - up to about 50 knots. But Miss Molly was well in control and she got through it beautifully. We remained dry and comfortable behind the rain curtain - which also helped with not blowing our heads or hats off.
In the morning it was still gusty, but we got rewarded. First with sunshine between the clouds and later with an albatross flying around the boat. At least, that's the only explanation of a bird we could come up with considering its wing span. Awesome bird, which we had never before seen at sea.
In the first 24 hours we made 182 Nm progress; not bad at all, considering the size of the waves. The wind is now around 25 knots with squalls down to about 30 kts and Miss Molly just keeps plodding on through the swept up seas, on her track to the tropics. We can already feel a change in the climate as the water from the tap is getting warmer and the wind in our faces feels a bit milder. Forecasts are for the wind to decline so we are probably looking forward to some less boisterous weather. We hope we can just keep the staysail up with a bit of main tonight and not have to fiddle around as much as we did last night.
Oh - almost forgot: we found our sea legs pretty soon as well, which is handy on a rolly boat. So bring on those steaming hot bowls of food!
Cheers from Geoff & Merel