More of the same

Neroli
Charles Tongue
Fri 5 Dec 2008 17:33
17:10.00N 38:54.50W
    More of the same........
 
            After the excitement of yesterday morning we had  hoped for an easier time but no such luck! First we mistakenly reported a wrong position to the ARC office in Cowes - two degrees or almost 120 miles further west than our true position. That will give everyone something to think about although all will be revealed once our true position is reported today!
The day continued to be pretty horrid after our big blow with dense low grey cloud cover, a confused sea and occasional showers. We hoisted the spinnaker and made good progress westwards recording a noon day run of 126 miles, surprisingly good  under the circumstances. As night fell the skipper wisely decided that we should change down to twin headsails; genoa and staysail. During the process of the sail changes the wind was steadily increasing and we were down to just a reefed staysail. By 2300 GMT (2100 local) we were again in a tropical rainstorm with winds blowing Force 7. Watchkeepers were in full oilskins, hoods etc with washboards in place and an Atlantic swell chopped into lumpy bits by the many wind shifts. Horrid!
From about 0100 when Graham came on watch the wind began to abate, veer and we were back on course with a little more sail. By daylight we were making gentle progress towards our destination under blue skies and calm seas. Up went the spinnaker again while we debated our plans. ARC stands for Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. Although there is a racing division Neroli is not part of that although we all enjoy a degree of competition - and of course are keen  to reach our loved ones and the parties at St Lucia!  'Cruisers' are allowed to use their engines although there are penalties for doing so within the classes and handicap we are given. So far we think that we are one of the few yachts that have not yet motored at all (engine hours each day are declared). However having looked at the weather for the next few days we fear that we may get stuck in an area of low winds for several days while the trade winds set in further west and away from the low pressure area that is afflicting us. So, as the wind dropped to 3Kn we decided to start motoring at 1340. As this is being written we are motoring WSW at 6kn under blue skies again and a flat sea, albeit with a rolling Atlantic swell. Henry made us a huge brunch of scrambled eggs, bacon, tomatoes and baked beans and Lou baked us a delicious loaf with granary flour and pumpkin seeds. All our oilskins, clothes etc have been out to dry and Neroli is almost back to normal. We even hoisted our big lightweight sail that caused us so much trouble yesterday and think this is useable an only in need of some minor repair.
hopefully the return of some sunny weather will bring back some photo opportunities and our diary will become more colourful again in days to come.
 
Friday 05.12.08 1730 GMT