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
|