21:21.1N 062:17.4W Midday Fix 11 May 2010 Getting Closer to New York!
Oboe D'Amore's Web Diary
Nigel Backwith
Tue 11 May 2010 12:01
2010
GPS Position: 21:21.1N 062:17.4W
Sea Miles (previous 24 Hours): 146nMs
Sea Miles to date: 266nMs
Present Course Over Ground: 348°M
Present Speed Over Ground: 6.5kts
Average Speed Over Ground (previous 24 hours): 6.1kts
Average Speed Over Ground to date: 6.0kts
Estimated GPS Position in 24 hours time: 23:31N 063:30W
Sea State: Calm
Wind Speed and Direction: 12kts NE
Barometric Pressure: 1008mB
All's well. The beautiful sunset last night was only exceeded by the
beautiful sunrise this morning. The night was squall-free, punctuated only
by a couple of incoming flying fish, one right on top of the bimini!
The crew are beginning to settle into the watch pattern, which sees
individuals awake and asleep at peculiar times of the day. The creaking of
the woodwork, the thrum of the generator and the occasional whirring of the
auto helm are starting to resemble lullabies, as sleep deficit forces the
eyes closed. The night watches are rewarded for their efforts with a goody
bag of chocolate treats and other sweets, an Oboe tradition carried over
from the E-W crossing of 2 years ago.
Frustratingly, we are no longer able to make any progress east. In fact all
the progress we made on Day 1 has been cancelled out as a result of an
adverse wind shift. Regardless, we are eating up the miles northward and
that is our primary aim right now because the winds we really need to allow
us to turn for home are still 500nMs+ north of us. The instruction to the
helm remains "best course to windward matey!" and the sails are firmly close
hauled. Let's hope we don't end up in New York!
Nigel
Date: 11 May 2010