35:25.0N 051:0.0W Midday (BST) Fix 23 May 2010 An Uncomfortable Day
Oboe D'Amore's Web Diary
Nigel Backwith
Sun 23 May 2010 16:18
2010
View our progress on Google Earth at: http://blog.mailasail.com/oboe
GPS Position: 35:25.0N 051:0.0W
Sea Miles (previous 24 Hours): 132nMs
Sea Miles to date: 1,866nMs
Present Course Over Ground: 165°M
Present Boat Speed 3.8
Average Boat Speed (previous 24 hours): 5.5kts
Average Boat Speed to date: 6.3kts
***Velocity Made Good (VMG) to date: 4.2kts ***
Estimated GPS Position in 24 hours time: 35:30N 049:30W
Sea State: Mod/Rough
Wind Speed and Direction: 11kts NE
Barometric Pressure: 1018mB
(VMG - An accurate measure of the average velocity achieved to date along
our chosen rhumb line from Antigua to Dartmouth, UK)
Six hours sailing gently SE under a cloudy, drizzly sky saw the wind fade
away. It was time to use a little precious diesel and motor onwards to run
away from a developing storm system forming off the eastern seaboard of the
US heading straight for our chosen route to the Azores. Worse still, there
is another one forming over Bermuda that threatens us from below. "Oh happy
days". The storms will be on us by Tuesday if we don't get out of their
paths. They will batter us and bash us and it just won't be much fun, will
it Jonty ol'boy.
It really doesn't feel right heading south and given the adverse currents at
this parallel, realising just how hard it is to make any progress east at
all. The wind is on the nose. We are close hauled in a choppy sea, tacking
every 6 hours, getting nowhere and it is tiring work. The Azores are NE of
us, so in some sense we are going backwards!
But it's not all doom and gloom. Yesterday, thanks to the keen eye of Rob
the engineer, we sighted whales no more than 200m from us and yes, they came
up, spouted and put their great big tails out of the water in a spectacular
breach. It left us holding our breath in awe, which is probably a good
thing as I understand that the spume from their blow holes is pretty smelly!
We'll plug on, working the now well-rehearsed routines of watch-keeping,
cooking, eating, washing and cleaning, trimming sails, keeping the log,
making water, charging the batteries, getting really wet and cold, climbing
under the duvet, snoring and taking the (very) occasional shower, at least
some of us! Whoops, Rob just lost his balance while drying up the dishes.
Steady as she goes matey!
A good morning to you ...
Nigel
Date: 23 May 2010