19:19N 38:55W

Ondina
Thu 6 Dec 2007 10:27
Day 12

Yesterday we decided to dip into our fresh water supplies as they have
been lasting so well. We each had a fresh shower on the stern and a good
wash – it felt fantastic! Last night bought our first storm. Very black
clouds, lightning and 30 knot winds and a roller coaster sea with waves
that towered above the transom and somehow disappeared beneath our stern.
At 2.00am we reefed heavily, came off the wind, sat tight and watched a
pretty spectacular show as wave after wave came behind us. We didn’t get
to the point of putting all our portable electronics in the oven which is
supposed to create a faraday’s cage effect against a lightning strike, as
the lightning seemed to be too far away. This morning the wind continues
to blow hard and the roller coaster ride remains making sleep very
difficult. However we are in good shape and making spectacular speeds of
over 8 knots at times on not much sail. The boat remains basically dry
but we have the wash boards in place (to the companionway) just in case.
There was a bit of VHF radio traffic at 3.00am last night – no alarm bells
just two yachts arranging some long-range communications together. It’s
always nice to know that there are other boats close by even if you can’t
see them – that’s the point of the ARC. Lastly, we have definitely
reached our halfway point in terms of mileage and we now have 1300nm to go
to St Lucia so it’s downhill from here and at these speeds we should eat
the miles fast, although personally I would prefer the winds to ease a
bit!!