We have an absolutely fabulous day here in the central Atlantic. Clear blue
sky's and a 12 knot ENE wind that is pushing us along at a steady 6.5 knots.
The seas are nearly calm and to Kuki's delight we have the boat nearly
upright. Charles had some fun in the 12 to 4 watch as he had some stronger
winds and decided to harden up on the sheets. We were soon smoking along at
7 plus knots though those below were of course sleeping standing on their
heads. Kuki has taken to getting up when John does at 0400 and we have a
pleasant few hours in the cockpit as the sun comes up before getting into
the chores. We have now moved our clocks to Osprey Summer time and are now
at GMT - 3 which has moved dawn from 0400 to 0500 and gives us longer
evening in which to have dinner and sit around chatting. In the present
conditions the boat looks a bit like a mobile Chinese laundry with the guard
rails festooned with washing. Kuki of course, once the laundry is dry has
it put in the tumble dryer with "bounce" so that it has the correct
fragrance.We are now some 1200 miles from the Azores and all now depends on
catching the southerly winds around the Azores high pressure system.
According to the weather charts (which have not been correct yet!) we should
start to pick up those winds tomorrow. There is a danger that we will go to
far east, miss them and end up in the centre of the high pressure where
there are no winds so we are being very cautious. A boat called Reverie is
several hundred miles to our east and is having lots of trouble. She has
broken an engine mount and has no means of charging her batteries. She has
rigged a jury mount and we will see how that works out today. Unfortunately
she is also east of the winds and therefore unable to move at all until she
finds some. Another boat called Callisto is close to her and keeping an eye
on things. Reverie has to get something out of her engine as she has no
generator and therefore no means of charging her batteries which means no
radios and hence Callisto standing by her. Kuki produced a huge English
breakfast this morning so lunch was abandoned as an event as we have pasta
tonight. Apart from Altair our contacts through the HF radio this morning
were pretty weak due to the propagation and it will be interesting to see if
we can contact our weather forecaster (Herb) during the evening.
"Notes from a Small Boat in Perfect Seas" - as John mentions above the past
36 hrs have been glorious sailing weather, with Osprey averaging around 6
knots and a maximum of 7.7 knots. The crew are generally enjoying this,
although Kuki still remains firmly horizontal if the boat is heeled over too
much - she finds laying in her bunk the best measure, and as we are heeled
to starboard currently this is perfect.
Charles had an excellent 12-4 watch this morning, whilst the winds did
slacken off for the first two hours Osprey was still making 5 knots. Then
around 0230-0300 hrs the winds began to strengthen, and he got her flying up
to 7.7 knots maximum. This was pretty exhilarating, especially as we were
heeled to starboard and racing into the dawn - so much so that Charles
decided to extend his watch by an hour not handing over to John until 0500
hrs. John then proceeded to balance the boat, putting her at less of an
angle and was heard to mutter "he (Charles) was driving it like a Formula 1
car" which Charles took as a compliment!
Another day of routine has been had by all, Kuki after her morning activity
and the production of a delicious breakfast resumed her horizontal position
with occasional forays to the cockpit. John after his morning checks,
running the generator and speaking to Altair on the HF etc retired to
medidate in the aft cabin - his equivalent of Budda's tree. Charles then
reigned supreme, busily cleaned the Galley and For'd Head before adopting
his usual position in the cockpit for the remainder of the morning and into
the afternoon.
On Osprey at the moment there are a number of policies for dealing with the
strong sun. Kuki, is firmly avoiding the sun as she likes being brown and
doesn't want to turn black. John, after a lifetime at sea and in the
southern Pacific doesn't care, wandering around bare chested (a nod to
Budda??) and ending up some evenings like a lobster. Whislt Charles,
attempts to be sensible (less of the laughter) applying copious amounts of
suntan lotion - John has been hear to say "what did everyone do before all
these lotions" to which the reply was "well no one was a metrosexual."
Whatever, course is taken it is clear that all the crew, except SuperCharged
Teddy who of cours is furry, will arrive in Horta with some colour!
Moral is high as our current position is creeping ever closer to what until
today had been the elusive 30 degree Latitude and 50 degree Longitude -
elusive because it has taken us so long to arrive at this point becoming
somewhat of a interim goal during our days without wind, and it should be
reached sometime around 2000 hrs.
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