Out Skerries 60:25.350N 000:45.077W
Pelagia
Frans & Sarah Toonen
Fri 7 Aug 2015 21:27
| Friday 8th August 2015. 197.8nm. 30.5 hours on passage. 16.5 engine hours. SE2-6 for the first 15 hours then SW3-4 on the nose for the remainder. Moderate seas with areas of higher waves possibly 3.5m max. They look bigger when crashing against the hull and splashing up into the sails. We had to use the South Easterly wind to make as much progress west under sail as possible so Frans was continually reefing and letting out the sails to suit the wind speeds and ensure we were not over canvassed. This was a bumpy ride but we kept the average speed over the ground up above 7 knots. Around 2200 the wind abated and turned South then the headwind arrived. Time to motor. By 0100 the sea state was slight so Frans went to bed and managed to be mostly asleep for a passage record of 6 hours. Sarah didn’t dare make any noise (yes we know the engine is on but that won’t wake him unless Sarah increases or decreases the revs by one or two) so no cup of tea until beyond desperate at 0630. Around 0300 the clouds has cleared and there were lots of stars - darkness and stars a novelty after the midnight sun. The second shooting star tracked as usual then burst like a firework showing green then yellow. Wow! Sarah had to look into this as shooting stars are normal when on night passage but a coloured burst of light is something else. Turns out this is the Perseid Meteor Shower which will peak on August 11th in the north east sky. The Meteor Sarah was watching burnt up in the earth’s atmosphere and the metals in the rock caused the colour. To minimise our motoring into wind we altered course from Lerwick to Out Skerries to motor-sail arriving at 1300. There’s lots of salt to clean off the boat and some oily stuff which a wave must have dumped on the foredeck. Not today though, early night is essential. On the quay.  |