DR to Bermuda, Dawn, Monday 22.4.13
Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Mon 22 Apr 2013 10:33
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The evening session saw us close hauled in 14 to 15
knots of wind which had veered late in the afternoon. In case the veer went
further, we remained hard on the wind and sty p as eastward as we could. But
fortune was on our side and after we set a reef in the main and enjoyed a
cassoulet supper, the night provided building, and backing breeze, making life
progressively easier, and faster.
This morning, we are 14 miles east of our rhumb
line and only 54 miles from Bermuda, so we have freed off a few degrees to run
down to the waypoint marking the channel entrance to St Georges
harbour.
Karen did a sterliing job overnight, allowing me to
get a pretty full night's sleep.
At this point it seems right that we introduce you,
dear reader, to FRED, whithout whom much of this journey would be very
different. I refer of course, to our restored autopilot, which handles much, if
not all the steering, allowing us to get on with other things.
It is worth mentioning, too, the sense of isolation
a helmsman feels when he has no access to an autopilot, as one is liiterally
trapped behind the wheel until relief arrives! In short handed situations one is
therefore obliged to balance the needs of the relief helm to get well earned
rest, against the inevitable accumulation of a similar requirement, oneself.
Sometimes, if say, you need to simply answer a litle call of nature, there is no
alternative but to literaly cry out for help! at night, help might not be
immediate. The other helmsman will ned to wake, dress in appropriate gear,
harnesss on, work out what is happening and take over. In UK waters, he or she
will want a cup of tea as wel, so the whole operation is likely to take a
minimum of 15 minutes!
The original FRED, of course, showed an
uncharacteristic unreliable streak during the ARC, which upped the required
workrate for the entire race crew, changing the relaxed feel we all expected in
the race, to a ull on herculean effort by all. We now have new FRED, maybe son
of FRED, or FREDDIE? The younger emulate is very good company, in a quiet sort
of way. He simply gets on with the job, follows the instructions we give
him, to the letter and lets us lead
our lives, read books etc etc. He neither
complains, requires tea or sleep. Just a few Amperes....
The acronym which makes up his name, stands for
"F'in' ridiculous electronic device" which may seem a little unkind. But you may
be surprised, even in the digital 21st century, how many yacht owners have funny
little names for their important but invisible little extra crew
member...
Anyway, back to the log;
Current position as at 1030UTC Monday is 31
22.082N, 64 51.432W. SOG 7.1 knots, COG 010
All well.
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