Saturday 28th January
Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Sat 28 Jan 2017 11:30
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Good morning! It is 11:04 UT here, about an
hour after dawn, and we have just made our final gybe for Barbados.
We are sailing on a course of 280 under white sails
(reefed main and No 2) at 7.5 knots in 21 knots of trade wind
easterlies.
It is feelin' hot, hot, hot, and hey! we're going
to Barbados, in the sunny Caribbean sea!
Forgive a localised break out of euphoria on board,
but we have been at sea for nearly 3 weeks, and looking forward to a
landfall.
We actually want to sail slowly...but without
making the boat uncomfortable, so are settling for 7 knots and leaving the kite
in the bag. Even so, we are on track to arrive a couple of hours before dawn. We
have 125 miles to go.
Persephone has been great. Sailing downwind at the
pace of a 50 plus foot cruising yacht, we have, I think, successfully dealt with
some of her principal shortcomings encountered last time;
The fridge modifications have been a success. We
have meat still frozen in the ice box. The solar panels and towing generator
wiring modifications have also worked well. Frankly, without FRED and Jenny
working in harmony, this trip would be impossible.
Karen and I have become a useful 2 handed crew.
Sail handling is as quiet as on a well drilled race boat, as we go through the
necessary manoevres, sail changes, reefing, gybes and drops. Yes, the
light wind conditions have caused their moments too; two or three times we have
had to deal with kite wraps which happen at the moment you take your eyes off
the darned sail, to do something else, like eat, or sip a drink. But we have
managed. We had to. In the middle of the Atlantic, you are your own resources.
There is no Seastart, no Yachting Sports and no Force 4 Chandlery. No riggers,
no nothing. Just you, and the stuff you brought with you, just in
case....
I will, no doubt, say more in these pages, once we
are anchored in the bay at Bridgetown...and we still have 20 hours before we get
there.
The Champagne, cooled, of course, is ready to be
popped!
All well and rested.
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