First Night at Sea
Pemandia
Peter Fabricius
Wed 23 May 2018 07:20
Good morning!
I don’t know how it was for you, but it was a quiet night in for me. I have deliberately sailed out West to avoid shipping and this has proved successful. Only one ship and one fishing boat caused any anxiety - in the end both passed more than a mile away - and you could count all the vessels I saw on a pretty badly mutilated hand. I started off getting up every 20 minutes but by about 0200 I extended this to 30 and then from 0515 I remained in my bunk until 0645. Bliss!
This morning into the routine. First thing check the horizon for ships a quick look at the wind and get the get the kettle on. With tea in hand, a more thorough check of position, are we sailing ok, and a look around the deck and up the mast. All looks well!
Breakfast was a bowl of muesli with blueberries on and a second cup. While this was soaking in I got the weather forecast and sent an email home to Emily by sat phone and picked up the forecast.
The wind is behind me so although easy sailing it is quite slow and we roll quite a lot. Time for more sail. The best sail would be the spinnaker a lovely big blue and yellow sail that sets on a pole. However at 125 sq metres- more than the main and genoa together it is quite a beast to handle on my own, so I put up the reaching sail again. I’ve also altered course even more out to the West, so that I am not sailing directly down wind. This (tacking down wind) adds to the distance but keeps the speed up. If the wind stays light, I may set the spinnaker later on...
So as you can tell, there is always stuff to do on a trip like this,
Peter
Sent from Yacht Pemandia