Position 14:57.27N 51:56.57W
PASSEPARTOUT
Christopher & Nirit Slaney
Tue 4 Jan 2011 17:13
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Be careful what you wish
for
Yesterday was a slow day. not much wind and the total
daily mileage was 99 only
Moral was not great and we were negotiating with Chris
for engine hours.
If only we had few more knots of wind!
From Nirit
Did we wake up Poseidon?
The first night watch was mine. I started with very weak
winds and the going was slow. Mainsail and jib. We usually reef the
main before nightfall but one of the points connecting the main to the
track has failed so we are reefed all the time. Otherwise we would not have bothered, the sea was calm, there
was nothing to worry us in the forecast and we were in a quiet sort of
mood.
Everybody else hit their bunks as I steered through a
black moonless night. Suddenly Passepartout wanted no more of this easy going
night, she shot forward cutting the water ..and within a few minutes we were
doing 9.4 knots. And she was loving iit!
The breeze had filled in and I guess we must have found
the current again. It caught me unprepared but what to do? I can't reduce sail
without waking everyone up. In fact, the sea was suddenly so rough I doubt if we
could have safely reduced sail even with all hands.
Neither could I leave my place at the wheel for fear the
autohelm would disengage under all this pressure. So what do I do, what a lot of
other women probably do in these situations, I screamed for my husband.
CHRIS!!!
Both Chris and Gabriella jumped out of bed
wondering what was going on. Chris still had his ear plugs in so it took a few
minutes to get something intelligent out of him. But just as suddenly as the
wind had picked up, it calmed down. Looking around at the sea, the sails,
the instruments and not understanding what was the problem, he shrugged his
shoulders and said goodnight again.
So I was there for the rest of my watch. Not letting my
eyes off the instruments for a second.
Conditions in the morning were back to normal. We
are doing our average 5.5 knots towards St Lucia where I'm looking forward
to a cold beer and Gabriella is dreaming of a good steak.
Tel +870 773 156 537 Follow us at http://blog.mailasail.com/psp2
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