Day 3 Drheam Cup More Upwind
Purple Mist
Skipper: Kate Cope
Thu 18 Jul 2024 01:05
48:43.596N 006:42.650W
North Atlantic
This morning we rounded the second mark of the course - Wolf Rock. This is a lighthouse marking a rock between Lands End and the Scillies. It’s also right beside the Lands End shipping lane TSS. It was light winds , upwind as has been most of the race. So we were zigzagging trying to miss other boats and also the big ships.
I’m with a pack of entirely French boats maybe Delay no more is somewhere close but theIt AIS is not transmitting so they have disappeared. Anyway it’s a mix of SF30OD and other French fully crewed boats most seem to rate 1.1 so higher than me so not a bad spot to be , unsurprisingly the French doublehanders have mostly shot off ahead, only a couple are still with this pack.
The winds thankfully have been 8-11kts all day so although it’s upwind it’s pretty easy in comparison to the first 24hrs. Just going for a wee is a lot easier. Stripping off wet weather gear , mid layer, leggings , thermals and pants whilst being bounced up and down in a space I’m not able to stand up in is tricky to say the least and usually ends up inducing a feeling of nausea that I then need to shake off.
I’m also able to cook again as Conor has had to be Galley slave as cooking also makes me nauseous in heavy upwind.
Views today have been glorious, sun is out and the Ocean is vast. It’s the edge of the Atlantic and feels like it. It reminds me of Azab and Transat the never ending view of sea. Also plenty of wildlife , big patches of guillemots clearly having found fish with lots of Dolphins also feeding. Had a couple of Dolphins come alongside and jump cleanly out of the water , gave me a bit of a fright but magnificent to witness.
All is well onboard, Conor’s cut finger is stable, sort of healing thankfully not infected although I do have antibiotics aboard if needed.
