Day 2

R A I N B O W - JH2
1934 Am Cup Ltd
Tue 4 Dec 2018 16:33

Hi,

We left on Sunday the 1st, but had to head back to port due to what wended up being a minor technical issue, which we were able to fix with no issues.

We left again on Monday the 2nd December, and are currently motorsailing south of the canary islands going as much down rhum line as possible.

We have a light path of wind ahead for maybe 2 days, and then there should be some northerly winds, which if we can reach them in time will mean we can sail.

Yesterday we started out with full main, staysail and yankee, and when the wind died before sunset dropped the mainsail and yankee and motorsailed through the night.

The wind has increased a little today so we have hoisted the trysail, more to check and test, and staysail and yankee. This combination has meant we have reduced engine revs and more importantly the amount of fuel we are using, which has gone down from 22 litres/hour to 16 litres/hour.

We started off with enough to motor for about 10 days. We hope not to, and sail whenever possible, but there is not much wind out there for this week, so reserving as much as we can will help.

It is also nice the run as many tests and manouvers as possible whilst the weather is good, so we are prepared for when it is not, either on this trip or the next.

There is good moral on board, and everyone is getting into the offshore lifestyle. There are jobs being done constantly, everyone is trying to learn a new skill, John is teaching Finn how to splice, and Amy is teaching me how to play the guitar. Both are having varying results, but there is a long way to go.

 

Current position:

"27:11.32N 018:05.88W"

Which puts us just south of the Island of Hierro. The next land we will see is Antigua in a couple of weeks.

 

That’s all for now

 

Mat and the crew of Rainbow JH2