Re: 12:25.13N 45:10.76W
Rehua’s blog: route and anchorage stops
Sun 11 Jan 2015 16:49
Like ships in the night our buddy boat crossed our stern last night without our knowing. We would have been close enough for a chat on the VHF but alas modern technology doesn't reach us in the same way out here and the opportunity was gone. Taff Tumas had decided the best option for the seaway was south, we decided north, we gained a few miles but had a less comfortable night doing it, it's not a race! Ha Ha Ha; Vive la difference:-)
We are flying along at 8-9 knots continuously, surfing at up to 14, sometimes settled, sometimes getting skewed and twisted around, the least enviable task is meal prep, Audrie has conquered all previous signs of "mal de mer" and just gets on with it, mean whilst I have important things to check and fix, things that cant be seen from the galley :-)
We have also picked up, at last, a bit of favourable current from the SSE, at least we are getting our monies worth from the boat speed with a little extra change on the side, amazing what it does to our arrival times, which currently stands at circa 132hrs.
We were hit by 2 heavy squalls last night just after the boys hit the hay. The radar is an invaluable tool for tracking these cells, (excuse the lesson) they are basically a small intense low that has formed which means, up in the Northern hemisphere, they spin in an anti-clockwise direction, not important you might think, but the difference in hitting one of these cells on it southern edge to hitting it on the northern one is huge, south you hit a wall that veers you so quickly the boat is thrown into an involuntary tack, that gets messy in the dark with two people on a big boat, the other option north, backs you slightly and then whiplashes off the top without any messing around. So its easy, I have a picture on the radar with the size and shape of the beastie, I use the cursor to acquire it as a target and track its progress, very clever piece of kit, (maybe I should buy some radar reflector hats for the boys) you would think these cells would just form and drift with the prevailing wind and we could plan an approach, trying to out-smart them is akin to second guessing the flight path of a housefly, there is no reason, no plan, it can turn, expand, contract, reverse, go sideways and they do, every one of them is different, Audrie and I will have a small pot of cash to spend on arrival, proceeds of lost wagers.
Rehua standing by!