The Flying Squad
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Tue 11 Oct 2011 10:05
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Tuesday 11th October 0936 UTC 1036
BST
20:06.924N 018:10.797W
Wind: 9 knots WNW, COG 018 Deg True, SOG 7
Knots
Well it's a whole new ball game now. I have been on
the wind since late yesterday and it is now life on the angle and a
bit of pitching and a bit of slamming.......
Yesterday as the light winds strengthened they
veered and we ended up the whole night making a series of tacks. At first I
could lay the course and do up to 9 knots at times but later I was making 7
knots but on each tack I was 50 deg either side of my course.
The startegy remains the same and that is to work
my way up to the beach at Punta Guera and then tack initially onto starboard for
the long slog and what looks now like being a very stiff beat up to Gran
Canaria. Almost always GRIB files at 20 knots of wind underestimate by at least
5 knots and in addition there are gusts to allow for.
In all honesty I am not looking forward to it and
feel a real sense of dread that in the last miles to go something will go
wrong...... it is anxious times.
Sleep was almost impossible last night as to run
with this strategy I must pick my way through the shipping traffic. Last night I
had 53 ships AIS signals on my screen. However only a handful were we
crossing tracks with. My tactic there is to anticipate from a distance which
ships could be in our immediate vicinity at the CPA (Closest Point of
Approach). This of course can be done automatically by the Radar and the AIS,
which is useful if both vessels hold their course, but the fact is I was
tacking my way up wind and I called the ships in question to alert them I was a
sailing vessel and sailing alone. I wanted to alert ships of my presence
early and for them to keep a vigilant lookout. I of course am doing my best
to keep a good lookout too. I am highly motivated among all this monster metal
to do so, but the fact is that I am fatigued and lacking sleep so better to get
the watchkeepers in the area on-side too.
Yesterday I had another bird for company for most
of the day. He however was just soaring around ahead of the boat, something we
have seen often, looking for flying fish frightened to flight by our bow wave.
This guy however was an expert and it was incredible to see him fly at speed
after a flying fish also in flight. And this guy cough some too! Spectacular. My
own fishing efforts resulted in two fish on and two fish off the line. It is
much harder under sail without the ability or will to slow down to bring
them in successfully.
We are being bombarded now with flying fish. Last
night as well as the side deck they were in the cockpit, and unbelievably, three
were up in the RIB - slung all the way up there on its davits! I have to do a
detective round in the mornings to seek them all out.
This morning however in addition to the flying fish
I found four countersunk allen head screws on the deck. I have been searching
everywhere and can't see where they have come from...... Perhaps somewhere up
the mast? They are very short at 10mm and are 4mm threads. It is concerning
but on the other hand they are so light it cannot be something structural.
My detective work will continue after filing the blog entry.
I have had a full moon last night and while the
"Summer" has peaked and temperatures are strting to fall it is still quite
pleasant. I have no doubt it will get cooler over the next few days as I move
into my "Autumn".
I am hoping for an ETA all being well in Gran
Canaria on Saturday or Sunday.
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