33:05.149n 60:36.000w

Distance to home:  2854 miles

Distance run today:  106 miles  

Course 110

It’s been a tough 24 hours on Sadie but we think we have broken the back of it for now. 

We have had a bit more “weather” than would have been ideal with strong northerlies and heavy seas.  The low that was forecast in Bermuda came further south than expected and we were in the thick of it for a while.

This pretty much matches the weather we think you have had over the last couple of days at home…

When it’s this rough we adopt the universal small boat, ocean crossing practice of “staying down below and taking turns in sticking a head out the hatch now and then to make sure there is nothing out there not showing an AIS track”

Domestic

With 3 men in a 10ft x 10ft box for 24 hours it gets a bit stuffy and we are keen to get back to the cockpit but domestic life continues with bread making and meals.  Eating at a table with the boat moving this much is a blog item for another day but we get by and no-one got their dinner in their lap so far. 

Tuna risotto was produced in amongst all the chaos followed by the last of an apple crumble pie bought in Bermuda with some carnation milk (Mum, Jan, take note! This is something we have to try when I am home!

This is all a far cry from Sunday evening when we left Bermuda on a really hot day and Wills was given the project of building us a wind-scoop to funnel cool air down the saloon cabin hatch. He attached the sail cover below the mast and using the spare tiller rolled the other end up and secured it aft of the hatch guiding as much fresh air down below as possible.  If we tried using that now it would send a stream of cold Atlantic Ocean right on top of us but there should be plenty of beautiful and hot days to come so we will get to use it.

There is a stack of books on board and we are ploughing through them steadily but too much reading is asking for sea sickness so we are also playing cards (where Jez is losing badly at Gin) and catching up (if you can do that in advance because we have just had 2 solid nights in port) on some sleep.

Sailing

We have had a tiny scrap of the roller genoa out, locked in place with the spinnaker pole with it’s uphaul and downhaul.  This allowed us to run with the wind behind us when at its worst and still keep control of the boat.

There have been many thunderstorms around the boat associated with the low that has passed over and we have kept a watchful eye on them as you can see them from about 50 miles away.  One came over us yesterday afternoon and we scrambled to unplug the electrics as the wind speed rose significantly. 

We deployed the Sea Anchor (a seabrake) that Tim had bought in the UK after he, Jez and Ricky had previously crossed to Antigua in strong winds.  On that occasion we had once hit over 17 knots surfing on a wave and we didn’t want to repeat the experience as it ended badly.

After the refreshing soaking that we have occasionally had in the Caribbean it came as a bit of a culture shock to be wearing full oilies to do this in cold, heavy rain and with liberal amounts of seawater being flung into the cockpit.

The Seabreak was a great success, it slowed us down and kept everything stable and under control.  It is launched and recovered easily and we suspect it will be used several more times on the crossing.  It is now living in the stern cabin where it can be easily reached when we need it.

Natural History

Nothing has made it into the cabin or cockpit and for fishing we need about 20 knots less wind.

Occasional birds are out skimming the sea and we always watch to see if they will get caught  out by a wave – they never do.

Our floating plastic pasties have been identified as Portuguese Men of War.  We don’t fancy having one of these washed into the cockpit one dark night. 

Today’s responses

Harvey – well done, keep tracking the keys in and out.

Joe – Can we have text updates when the match is on then ?  And I wont believe it if you try to text me that Villa are winning 6:0

Lizzie – did you get onto the seawall with guides or was there too much wind and rain ?

Dave P – Yep.  It was always going to cost me.

James – I was really slow on strava but that was because I was foraging for somewhere to fill up on water and derv.  I think it’s going to take a while to get back to speed when home.

Dave S – can you have a look at Juno at some point and let me know she’s still there.

Thanks for update on Portuguese Men of War – I was trying to grab one – glad now that I missed.

Em – I know Monday’s are a bit exciting for you too with Guides, football and guitar all on the same night.  Hope it went well.

Richard Allen – Great to hear from you Rich! Glad you have enjoyed the blog and we hope to keep you entertained over the coming months! Hope to see you over the summer at one of the many festivals I intend on attending!

Tom – I thought this time of year was easy for teachers with all the kids doing exams…glad to hear the cycling is going well in preparation for London to Paris, hope the weather will be good!i

Emily_hope you get to ride your time trial tonight if give it some xx

Bye for now

Sadie