Wet and lumpy going

Scott-Free’s blog
Steve & Chris
Tue 13 Oct 2015 15:37

21:21.56S 167:47.971E

 

Tuesday 13th October 2015

 

Distance run Day 1:  152 nmiles (in 27 hours)

 

The sea continued to be lumpy when we finally cleared the island, but the swell began to come from a consistent direction, which made it a little more comfortable.  With winds between 20 and 30 knots from ahead of the beam, we took a lot of water on the deck and unfortunately into the cockpit, making it very wet going.  We have been in full oilies ever since we left;  the only dry(ish) place in the cockpit is tucked right up under the sprayhood.

 

Neither of us fancied eating anything, or even drinking a cup of tea all day yesterday, but as the wind and seas eased a little overnight and it became more comfortable, we both enjoyed an early morning cuppa.  Just before midday we lost the wind as we passed north of Mare, one of the Loyalty Islands, and passed into its wind shadow.  We put the engine on and motorsailed for an hour until we left the lee of the island and the wind returned to 20+ knots.  At our current speed we may have to slow down to avoid reaching the Havanna Pass into the lagoon at the southern end of New Caledonia in darkness and mid-tide.