Tuesday 9 June,  2015

North Atlantic Ocean  38 25.1N 31 43.0W

Today's Blog by David  (Time zone: BST -3.0; UTC -2.0)

SOMEONE having made his  peace on board,  and  Nellie having now  gone off to the circus, normal service has resumed aboard Serendipity.  Normal ?

We left Bermuda into the teeth of a stiff easterly breeze since when the wind has veered all the way round, boxing the compass, and is now back steadfastly in the east  as we lie about 140miles due west of Horta, Faial, The Azores.   (normal a  1. Wind coming directly from where we want to go. ^{Note 1}  ).

Having  left Bermuda about 24 hours after Yantina, an Oyster 56, it  was with much celebration that we overhauled her early on the 7^th day out and left her in our wake.  The wind was expected to veer northerly later, then NE,  so we tactically were taking advantage of a free wind to sail above the rhumb line to better position ourselves when the veer  came.  Imagine our consternation , 36 hours later the wind having veered ENE, forcing us to sail SE, when Yantina hove into view, to the south and ahead of us having simply turned on the iron topsail and motored directly at Horta. Hmph!  We left him again, trailing in our wake, on Sunday evening – and are now pursuing another tactical initiative motor sailing NE on starboard tack to get ahead of the wind backing overnight.   Hmmm.. Something tells me Yantina will be in Horta before us! (normal a  2. The best laid  plans come to naught.)

Have now replaced the freezer controller with  our spare, the freezer seems to behaving itself for the time being.  Generator also has been behaving mainly because we have been on port gybe for most of the last few days. No peace though;  the microwave door has come apart and the glass fallen out (fortunately it didn’t break).  This was a real pain because the microwave  contains the convection oven which we rely on for cooking. [The oven on the  gas cooker (a Force 10 Professional) has never got hot enough to roast/bake with].  The whole door front appears to have been held together only by double sided sticky tape.  So we had a happy couple of hours effecting a jury rig so that the microwave/oven remained usable.  (normal a  3. Holding the whole project together with sticking plaster).

Aahh, ..yes! The door from the after heads came adrift today too!  The door is heavy, made of perhaps 30mm MDF veneered with oak. Basically after c45,000 miles, the screws in the hinges have lost their grip in the MDF and the door  had a life of its own.  The judicious application of a couple of safety matches and epoxy have sorted it – at least pro temps.  (normal a  3. Holding the whole project together with sticking plaster).

And while I have been writing a leak has been reported in the forward heads hatch, dropping salt water onto its sleeping incumbent. We have now hove to and Terry, (being the crew with the vested interest), is now seeking to reshape the old window seal using the heat from Simone’s hair dryer.  (normal a  3. Holding the whole project together with sticking plaster).

Forgot to mention our disappointment re snorkelling in Bahamas. Our last dip was at Highborne Cay.  Rose Island, near Nassau promised more but it was too windy for snorkelling while we were there.  We thought we might do some in Bermuda but it was even windier there,  so it didn’t happen.  No matter we thought -  perhaps the Azores???  Apropos of nothing, (no, really), the water temperature in the Caribbean was circa 28^oC. 1000 miles north in the Bahamas it was 26^oC; by the time we had gone nearly 1000 miles east it was 24^oC in Bermuda.  Approaching the Azores, the water temperature is presently 19.5^oC  Perhaps the Azores??? Not bloody likely!!! (see normal a  2.)

A note on the sartorial front.   Shorts and ‘T’ Shirts remain the order of the day but at night it is decidedly nippy. Fleeces are common place but shorts have been universally in evidence. This morning, however,  SOMEONE (for it was he) admitted to having worn long trousers last night. Really!!!  (normal a  4. You can always rely on SOMEONE to let  the side down!).

xxxxxxx000000000xxxxxx

Notes

1. See also  Sailing n. 1. Wind coming directly from where we want to go.)