Day 4
Shalan
Thu 24 Nov 2016 00:37
Ahoy dear readers!
What's new today since last writing? Well we continued under main and genoa into the morning. Gaetan managed to fix the shackle pin on the code 0 so that was back up by sunrise. Throughout the day we headed south on 200 degrees (the closest we good get). The sea was really messy with a fair bit of northerly swell which was throwing the boat around a bit. The autopilot struggled to cope with it at times so we actually did some helm work today. The wind picked up to around 22 knots and with the swell it became a bit uncontrollale so we furled the code 0 and brought out the genoa. We didn't want to continue directly south so tried putting a gybe in but that brought us on a course nearer to 300 degrees. Thankfully the wind shifted and we gybed again and have held a course of 240 degrees for the last 6 hours. The wind dropped to 17 knots and we put the code 0 back out. We were thinking of running the spinnaker but with swell and going into the night we thought better not. Also the ARC weather report gave squals in this zone.
We also heard on the ARC update that SY Noah was taking on water and all had to evacuate. We hope they're all safe and well. And that another vessel hit a whale but they have not sustained any damage.
What else to report? We took the panels off to investigate the clunking noise still coming from the rudder which was more noticeable in the swell. We're quite certain its nothing to do with the rudder itself or the bearings but actually the hydraulic ram. The rudder was also quite heavy under helm today with the swell, so we think the cables have been overtightened in Las Palmas. We're not going to start adjusting them now but leave it till we get to St. Lucia.
Richie also enjoyed a good bath on the side deck today while furling the code 0, A wave hit the beam gave him a good washing down. 10 stars for safety, he was clipped on. 11 stars for a good laugh!
On the AIS we can see Fourth Dimension and Infragranti to the North of us, they caught us back up a bit when we put a gybe in but hopefully tomorrow we'll blast away under the spinny!
I also appear to be the mosquito repellant for everyone else. We're over 500 miles from land and I'm still getting bitten! Ol's had a couple on his legs too. So I think we have a stowaway. I have fumigated our cabin with an entire can of fly killer in an attempt to erradicate the blighter but if i've got one more bite tomorrow I'm doing the entire boat and bildges!
That's about all there is to report today. Sadly no pics today as nobody had their camera out.
Oh yeah.....Fish Update:::: STILL NO BLOODY FISH!!!