Day 9 ARC+ 27th November 2015
Shelena
Phil Scourfield
Fri 27 Nov 2015 23:50
Just finished one of the best meals of our trip being Helen's pre-prepared
sweet and sour pork with rice, sweet corn and mushrooms. Always satisfying
to enjoy evening meal at sea as darkness falls. We have a schedule as most
boats do. We follow it closely because if you fail to do so, then whom do
you need to awaken to relieve you of the watch? So even with just four
persons a rota is required. I had just begun my watch at 2300 hrs when the
genoa sheet suddenly broke (again). I quickly attempted to furl the flapping
genoa but the winch is slow, and the sail large. Accordingly, the sail was
only just starting to furl when the wind wrapped the genoa around the
forestay. This is a problem to manage so I needed to call Dave and Petri to
get out of bed immediately. Manhandling a sail is impossible because the
wind is too strong. Discussion was to leave the sail twisted to the foresail
until morning. Somehow that was not going to work for me. After scratching
of head the answer was clear. Use the wind to untangle the sail. After all
it was responsible for this mess. So a subtle change of course had the
desired affect and before our eyes the sail started to reverse the tangle.
(So glad I have excellent bow deck and spreader lights to see what is going
on in the dark). It was not long before the sail was under control, and we
could reattach the sheet to the genoa. We are puzzled why we have so much
difficulty with chafe. It is becoming a daily occurrence. I rather fancy
that the pole has a part missing. On close inspection we do indeed appear to
have a sharp edge to the nose of the pole. What to do? Traditionally,
leather is often used to inhibit chafe. I had no leather, or so I thought,
until Dave piped up do you have an old leather belt? Indeed I do, and so
that belt is now secured to the pole end to help prevent chafe. Father
Christmas please note!
All fun on Shelena. Day 9 already and we managed a modest 181 Nm. The wind
is remarkably constant from E NE to ESE at about 16 to 18 knots. Having a
fairly heavy yacht exceeding 25 tons, Shelena prefers 22-28 knots. This has
happened only on few occasions when the squalls pass us by. Time for bed
before my watch at 0200. We forgot to alter our clocks but will do so
tomorrow after the watch. That will bring us to St Lucian time and 4 hours
behind the UK. We know to change the time by reference to our longtitude.
Every 15 degrees is another hour back in time as we passage west. Actual
clock change is 7.5 degrees either side of 15, 30, 45 and 60 degrees etc.
Meaning actual clock change at 7.5 degrees west, 22.5 and 37.5 degrees and
52.5 degrees west. We are now at 54 degrees west so minus 4 hours. This is
getting boring. Goodnight!
Phil
Shelena