16:29.696S 036:42.391W

Spindrift
David Hersey
Fri 14 Dec 2007 13:14

13/12/07

 

Afternoon.  I tell Nik we’ll be there Monday or Tuesday at the latest and his reply is “Great, what day is today?”  I only know because I keep the log and wear a watch which gives the day as well as the date and even then I have to concentrate to figure out when my next watch is.  And still the tack goes on.

 

We just saw a very large jellyfish which was either a “By the Wind Sailor” or a “Portuguese Man-o-war.”  He has a large crest protruding above the water  acting as a sail.  He came quite close but passed quickly as he was going down wind. No time to grab a camera.

 

Last night Nik left his laptop on the saloon table and I’m afraid during my watch I heard an agonizing  thump and when I went below I found it on the floor on the other side of the saloon.  Although it started up this morning it now seems to be totally dead. Hopefully he’ll find a PC Guru in Rio.

 

Steve found a jar of Chicken Tikka Marsala sauce which he was going to use on the chicken tonight but he’s decided to save it for Christmas. Whatever that means.

About 7:30 the fishing line we’d all forgotten about suddenly whirls into life.  We all rush to our fishing stations but it was just a nibble not a proper bite.

 

Nik and I chat about his school and the next few years and he confides that on this trip he’s “getting two flies for one.” i.e. not only is he sailing, he’s improving his English.  I’m not quite sure about the fly metaphor.

Sotiris as has become his habit has had his midday meal alone and watches in the cockpit while the rest of us have our supper.

 

14/12/07   9AM

A quiet night. Not many squalls. Boat speed down a bit. I wake to the sound of winches and furlers as the Asymmetric Spinnaker is set.  It had a double wrap when furled which means part of the sail is wrapped around the furler in one direction and the other part in the opposite direction so it takes a bit of persuading to open which eventually it does.  This seems to be a feature of this system when furling in a lot of wind.  Anyway we got it up let’s hope we can get it down.  The Wind is supposed to go ENE which would work well for this sail.  I hope the Wind has read the same weather report.

 

11: AM

 

24 Hour Run 197 miles. 595 miles to go. Wind ENE force 4/5 ETA 17/12 afternoon, although we are currently making a bit of Easting which we will have to make up.