ARC Log - Day 16 - Sunsets and Rig Checks
Sulana's Voyage
Alan and Sue Brook
Mon 6 Dec 2010 22:01
As we prepared for the night, yesterday evening, we were treated to a fabulous sunset show, on not just the Western, but also the Eastern Front. It was beautifully and subtly gently pink astern, just as it was becoming a rich golden, fiery red ahead. Quite a show!
Overnight a tiny, baby squid made the fatal error of leaping out in fright at our bow wave and landed irretrievably onto our anchor deck locker lid. We can understand how flying fish get to land on deck, but had no idea such tiny creatures could jump so high, too.
We continue to enjoy the fabled trades as we race along on a spinnaker reach at 8/9 knots logging 183 miles in a 24 hour run. (We now realise that any displacement yacht that does 200/24 is pulling something really special - but we are working on it). Currently we are 845 miles from St Lucia and since we have been measuring everything in "Fastnets" of 605 miles a piece, in a day and a half we will be down to one, where we started with five. It really does begin to feel like the home straight.
For those following our fleet position, unfortunately our yellow brick position transmitter has bitten the dust and the position shown on the chart is the one we radioed in 24 hours before. So we are some 180 miles further along in the direction of St Lucia than it shows, which might improve our standings. Competition between us and our nearest friends in the fleet is starting to hot up, not on overall corrected time results, but on who will be first to the rum punches!
James went up the mast this afternoon to check for chafe and was happy to report that all looks OK up there; it gave him a chance to have a close look at our "Sula" gannet emblem on the spinnaker and take the attached pictures. On the aft deck can be seen Sue and Peter whilst Fi sunbathes, as usual, (as if her colour could now be any browner). Alan can be seen at the bow, by the anchor windlass, holding the tail of the spinnaker halyard that hauled James up.
At lunchtime, as we crossed the 45th degree of longitude, we put our clocks back another hour, so we are now two hours ahead of you. We will have to move back yet again at the 60th and then again, as we approach the finish, because eventually the time difference to correct on board is four hours.
All the best again for tonight, from Peter and Alan.
