52:14.3N 34:13.4W
Sula Sula III
Mark
Wed 12 Jul 2023 12:22
20.00hrs.This is a bit more like the North Atlantic I imagined.....an endless dull grey sky meeting an inky sea; the low cloud adds an oppressive foreboding. There are no warnings of the gusts, thankfully they are not fierce but the whole atmosphere has changed.
00.00hrs. wind has been up to 15 gusting 20 but now back down to 11 gusting 15... Now on a broad reach under stay sail and 3/4 main...don't want to have to shorten sail in the dead of night. OK ...so we are back down from 7 knots but I will sleep easier even just under 6.
Midday 12th. For the first time both models are a long way out. The European model says we should be in 15 knots and the aggregated predict wind model says 13.... I would settle for either as I have 6 to 8 knots.... And struggling to make 4.5 over the ground....and I must have at least half a knot of current?
Anyway, Plotter says we did 132 miles in last 24 hrs.... The chart says 122; just shows how much wandering Augustnot does while I am sleeping. Talking of her, she played a nasty trick on me earlier.....I was having a leisurely coffee (what would life be like without an aeropress?) When we started luffing until the sails were flapping....and not a murmur from Augustnot....she was either on strike or had fallen asleep. Either way I gave her a spell while trying to work out a course I could balance Sula on....and when I tentatively put her back on she was working just fine....Phew!!