21:00.3N 029:27.9W
as the sun set on a cracking day which had seen us all very social in teh
cockpit most of teh day the wind started to much around. it usually does
this around sunset and sunrise. it picks up, gets a bit gusty and changes
direction. generally you don't make decisions at this time as the wind
direction is unreliable. so we sat and waited as the wind kept pushing us
up and up. all of a sudden we were sailing above 270 degress. that is to
say we were headed north of west. away from our goal of teh tropics. i
hoped this was a temporary thing and i would be able to bear away. i had
teh 8-10 watch so sat in teh dark watching the dim numbers on my red
display hoping the wind would go back round.
it didnt. we kept heading north.
MIke must have felt the yacht was not happy or maybe i was grumbling too
loudly as he appeared in teh companionway and utterd the usual words
"everyting alright?". we had a chat and after a short natter we decided to
gybe the yacht and head south and west.
easy huh.
standby...
furl genoa (fully powered up so not that easy.
go forward to release boom preventer line and clip to rail ready for next
use as the genoa pole preventer
drop pole and disconnect aft and fwd guys. clip to rail for use as main
boom preventer
remove halyard from pole, secure pole to deck
move aft to cockpit.
center main track. check we've done everthing ready to gybe the main sail
(breeze has helpfully increased to close to 20kts.
drive the boat deep downwind and winch in the mainsheet
time teh gybe for teh bottom of a wave to get least wind
'bang' main goes over, dump main sheet and settle boat on course.
drop track down and secure.
go forward and reconnect main boom preventer. winch on tight
swap pole over to new side
reconnect the halyard and fwd and aft guys to the genoa pole
put genoa sheet in end of pole
pole to mast and lift up to level. drag pole aft and set the guys tight.
unfurl the genoa to second reef point and winch in genoa sheet.
tidy cockpit. check all settings.
make a brew.
then sit back and realize that maybe teh breeze has come back round and
you could do with gybing again. maybe tomorrow. for now we sail south!!
this morning has seen the usual water maker and engine running to recharge
batteries. the autopilot is being used a lot more and i'm happy to run the
engine a couple hours each day to provide the power. we have plenty of
diesal.
bacon sarni's for lunch and a chicken curry for dinner. its the last of
the fresh chicken.
weather getting lighter so looking forward toseeing the updated weather.
All well onboard.
Dave is rubbish at washing up by the way...
James, MIke, Des, Kirsty, Dave.
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