Wind 'n Drips

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Sat 4 Jan 2020 02:40

Noon Position: 36 15.6 S  155 10.1 E
Course: ESE   Speed: 6 knots
Wind: NNE, F5 fresh breeze
Sea: moderate.  Swell: NE 1.5 m
Weather: mostly sunny, warm
Day’s run: 150 nm

We have worked our way past the East Australia current but the wind has remained fresh from the northeast making for a wet bouncy ride. For most of the last 24 hours Sylph has had two reefs in the main and a couple of rolls in the headsail. We shook out one reef for a few hours this morning but the wind is freshening again so the second reef is now back in. The forecast is for the wind to freshen further as it backs into the northwest ahead of a frontal system and a southerly change that will overtake us sometime tomorrow.

Lots of water cascading over the deck has revealed a drip in the dorade vent above the saloon table that I thought I had fixed long ago. Another little project for New Zealand. I think I might weld the vents shut when we give Sylph her 60th anniversary refit later this year as they are not original, are excess to requirement, and are just plain ugly. I think they were added a long time ago for cruising Queensland’s tropical waters. However, I like to sail oceans in the higher latitudes so the vents are mostly closed off.

Kate wrote a poem while on watch last night:

Second day came surly
White wash and windy
Tracking drips
and slips hit hips
hard surfaces
feeling each yard
plates and provisions
gimbal trajectory
and the spectre
of disaster leaps
to lips faster
Than tea scalds
and crew scolding
It’s all a bit hit and miss.

….

Kate retains her sense of humour while Oli does what cats do best … sleep.

All is well.