14:17.8N 59:37.2W Last update before landfall

Tatt av vinden
Bjørn Larsen
Mon 15 Dec 2008 18:08
We are approaching St Lucia doing a little more than 6 knots. Broad
reaching. Wind from Starboard. The seas are about 3 m high. We rolled in the
sails a little to have more comfort on board. What is half a knot? We are
almost there! 80 nM to go, just a little more than from the South-East coast
of Norway over Skagerak to Skagen in Denmark.

The crossing from Norway to Denmark was the first time I went so far from
the shore in my own boat, that I could not see land. About 65 nM. It was in
1984. No GPS, no trusworthy autopilot. I held the tiller and steered all the
way. Fixing my eyes on the compass all through the night. I was 38. I was
thrilled.

Wander how I will feel tonight? A passage just 2800 nM longer than my first
crossing of Skagerak. Autopilot and windsteering did the dirty work of
course on thei trip, and we had dayly happy hours. Will it be different?
Definitely. I guess I will get pretty high!

Most night watches have been a little boring. Eva though had some
entertainment last night. First she saw a light just behind the horizon. No
AIS. Nothing on the radar. But of course, the moon does not have an AIS, and
does not show up on our little radar! She had a good laugh at herself,
mistakeing it for a ships navigation lights. An hour or so later she had
made herself a cup of hot chocolate, and was about to enjoy it in the peace
of the cockpit, beautifully bathed in moonshine. Splash! A flying fish had
dived out of the water and got some tailwind, then over the windward side of
the cockpit. But alas for the flying fish, the cockpit of our Sun Odyssey 45
is pretty wide, so it landed in Eva's lap on the lee side. She has assured
me that the story was more fun for me than for her!

We are now looking very much forward to St Lucia, to meet all our friends
from Las Palmas and Gibraltar and the Med. Exchange experiences. Have a
glass or two of cold champagne, maybe some more rhum punches, and then a
long sleep. Will need the sleep, because we will probably pass the finishing
line around four a clock in the morning, local time, and we will possibly
have no more than 3 hours sleep each before we are to call "ARC FINISH LINE"
on channel 77, approximately an hour before we are there.

Then explore St Lucia. The expectations are high.

We shall sum up some experiences from the crossing some time tomorrow. But
remeber, we are now on UTC minus 4. (We changed the time on the ship for the
last time today.) In Norway the time is now 5 hours ahead of us.