Atlantic crossing from Bermuda. 13
Thisbe
Thu 14 Jun 2007 19:07
|
Wednesday was a pretty wet and
miserable day and the rain lasted well into the night. Blowing from astern the
rain soaks everything in the cockpit and blows down the companion way. Truly
'wet bum and no fish' conditions. Cant really complain though, the wind has
remained steady from the same direction though a bit fluky at times reducing our
speed to under 4 knots. Not always easy to remain upbeat when you feel wet
and mouldy but doing it ok. The generator problem has been solved, the impeller
for the cooling system was broken which was a surprise as it was replaced very
recently. All fixed and running ok. The prop problem investigation, which was
scheduled for this morning, was postponed again, the wind picked up steadily
during the morning so it was thought best to press on while we could. (possibly
saving Michel from becoming Orca's breakfast?)
Lunchtime today (Thursday
14th) we're bowling along at 7 plus knots in bright sunshine, little
fluffy clouds drifting lazily across the sky, the sea back to a nice blue/green,
everyone drying their clothes and bedding, taking photographs, lazing about,
preparing a nice lunch. Perfect tradewind conditions but rolling like hell, how
things can change. Missed another fish when the reel started to scream
early this morning despite the brake being full on. Joel had filled the spool as
far as possible with 100lb breaking strain line, a wire trace strong enough to
lift a car at the business end. Whatever grabbed it must have been very big,
coupled with the 8 knot boat speed it took about 5 seconds to disappear with the
whole lot. The truth is the equipment is not up to the demands of fishing in
these conditions. We have now abandoned the rod and replaced it with a hand
line, Moby Dick, be warned !
Distance to go now down to 432 miles,
making very good time so Sunday arrival at the Azores still looking good.
Manny
ps Just had another look uptop, we
are now booming along in 30knots, a dramatic seascape of white horses all
around, awesome.
|