Atlantic crossing. From Bermuda. 8
Thisbe
Wed 6 Jun 2007 16:25
|
Monday, day before departure was
spent reprovisioning and doing final maintenance jobs. Richard and Joel have the
French habit of half a loaf of bread with every meal which presents a bit of a
problem. Limited fridge space is the controlling factor but we hope to
make the outside stores last as long as possible. Lessons
learned on the first leg were useful but only time will tell. The fan
belt was shrieking every time we
started the engine on the final run up and was found to be badly shredded. None
of the belts in the spares kit fitted so entailed a bit of running around to
find some. Michel did his action man stuff and dived under the boat to clear the
log impeller, also removed some fishing line from the propeller. All done and
dusted, fuel and water replenished and customs formalities completed ready for
Tuesday am departure. We thoroughly enjoyed our time on the island, had a nice
rest and are now excitedly anticipating the jump off for the crossing.
Tuesday, up and off
at 7am. The strong south westerly that has been blowing for the last couple
of days has died to 5 knots which is disappointing. Another example of missing
the 'sailors wind', go when you have the chance is always the rule. Motored for
5 hours and are now picking up eight to ten on the beam, better than
nothing. The island disappeared into the mist very quickly and we are now
slopping along in hazy sunshine, Azores here we come.
The wind improved as the day wore on
and by evening we were averaging about 5 knots, not too good for such a large
boat but good enough. We spent some time sail trimming, poling out the Genoa
etc. which helped a lot. A steady nights sailing resulted in a run of 125 miles
by 7am this morning (Tuesday). We are running a shift pattern of 2 hours on up
till 10, then one and a half till 4am which seems to be working well. Bit of a
roll on the beam which is a little uncomfortable but not too bad. Michel
is a bit frustrated as he is a speed merchant, he has done everything
possible to squeezethe most out of the conditions so that's that. All in all a
good first 24 hours. Still no fish
!
Manny
|