Wednesday 23 August 16:15
The Adventures of Tin Man
Andy Topp & Steve Arnold
Wed 23 Aug 2023 15:16
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35:02.52N
012:05.0W what three words -
eggshells.struggling.pricetag
Yesterday was rounded off in style as we enjoyed the
cocktails Beth sent us, accompanied by another stunning sunset over the
starboard beam. Today started just as well with an early-morning dolphin escort,
including one excitable member of the pod who jumped six feet clear of the water
several times. No matter how many times we see them we never get tired of
climbing up to the foredeck to watch them more closely.
We're nearly 24 hours into the new watch rota and are
beginning to get to grips with it. The new system is four hours on watch, four
hours off, four hours on, then eight hours off. The idea is it gives everyone an
opportunity for eight hours of uninterrupted sleep each day.
There have been some short-term winners and losers
though: Steve and Andy both woke fresh-faced after eight hours sleep overnight,
whereas Will was faced with a punishing schedule of 10pm-2am on watch and then
up again for 6am until 10am. My eight hour rest periods all fall during daytime
hours, so sleeping is difficult.
The schedule rotates over a 6 day cycle, so over the
course of the Atlantic crossing it will work out fairly with everybody having
had their share of day and night shifts. But with only around 3 days until we
expect to be in Gran Canaria there isn't enough time for us all to experience
the full pattern of shift and rest times on this trip.
We're now further south than anywhere in mainland
Europe, and are about as close to Africa as we are to Portugal. The wind has
stayed more or less steady and we're approaching 24 hours under sail without
having had to use the engine. We've been testing out different sail
configurations and practicing rigging them - literally 'learning the ropes'. The
asymmetric spinnaker is flying - its first outing on this trip - and it seems to
be working well as we're making 5-6 knots over ground from a fairly light 11
knots of breeze.
Our course is further west than we'd like to be - we're
heading more towards Tenerife than Gran Canaria - but sailing is partly about
following the wind rather then rigidly sticking to a fixed line. We will be able
to correct it as we get closer. It can sometimes be faster to take a less direct
route to the destination that maximises your use of the wind to achieve a faster
speed overall, rather than going in a perfectly straight line but missing the
best wind and travelling more slowly.
Steve has been busy making bread to go with tonight's
dinner. It's proving now in a bowl on the saloon table (though, by his own
admission, all it's proving is that he doesn't know how to make bread!). All the
food on the trip has been excellent thanks to Steve and Andy's huge effort
provisioning and batch-cooking meals beforehand. But freshly-baked bread is a
particular treat.
Sam
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