19:52.308N 26:05.65W
Tioram 4
Tina & Tony
Fri 27 Nov 2009 19:03
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Friday 27th November, 15:00
Well you find us here on Tioram on this Friday
afternoon in very good spirits; firstly I have just had an uninterupted sleep
for 4 hours and secondly (and more importantly) we've just received the latest
position reports from shoreside race control (thanks Jane). We're 12th and ahead
of our main rival Lorenzo on the Italian boat, Mabi Two and only 14 miles behind
10th in our division!
The past day has been a good one and seen us cover
170 + miles in great conditions. Most of the day, as with previous
ones, saw us with full main and poled out gennie surfing down some
impressive atlantice rollers (not as big as before!) and hand steered for
most of the day and night as the autopilot couldn't cope with several rogue
waves that came and thumped us off on the stern quarter. During the night, we
finally headed west, not fully intentional
but the wind came around and we took that as the sign to head out into the open
blue - they say that you should head south until the butter melts around
the Verdes, but if we went that far it wouldn't just be the butter melting
before we'd even crossed the pond!
Last nights watches were quite entertaining (for
us, at least) as we had two other yachts in close proximity for a few hours.
Seeing some lights on the horizon rather than just staring into
the dark abyss is quite comforting and reassuring that we're not alone out here.
Had an entertaining chat with with one of them on the VHF, Woollamaloo (Oceanis
50), also taking part in the ARC and was running with their spinnie up, hence
explaining their rate of acceleration past us! Spoke to them again
later, as we caught them up, to ask how much anchor chain they needed to
get a good hold out here, after a slight pause they came back with approx 4000m,
well they were running with their anchor light on and deserved some abuse for
that. The light went off fairly quickly and the Aussies on board took it in the
spirit it was intended, but I'm sure they'll get their own back either out here
or at the other end!! Night watches are becoming more comfortable and most are
able to wear shorts and a fleece, so fingers crossed the foulies that were vital
in the first few days can be packed away (hopefully that hasn't just cursed
it!).
The 4am watch is not a particular favourite amongst
anyone on board and everyone on our watch deals with it in different
ways; Tina needs to sing, Mike needs a cuppa, but I think everyone will testify
that I'm not my best for a good 30 minutes into this one no matter how much
caffeine I drink!! And I thought that I'd been preparing well with all those
nights out til dawn in Atlantis!!
Fishing finally started in earnest just before dawn
this morning, after hearing that Woollamaloo caught 2 tuna and a dorado on the
first day. Nothing yet, but keep your fingers crossed for us as we've just eaten
the last of the fresh meat for lunch today. No pressure!
Anyway hope you
all have a good Friday night whatever you are doing, it's time for us to put
some pressure on the guys in front!
Love to all from Al, Mike, Moira, Tina, Tony and
Pat
- Will try and post some more recent ones over the
coming days.
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