14:50.165N 44:00.21W
Tioram 4
Tina & Tony
Fri 4 Dec 2009 12:12
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Friday 4th December, I think!
Well yesterday was certainly a day or highs, lows
and oh so maybes, which kept me away from the blog writing, so apologies that
news from the good ship Tioram couldn't brighten up the continual gloom that we
hear is blighting the UK at the moment!
Let's be upbeat and tell you about the positives,
we had good 24 hour run upto noon yesterday (approx 170 miles) solely under
reefed gennie. I know it doesn't sound much canvas to have up, but this
combination certainly helped combat the energy sapping roll that we've endured
for what seems to be days. We still managed 6-7 knots so we continued on with
it. Our main rival, Mabi Too, is still behind us albeit less so after our slow
progress on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Yesterday afternoon (Thursday), we
decided to get out the cruising chute and put in a serious run until
nightfall. All went well and we were topping 9-10 knots and all the helms were
having great fun under slightly cloudy (yet still hot and humid) skies, surfing
down what have become steady Atlantic rollers (3-4m) and the multicoloured
canvas constantly powered up in the 20-25 knots of wind. Tioram was
certainly on a charge (the rum punch was certainly calling!).
The problems began mid afternoon, when the strop
holding the tack (front of the sail) of the chute partially broke and the furler
shot up by about 2 feet. Not a particular issue we thought and just secured it
with a second line and the charge continued to almost dusk. We'd been tracking
some squalls on the radar all afternoon and with nightfall approaching we
decided it was time to bring the beast down whilst we still had light; a simple
task with 2 people to furl it and another to ease the sheet until it is fully
retracted....ha ha ha, we wish!!! Tony and I were furling it and had half of the
sail in, when the metal furler decided it was the weakest link and gave up,
allowing all the sail to unravel and power up again. Still not a problem, just
treat it as a spinnie, unclip the tack, lower the halyard, sheet it in and bring
it into the cockpit and repack it. Our only concern was that connected to the
front was an extremely heavy bit of metal that if we released would fly around
and most likely clobber (highly technical term!) one of us on the head, so the
decision was made as the furling system would need repairing in the caribbean
anyway, that we just cut it and leave it on the deck leaving the sail to fly.
Good call and the sail was saved, packed and is now ready for repair in St
Lucia.
All of that probably only took 20 minutes, but was
constant physical activity, a bit of a shock after not having to do much in the
previous days!! They say that all stories finish with a happy ending, well the
morale of all on board certainly peaked when Moira opened her stash of Dairy
Milk along with numerous kit kats.
On the kit kat front, it seems that we over
estimated the numbers that we needed and think that we could continue through
the Canal and transit the Pacific and still have enough to reach Oz. You may be
surprised to hear that the prized commodity is custard, either ready made or
powdered, the crew is certainly not fussy. The other night, we had a freshly
baked Banana and Mars Bar cake for dessert served with the necessary
custard....the only problem is it leaves us only with one more carton and 5-6
days left....can anyone arrange for the RAF to make a supply drop along our
route!
Anyway I digress, and back to yesterdays oh so
maybe incident, life isn't dull out here! Prior to our cruising chute drop, we'd
decided to bring in the ever present fishing line after another fish free day -
so much for all of these sure fire techniques given by the tackle shop in Las
Palmas! Just as Mike starts to wind it in, we can see a silver flash in the
distance on the end of the line.....have we caught our dinner, will there be a
fresh tuna in the dog bowl tonight.....unfortunately after a couple of metres
the mightly beast managed to get itself off the lure and our hopes were dashed
again. Slightly prematurely the call was made and the other watch were on deck
and you could visibly see the red mist come down in Tony's eyes as he prepared
himself. The fish in the Atlantic must have all heard about the perils of being
caught by Clubber Bate, so will do anything to escape!
Last night was fairly calm, the main went back up,
poled out the gennie and Tioram charged on through the darkness at over 8 knots.
With a front coming through it was very dark for most of the night, the only
light coming from an electrical storm which looked like fireworks going off
within the clouds; not close enough to give any concerns just quite spectacular
to watch.
This morning, we've changed time again back to GMT
- 3 hours (EST +2 hours). It was supposed to be yesterday, but that would have
meant that the same watch as before got the extra hour in bed (not that Mike,
Tina or myself were complaining!). Latest eta is 5.5 days based on current speed
etc, I think that makes it Wednesday or Thursday next week.
I think that's about it for today, time to go and
set another couple of lures out (new ideas from our shore team in Nassau, thanks
Gav) and remain optimistic of fresh fish for later!
Have a good Friday and enjoy that well deserved end
of week drink(s). All of us are now looking forward to this time next week when
we'll be doing the same, those ice cold beers and rum punches will taste so
good!
Love to all at home,
Mike, Pat, Moira, Al, Tina and
Skip
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