23:45:5N 063:44:1W

 

Friday 22nd April 2016

 

What Weather! A normal night on WD

Last night started with a beautiful moon lit night, the few clouds that were scudding across the sky were high-lighted as silver shapes. The sea was churning away as an inky blackness and the stars were clear despite the moon. 2000 hours, the wind was blowing fifteen knots and we were slipping along nicely, making our course to Bermuda. I was relaxed and reading my Kindle. Gradually I became aware of the dark ominous shape we were approaching. The squall hit quickly and with in minutes I was letting out the main sheet to bring us back to a sensible angle. I went below  and called Jen, we needed to reef. By the time we got back on deck the wind had dropped and the rain lashed down. I decided there was little need to reef now, so Jen returned to her bunk. The wind dropped to nothing then, came from the west, I started the engine to bring us back on track. The moon and stars were completely obliterated by the dark clouds. Gradually, the wind returned to blow from the east, it increased and I stopped the engine. But the wind just kept growing. As it peaked at thirty knots, I was cursing for not putting that reef in. Ten minutes on letting off the main before I could call Jen again. By that time Denis was awake too. Water rushing along the deck is a noisy business. We reefed, Jen getting a dowsing at the mast. The wind dropped to seventeen where it hovered for the rest of the night. It is now blowing from the north-east and we no longer need to tacking to make progress. Progress today is good, the wind now about fifteen knots and we have shaken the reefs out. This morning sun is shining, there are no clouds and we are bowling along between five and six knots. Perfect!

 

Miles travelled in the last 24 hours: 101 miles

Miles to Bermuda: 583 miles