Day 9: Mon 14/5/12 – More Chunde ring – 37:17.1N 46:00.2W

Watergaw
Alan Hannah/ Alison Taylor
Mon 14 May 2012 19:44

The winds have deserted us. We are nearing the end of our second day of continuous motoring. There has been nothing more than an occasional 10 knots, and mostly more like 5-8 knots, and it is from the NE – on the nose. Sailing towards the Azores is impractical in these winds, but we cannot carry on motoring all the way, still being 800 miles off, and having already motored for about 3 days in total.

 

I decanted 6 of our diesel cans into the starboard tank this morning – a slow and dirty job, but it whiled away the dawn hours – and we have 4 left that we want to keep for safety. That means when the tanks empty, we are either sailing or drifting!

 

Chris has forecast that we will get stronger winds later today, though still from the North Eastern sector, and they will stay in this quarter for the next few days. Once they arrive (please, soon) we will have to tack northwards and hope that the winds shift to allow us to shape a better course towards Flores or one of the more eastern islands later.

 

Dropped Stitches

 

Since we were motoring anyway, we turned our hands to some more repair work involving needles. The main sail patches that cover our stitching were lifting a little on the port side, so we dropped it to let Ali sit on the boom again. We are wary of anything that might weaken the sail since we may well get some weather before we finish, and the main is doing much of the work upwind.

 

In my inimitably clumsy way, I dropped the Speedy Awl on the coach roof trying to hand it to Ali on the boom. Now, if this were a teabag, or some potato peelings which were being slung overboard, you know that they would stick like the proverbial to the deck or roll into the scuppers from whence they would need to be scraped. The Speedy Awl: it bounced at my feet, leapt to the side deck, bounded cleanly again over the toe rail and launched itself into the deep - with a chuckle I thought. Though made with a wooden handle, there are metal bits and needles that obviously outweigh the buoyancy of the tool, so we failed to find it in our MOB search. Back to basics, and hand stitching with the sailor’s palm. Took more time, but Ali made a good job of it so the Strictly finals might well have a Celtic contender after all.

 

Following this, stitching up the crotch in my sailing trouser was a dawdle, and hopefully this repair will also survive the gale force winds.....

 

Encounters

 

For the first time today, we met another yacht close up. A Norwegian Ovni 365 crossed in front of us, motoring, and we made contact. You know, the usual stuff – do you come here often? The couple on board are clearly intrepid, having left St Martin 2 weeks ago en route to the Azores which will be at least another week away. They are then aiming for Ireland, round Scotland, and back to Norway after a year’s sailing sabbatical. We may see them in Flores or Horta, since the winds which shape our course will be doing the same to them.

 

Half an hour later we had a Northern Minke whale breach about 100 yards off our starboard side. He or she was travelling fast, and jinked sideways to avoid the fat sluggish boat in the way, before heading NW at a right old canter. Jim and I got a great view of its long pointed jaw and under throat colouring as it first rose, and we watched the bubbles and breaches for half a mile as it aimed for the Norwegian yacht – maybe it does not know that they still catch whales in Norway!

 

Many more of the usual Atlantic dolphins have graced us with their brief company in the last 24 hours, but we have also spotted some larger and darker ones. Sadly, we have not been able to identify them properly. The whale and dolphin book is getting a good airing!

 

Ali also claims a first, having had 2 cargo ships pass during her 3 hour watch last night. One is a cause for comment, but a doubler is worth a night watch treat (the small Crunchie bars are the current choice).

 

Watergaw