Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
The Adventures of Allegria & Crew
Peter Lansdale
Sun 2 Jun 2024 19:47
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34:45.1N
049:56.7W
Saturday night was
waved off into the past when Sean finished his watch at midnight....fairly
uneventful, but still including the excitement of frisky wind/seas
needing a reduction of sails before handing over at midnight to
Peter.
Sunday brought unpredicted and unexpected strong
winds and heavy rain ...which resulted in a very busy shift, during which he
gybed the boat and rolled in the mainsail to cope and then dealt with the
resultant chaos. Time to hand over to L for the 3-6 am slot (me - the
worst person in the world to be greeted with a 3 am downpour on a rolling
deck) I was so proud of myself just being able to dress myself in my
oilies.
The sail plan changes instigated by P to cope with
the elements put us off course, so I was constantly watching the chart plotter
and wondering where we might be headed. At least it stopped raining but it
was nonetheless the coolest and dampest night thus far.
The approach toward 6am brought another weather
change and an anxious Skipper on deck in PJs! All change again...mainsail
rolled in and our heroic Skipper (by now suitably attired|) up on the foredeck
armed with multiple ropes to do battle with the 2 poles attached to
the mast which are released and put out at right angles on either side such that
sails can be "goosewinged"...exactly as it sounds, one sail at right angles on
either side . A tricky job which on any other morning would have been set
up against the backdrop of a glorious sunrise...but not today. Sean joined the
party, so 2 able bodied seamen prancing about - tied on of course - while I
watched the proceedings from the cockpit, pulling various ropes as
instructed. I did however save the day all on my own by providing tea,
coffee and hot buttered bagels.
As ever, more changes necessitated more shenanigans
with yet more sail/pole reconfigurations..but it is now warm and sunny and we
are heading in the right direction, though at a far slower pace than is
ideal. It is now 4.30 pm, Skipper is having a well earned rest,
afternoon tea has been overtaken by another hour change (every 15 degrees
longitude) and we are 1043 NM from our next Way Point, which is outside of our
destination of Horta in the Azores.
Whatever next????
Sean says "Hello" I say "Goodbye"
(sorry, Beatles flashback, courtesy of Sean's playlist)
No. 3
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