Noon Wednesday 17th 30:00N 46:40W
Bellone
Wed 17 May 2023 15:24
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I had a whole night in bed last night. We were becalmed
so after completing the log at 21.00 hrs I turned off all the alarms on my phone
and went to bed, and woke up at 05.30 hrs this morning. To calm, grey,
drizzly morning. However, since then, the wind is at a respectable 14 kts and
the sun is peeking through the clouds.
My ETA, based on current information and experience will
be the weekend after next. We have just over 1 000 miles to go.
My wife asked me this morning as we we're having a chat
on the sat phone, who we is "we. We are Bellone and myself. There are two
of us involved in this!
Reefing the sails is making them smaller, to match the
conditions we happen to be in at any time. It's a bit like and engine and
gearbox in a car. The engine is the wind, and the gearbox are the different
sizes of sail.
The other night, during the 'near gale' as the
conditions are classed on the Beaufort scale, I reefed the main quite early. The
problem was I couldn't discern between the sea and sky as it was all dark,
cloudy and wet. I could see a few meters from the boat but that's all. Without
being able to see the conditions, it's easy to kid yourself it's not to bad but
when I decided to lower the main completely, it was hard work as I'd left it too
late.
As the saying goes, 'if you're thinking about it
(reefing), you're too late.'
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