24:08N 18:25W Blue Argolis ‘in the dark ’
S/V Blue Argolis
Greg and Sue Hill
Sat 19 Nov 2022 12:58
Many years ago we watched a film where a space station was destroyed and an astronaut was returning to earth in a crippled rescue pod. She transmitted a radio message on the way back, but getting no reply from Huston, she transmitted ‘in the dark’….. writing this blog feels a little like this? We’re used to Facebook and instant responses and messages back, which we love, here we send a post by satellite and have no idea if it being uploaded, let alone read. So here’s hoping to both!
Another 24 hours at sea and Blue Argolis has been going really well! 145nm run, probably a new record for BA!
Yesterday during day light hours was peaceful enough sailing, no adjustment to sail plan, we just sat back and enjoyed the ride. Night came, very black, clouds in the sky covered the stars, but all was well. That was was until 22.00 when the wind picked up, always at night! Slabbed in 2nd reef in main, 3rd in genoa, and carried on until 02.00 by which time we had 30 knots + over the deck, and a sea state to match…. we were a rockin’ and a rollin’! This was not in the weather grib file we down loaded? At this point we dropped the main sail, and have been running down wind, with Hari, the Hydrovane, working the helm (bless him) under 3 reefs in genoa and mizzen only ever since. Dawn came, and As I write, the skipper is finally off watch and sleeping, yay! I’m at the chart table, but just sitting here gives me a full body work out! We still have 24 knots of wind on the anometer and the boat is doing 6.4 knots through the water. It’s a wild, fast ride! It’s cloudy, some of the clouds look dark and ominous, hiding the sun and producing rain (seriously!?!). The sea is slate grey, where it’s not white with breaking waves. What our attire!! It’s base and mid layers, life jackets and safety harnesses……. It could be the English Channel, albeit in summer ;)
563nm to Sao Vincent, ‘ we estimated 8 days….. but it might be quicker?
Greg. and Sue
Sent from my iPad