HALFWAY to the MARQUESAS
Gaviota
Sun 4 May 2014 19:52
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07:04.573S 118:03.527W
Hi everybody
We have just completed 10 days at sea.. and
are now over half way to the Marquesas. the position is what it was when I
completed this epistle
We left Isabela, Galapagos at 12.30 (boat
time, which happened to be Panama time) (17.30 gmt) on the 24th April...So we
have just completed 10 days at sea
Headed south west with the spinnaker set as a genoa
to try and get to the trade winds... well at about 4 knots boat speed and that
at an optimum close reach sailing angle lasted for a very slow 180 miles
and we got to the wind at 1am on day 2 (boat/panama time) ... and it was like
going through an invisible wall... 1 minute, 5 to 6 knots of wind, the next 15
to 20 knots and headed by 20 degrees... just one snag... we had the spinnaker up
at the time!!!!! ... so all hands on deck and some really good teamwork
and down she came and got stowed away... and probably will not get used again on
this trip! ..So still close reaching off we went in the night (no moon) at
7 to 8 knots with full sail up..... the following day gave a 20 knot plus wind
so I helmed all day to get some miles under the keel.... but it was a real bumpy
one... and we were charging across the main swell line with it coming directly
from abeam.... well that put Lisa out of action for the next 7
days!!!!!!!
Late that afternoon 2 reefs went in the main and
genoa and I gave the helm back to George (the autopilot) .... by the following
morning the wind down to 15 knots ish and more or less that is the way it has
been.... one day of rain .. since then mainly sunny with a few squalls
.... the whole way to the half distance mark....sometimes shaking the reefs
out of the genoa , other times putting them back in again as the wind fluctuated
between 12 and 22 knots and very little change of wind direction .... just one
day of rain .. since then mainly sunny with a few squalls ... but
an amazingly cold wind... at night we have our full ocean musto suits
on... I had a woolly-back shirt and thermal long johns underneath... + thick
gloves and hat... after 6 hours in the cockpit at night we were still not
hot!!!!! during the day in the wind we still needed our musto tops on ...
and we are less than 5 degree from the equator!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 day we managed a 190 mile run (with a good assist
from the current) ... just 1 mile LESS .... grrrrr ....than our previous all
time best (which was on the last atlantic crossing with Paul)
So we reached the halfway mark 1467 n miles early
in the morning on day 9 (saturday) that is "boat time"
A couple of side notes... with just the two of
us we let George do most of the helming... but every course change or wind
strength or direction change.... I take over on the helm.... and rebalance the
boat (sail trimming) to minimise the strain on the helm... and hopefully prolong
Georges active life!!!!
We eat our evening meal quite early... then I go to
my bunk in the main saloon (Pauls berth) so I can "feel" what is going on and be
topside very quickly if need be.... Lisa then is "on watch" up top until 1 am...
when I take over and she kips till usually about 8 am. ... and in 1600miles of
ocean so far we have seen 3 trawlers and 1 other proper vessel ... all at
night!
Boat time... ie the time WE are using to run our
daily lives.... It started as Panama time and we did not change it in Galapagos
so that we got up early in the morning to make the most of every day there....
It will finish on this leg as Marquesa time , which is 9.5 hours behind GMT....
So every 10 degree west we go we put our boat time clocks back 1 hour... so when
we get to Hiva Oa, Marquesas we just make the final 30 minute
change.
Days or more accurately "boat days"... are always
24 hours long (ie ignore the boat clock changes) and start at the moment we up
anchored in Isabela ie 12.30 am by the then boat time ( now it would be 10.30 am
by the now boat time as we have already shifted by 2 hours.... hope that makes
sense!!!!!
After we passed the halfway mark everything started
changing.... so lets see what happens over the next 1000 miles.
............
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