Day 4: into deep water
The Voyages of Richard and Amanda
Thu 27 May 2010 16:17
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Pos: 48:22.29N 008:54.6W
Hi all thought I would jot a few notes down before
Master and Commander gets to the serious stuff!
All is going well. Had a racey night last
night (Wed 26 May) with Justine Gabrielle skimming along at 6.5 to 7 knots
with wind speeds up to 18 knots. Normally sailing in a force 5 does not
seem that fast but out here in the oceans it felt like we were really
covering the ground. I stood watch from 9.15pm to 1am which meant Richard
got near on 4 hours unbroken sleep and during that time with full genoa and 1
reef in the main we pounded through the huge swells which crawled up behind
us pushing us forward and skewing the bow up into the oncoming wave as it
rushed with foaming might beneath us - not my favourite type of sailing -
gentle F3 flat seas is my sort of sailing! But I am determined to conquer
the fear and stood my ground I tell you I felt just like Alex Thompson pounding
across the ocean racing in the Vende Globe!
If it had been a gentler sail Richard would have
got 5 hours sleep but by 1am my nerves were wrung out and it was cocoa time for
Richard.
Bless him he goes from 1 through to 8am when I get
up and cook him breakfast and brew him a nice hot mug of black
coffee.
After a day of slate grey skies and seas yesterday,
today has been a complete contrast, blue blue skies and seas. We are off
the continental shelf and now well and truly in the huge Atlantic swells.
They are a majestic sight which is simply impossible to capture on camera it is
one of those things that has to be seen to be appreciated - sorry guys you need
to get out here!
We have been delighted today with some spectacular
fly pasts by the Fulmars. I think they believe they are Red Arrows - at
one point 2 of them crossed paths inches infront of our bow. Their flat
wings make them perfect gliders and they skim the contours of the waves just
millimeters above the water at jet like speed - quite spectacular! We have
also had an aero display by the Gannets just off to starboard. As they retract
their wings into dive position they plunge just like exocet rockets,
powering into the water to catch their fish. Talking about fishing Richard
has been trailing a lure in the hope we might catch some tuna for lunch -
thankfully we have plenty of tins, it's 4.30pm and still not sign of a bite but
we will persevere and I am sure he will hook something soon. He always achieves
what he sets out to bless him.
Well I have droned on long enough, there are few
words to express how amazing it is - just keep saying the prayers the winds
stay under 18k please!!! I will leave you to my Master and Commander
to make sense of all this. Take care and loads of love to you all
Manda/Mum/Big Sisxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We are now truely in the ocean, we left the
continental shelf this afternoon with the depth guage stuck at 183m, the actual
depth will vary but is generally around 4000m till we get to the Azores. Even
there most of the islands come straight off the sea bed, so not much use for a
depth guage.
It is great to have the sunshine, although it is
still pretty cold in the wind. According to my weather info it is due to swing
round to West/SW over next few days so hopefully it will be a bit warmer, just
so long as it doesn't rain!!
As of lunchtime today only 974 miles to go. That
doesn't sound too bad!!!
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