Two good days N39:53 W36:39
Millybrown
Mark Hillmann
Wed 20 May 2009 17:49
 This is what a Contessa
enjoys: Charging off on a close reach for
days on end. If you look closely you will see both a reef and several
rolls on the genoa.
We have been like this for two days now, the
weather system may muddle me, but it has managed a good wind recently. We
are reefed enough to allow the cooker to swing when cooking, with a knee to
prevent it hitting the stops too hard. It is locked vertical to avoid more
crashes the rest of the time.
For the sailors the first reef flattens this
mainsail well, it is for shape rather than sail area. This is our old genoa still on, after difficulty getting the
newer one up the track back at the start. In light weather I would want to
change it, but that has not happened yet. It is a tatty old sail and can look a sad shape, but with a few
rolls is half respectable.
Two nights we have played this game now, rushing
along at 5 or 6 knots into a sea that seldom produces loud crashes.
The noises are still loud:
A continuous washing machine in
time with the boat's motion
Occasional groups of splashing
impacts as we meet steeper waves
Small bangs as waves hit flatter
parts of the hull
Sizzle of spray on the spray
hood (dodger for the Americans) as we dig up a big wave with the
bow.
The steering blocks with their
Welsh or Geordie accents
And then creaks and groans and
crockery rattles from all over the boat.
We made 129 miles towards Flores to 11am today,
that is better: Only 250 miles left now.
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