Gulf Stream gone again
Millybrown
Mark Hillmann
Fri 8 May 2009 14:24
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We got down into the Gulf Stream as I was on the foredeck putting on the
staysail yesterday evening. It seemed more sense for the night than a half
rolled genoa. The water temperature had been 11C for several days and the
first wave that washed my head (no hat) was cold. By the time I had
finished another did the same, but this was warm.
When I checked on the instruments the water was 17C. We then bore away north again for the night to ease the motion and it dropped back to 12C. Heading south as the wind eased a bit this morning (force 7 down to 6) the water temperature is back up to 14C. The air temperature is higher too making heating unnecessary. Trade wind sailing it may be, but 6 knots on a beam reach in big seas in a
little boat is not relaxing. With the staysail I cannot roll a bit more
away as the wind gets up and the mainsail has 3 reefs already.
There are big waves washing the windows as we bounce along but the
cabin is reasonably drip free and as long as I only open the hatch briefly to
look round under the spray hood I can avoid the full waterproofs and lifejacket
bit.
I had a first cooked meal (packet rice, ham and peas) lunchtime yesterday
and did a salad for supper. The fruit is all very ripe so I am eating a
lot and keeping the fruit juice for later. The first 3 days were just under my 100 miles/day estimate, but with varying winds and calms each night. Today's total should be different, we have covered 126 already with another two hours to go. |