23.21S 164.09E 13th October 2011
Mojo 2
Andrew Partington
Thu 13 Oct 2011 03:01
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Robert is not going to like this!!
Towards dusk yesterday we were sailing very nicely
in around 10 knots of wind from the south. As we headed into our first night the
wind was slowly backing to the southeast and gathering some momentum. By 9pm we
had a very healthy 12-13 knot southeast wind 90 degrees to port and were making
6-7 knots on a very calm ocean. This held right through the night and by 9am
this morning the wind started to increase further to 15 knots,
still from the southeast. We have been sailing all day with the mainsail and
genneker and ripping along at a consistent 7-8 knots, with the odd burst up to
10 knots.
Just at the moment we have changed over to the
genoa because we were starting to see the wind gusting up around the 20 knot
mark. We have seen an increase in the seas with the increase in wind but the
boat is riding beautifully.
This morning was overcast but as the day has
progressed we have seen more and more blue sky and at the moment we are bathed
in sunshine.
Gerard nearly caught his first fish on the
boat yesterday. we were sailing towards dusk when we had a strike on the
port side lure. It wasn't a huge fish and it made an escape as we worked it
close to the boat. No fishing today as we are going a liitle too
fast.
We saw two ships last night, after me telling
Gerard we would see nobody until the coast of Australia!! One was headed
to Noumea and the other to China. The closest they came was 6NM so they
gave us no cause for concern.
Gerard has settled into the routine very quickly
and hasn't felt any seasickness, even with the increase in seas
today.
Today we have had the company of what looks to be
some type of boobie. It landed on the port bowrail mid-morning and used us as
its mothership for fishing trips around the boat for most of the day. In
total it landed four times before eventually heading off over the
horizon.
After our great night of sailing last night and
this morning we covered 126NM in our first 24 hour and if this wind holds we
should go well past that tomorrow. We are currently 624NM from Brisbane and will
pass under the 600NM mark well before dark....sorry Rob!!
Andrew.
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