Position: 21:55:40N 21:59:70W

Transat Day 5

The last 24hrs have been more like what we were hoping for.  Yesterday afternoon started quite light, but we gybed onto Port and steered 235M.  The magnetic variation is quite pronounced here and has increased from 10 degrees W to 12 degrees W in the last 24hrs or so.  This means our course over ground is more like 225M – southwest.  Whatever, we’re heading vaguely South & West, and in effect going where the wind wants us to.  This isn’t a time for precise courses.  24hr run of 129M on the log, hopefully more with the Canaries current giving us a push.

We hoisted the second genoa loose on the spinnaker halyard, but at 1800 I decided I didn’t want to leave it like that all night so we hoisted it on the 2^nd luff groove, a bit of a job because you need to drop both jibs and it is a bit of foredeck chaos with sails all over the place. 

It was a black night and I think the effect of the 2^nd jib (as well as the full main & mizzen) made it hard to steer a straight coure.  Sally in particular had a hard time so we dropped the mizzen and furled a bit of jib and it felt a bit better.  Nutmeg is quite a hard boat to helm because there is no comfortable steering position which allows you a full lookout outside.  We’ve taken to perching on top of the bagged spinnaker in order to see.  To be honest, we’ve done more hand-steering in the last five days than I’ve done for the entire trip so far!

I really need to try to get the Aries self-steering to work.  I just don’t understand why it is being temperamental.  There is nothing obviously wrong with it (although we had that mysterious incident where the rudder had come up) but it is nigh-on impossible to set the vane so that it is into the wind.  It just flops to one side.   I will have another go.

The seas are quite big – 1.5-2m – and confused with at least 2 wave trains.  This is making it a little uncomfortable and we’ve had a bit of spray into the cockpit.  I am feeling a little nervous as we’ve not sailed with this sail configuration before and I’m trying to work out how we would get the 2^nd jib down if we needed to. 

It was Thanksgiving day yesterday, so Pam cooked up a lovely meal for us all and we had a glass of wine, and she rang home which was nice for her & her parents.  Rob cooked up a gingerbread cake which was impressive – hopefully we’re going to have some culinary masterpieces over the next few weeks!

Hope all’s well

Ollie x