Wreading & Righting
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Sun 2 Oct 2011 10:22
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Sunday 2nd October 0854 UTC 0954
BST
02:17.259S 015:31.725W
Wind: SE 18 knots, COG 347 Deg True, SOG 7.7
knots
Those of you who are long term readers will have
noticed that since leaving Capetown 22 days ago I have started to add some
additional information at the top of each blog. This is because being so far
away from anywhere and out of radio contact it is a means of anyone being able
to estimate my position in an emergency working forward from my last
blog.
It has all been fairly quiet the past few days with
the weather being generally fine. Sleep had being going quite well until last
night when I had a late night and couldn't sleep until about four. After then I
only slept fitfully, so I feel a bit weary today. I will try and catch up with
catnaps through the day today.
The small dramas and changes that have occured over
the past few days; the first of which was a significant warming in temperature
both ambient and sea temp which is now at 27 C. As I have already told you
and as I expected, once above the equator we could expect sea temperatures above
28 C possibly as high as 30 C and that creates the volatility to allow
hurricanes to spawn. I will attempt to sail behind or through, the spawning
ground where they are still just squalls or formative tropical waves. It is
a good deal west before these tropical waves generate the intensity to turn into
something more fearsome. Next; having seen little life around me on the pristine
southern Atlantic ocean I started to see some seabirds. Near to Ascension -
within a few hundred miles - they were more plentiful. Two nights ago a very
large "boobie/gannet" like bird landed on the dingy at the back of the boat. I
could have picked it up if I wanted, but it had a very long sharp beak so I took
to shoo-ing it off with the boat hook lest it emptied its inevitably half
digested bowl contents all night on the RIB. There have for the past week been
flying fish on the deck every morning, some quite large. In St Helena I saw huge
flying fish I would say some between 250 - 300 grammes! Flies have
also appeared aboard and a few annoying fliying beetle/cockroach like
createures. As a good environmentalist but bad Budhist, I have killed them all -
the annoying buggers! (Good environmentalist of course because I don't want to
carry these non-indigenous species to new territories where they are not
endemic, do I?) A piece about that later
........
Yesterday I noticed some chafe on the mainsail bolt
rope (at the luff) where it enters the foil. Its a little concerning so I
decided to put one roll into the main which takes the load off the bolt rope but
puts torsional load onto the foil. Still considering which is best option and I
will monitor it closely.
And the highlight - another ship last night. He was
only 10 miles away but carried no AIS. He was a decent radar mark though and
tracking him with MARPA (Mini Automated Radar Plotting Aid) I could see he was
doing only 9 knots. I was doing 7, so sitting up at the radar last night I
watched him pass all the way south west of me. Yep that's the highlights! And,
though it makes for bland blogging - that's the way I hope it stays. But
.............. I don't know what the "but's" are yet, but there will be some.
Unknown unknowns!
Having made a small explanation to long term blog
readers I now need to explain something again for the benefit of new blog
readers. My writing. Spelling. Grammar. Believe it or not I re-read my blogs
normally at least once before sending them. I do an editing sort of pass
then read from end to end before sending, normally. Clearly I am a useless
poof-reader.
Re-reading the blogs several days later I am always
mortified by the spelling and grammar mistakes. OK confession - I am a
fairly good speller normally I think, but there is no spell check on this
version of Outlook and though I know we shouldn't rely on it, it is
undoubtedly a help to have a good spell checker. Secondly is, the rolling and or
pitching of the boat and the completely awkward height of the navstation
for typing. (Perfect for a navstation but way too high for a desk - which, I
have in my cabin but don't use). Thirdly and perhaps most importantly is
fatigue. I can't believe that I can re-read something several times and
think it's fine - then in a day or so read it again and think "how on earth did
I miss that blooper?".
Anyway these are my excuses and I am sticking to
them.
This weekend has been busy in other ways. It is the
last week of the month so all business reporting and accounting takes place and
on the first day of the new month all sales reporting takes place. This requires
quite a bit of time - if it is available, for analysis and feedback to the team
at Gael Force. It also causes me frustration as I would also like to be there to
have some significant input, however, by and large the arrangement has worked
very well. In fact Gael Force won another award last week for our SeaLimpet
product - see it on www.gaelforcegroup.com . Now even I,
try though I may, can not find any credible trace of my input to this project
and this product. It won't however, stop me trying to claim some of the glory.
In fact I was only persuaded at the last minute due to the cost, not to try and
set up a Satellite video link from the boat for me to make what only would
have been a forty five minute acceptance speech at the awards dinner ........
What is their problem?
So the last number of days have been filled with
correspondence, and writing. Blogs of course, a newspaper article and also
a long draft piece, which may or may not be used by one of the leading yachting
magazines. The theme of that article is really about the benefits of sailing
round the world independent of any yachting rallies, an alternative route and
timetable to avoid the piracy hot spot of the north west Indian Ocean and the
challenges involved in sailing most of the way round the world on a large yacht
short handed and as now in fact, single handed. I doubt whether they will
publish it but we'll see.
I have also been doing a little bit of writing to
family. Trish of course and Rhiann and Craig who really have been heroic in
accepting and adapting to, the selfish absence of their parents in what was
still their formative ages. I try to still exert some guidance and influence
from afar but the fact is that whom I left as teenagers two years ago have
now become young adults.
The reading has also picked up pace. I am sticking
to the themes of Biography, Adventure, Business, Finance and Economics,
Philosophy - heavy duty and perhaps irreverent social comment. No Fiction. I
think some day soon I will list my reading, if for no other reason than to keep
a note of it for myself. If you see the list appearing don't worry - you don't
need to read through the list - it will just traumatise you anyway, but at
least I will have a note of it for future record. I finished the Personal
MBA book. Yes, well ...... I say get out there and just do it. Live and learn or
die by the market.
While typing away here I am wandering which way to
swerve with todays blog. Should I finish here? Go with sailing / piracy issues
as recorded in "Hostage" the Chandlers book I've just finished or
impart some generic wisdom recently read in an Aboriginal
book?
Mmmmm?
Woh ho! just pointing at the Canaries just now and
in 22 knots of breeze we're hitting 9 knots boat speed. Think I gotta go.
It can't be helped and probably phsycologically unhelpful, but it is always
tempting to start to predict ETA's when good VMG to destination (currently
the Canaries ) is being achieved! I am now 130 miles south of the equator which
if nothing dramatic happens before then would be my fourth equator crossing on
this adventure. It is about 500 miles to the "Doldrums" and about 1,200 miles to
Sal in the Cape Verdes - these are "crow flying" distances. Gran Canaria is 800
miles up wind from that. I could anticipate having to sail at least 1,200 miles
on that 800 mile leg.
Todays words of wisdom and self centred as ever I
re-quote one I think I have accidentally just coined above ! "Live and
learn, or die by the market!" Stewart Graham south of the equator Atlantic Ocean
October 2011. I think I'm losing it..............................!!
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