Two winds
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Sun 9 Oct 2011 08:53
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Sunday 9th October 0809 UTC 0909 BST
14:57.32N 019:57.47W
Wind: NE 12 knots, COG 014 Deg Trus, SOG 9.1
Knots
Have you ever drunk flavoured water? Have you ever
drunk deisel flavoured water though?
As we had spent some tim in Africa in marinas,
both our tanks were full of water from the shore. Now from South Africa that
water would probably be fine to drink but normally we are only drinking directly
from the tank when it water we have produced ourselves which is as pure and
freshh as can be.
So aboard we normally keep good stocks of bottled
water. We also keep a decent quantity of bottled water in a locker on the side
deck along with a spare life raft additional deisel in gerry cans and
generally stuff that may be needed in an emergency situation.
So I have been running down the water in one of my
tanks, now that I know I have enough to last me at least another month in
the other tank (which of course would probably be fine for drinking
anyway) so I have been using up all the bottled water aboard and in the
side locker as it has been there for a long time. I will fill additional 5L
containers from my tanks to do as emergency supplies in the
meantime.
Somehow the water in the side locker has become
infused ever so slightly with the taste of deisel. It is new, shrunk wrapped,
lids are sealed and additionally the lids have a sort of shrink polythene seal
over them too.
Anyway as I drink it I am getting a taste of
deisel. This is all very amusing for you at home but the strange think
is that after drinking a long swig of it in the haet and humidity of these
past days it always causes me to burp - and when I do that it seems to be pure
deisel that comes back up the way. While the water on the way down is tolerable
the deisel fumes it induces wind, though not the kind I have been looking for
and on the way back up is disgusting! It must not be the lean burn stuff! Hope
you have a little sympathy for me as you tuck into your deisel less
unleaded orange juice this morning.
Now a bit about the kind of wind I have been
looking for. After three days of mostly engine I was starting to wish I had gone
up through the western side of the Cape Verdes and took the beating that
would be required to head for Gran Canaria. On the way south two years ago
I often noticed that there were coastal influences at play with the gradient
wind down the NW coast of Africa. I had also been checking the forecast
over the past two weeks in the area north of Cape Verde and the Canaries and
regularly the forecast showed the wind from the land and the east. So I thought
my strategy was good. By yesterday I could see that the void in the trade winds
at the ITCZ had opened up more than expected and the easterly winds further
north mostly were forecast to back round to NNE. At times I was doubting my plan
and wondering whether the route through the Cape Verdes would be better. It
still remains to be seen, but right now I am charging north on the breeze which
has filled the void and trying to get used to life and an angle
again.
In the lighter airs of the past few days,
though on the wind, it was not generally enough to induce significant heel and
not being pressed, gentle pitching was the prder of the day. So I now have 825
miles to go upwind to LAs Palmas where I left just over two years
ago.
Last night and the past couple of days it
has been hard to get much sleep at all what with the constant VHF chatter, radar
alarms, and "wind" shifts and consequent sail changes which have been
required to keep northwards motion.
But its strange in life - you don't care how hard
you have to work as long as you are making progress to your destination
..........
These past number of days I have seen a lot more
life around. A couple of nights ago we seemed to have swarm of greenfly aboard,
then I have had a large moth take up residence. The baby squid are starting
again to make crash landings at night on the deck of Rhiann Marie. It is
only one or two at a time however and not enough to make a lunch. I wish there
were they are delicious. Flying fish have been high and dry aboard now for a
week or more. Yesterday morning one just missed the hatch to my
cabin................ it's getting smelly in there but a rotten flying fish
would be just too overpowering. We have eaten flyiong fish off the deck befor
ebut the ones now are relatively small and agin though I see a constant dash of
thousands off them away from the bow wave only one or two care to join me of an
evening. Song of the day: Against the Wind by Bob
Seger.
(In this number the singer says "moving 8 miles a
minute for most of the time......." on Rhiann Marie it has been "moving 8 miles
an hour for most of the time ..... " which on a powerful cruising yacht feels
just as
fast.)
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