Tunisia to Cartagena - Day 1
Scott-Free’s blog
Steve & Chris
Sun 15 Aug 2010 14:43
37:30.8N
08:48.25E
Sunday 15th August
2010
Log forgot to
note!
Distance run in 25
hours?
Total distance
run ?
Winds have been vary
variable in both direction and strength so quite a tiring sail involving
frequent sail changes and tacking. It had been overcast most of the day
and in the evening as the sun went down we saw the first flashes of
lightning. They were coming quite frequently and from more than one
direction, so we decided we could be at risk of a strike. Being the only
tall metal object for miles kind of gives you that feeling! The laptops,
spare GPS and henadheld radios were all put in the oven to protect them. I
am reliably informed by the scientific officer on board, aka Steve, that this
acts as a Faraday cage and allows the electrical current to pass around the
outside of the oven but not to pass inside it. Therefore the electronic
equipment inside should not be damaged. Of course all the electonics
fitted to the boat won't have a hope in hell if we are struck, but at least we
will have the stuff from the oven to fall back on! As long as we remember
to take them out before we switch the oven on! I also put the mobile
phones inside my Harrogate toffee tin to keep them safe!
It was a long,
horrible night, with several downpours which brought with them either no wind or
lots of wind so we were constantly on standby to adjust sail. Eventually
morning dawned without incident and in the flatter, calmer seas we had a hearty
breakfast to make up for the evening meal we had missed the night before, and
hung up the oilies to dry.
As yesterday's pork
chops were still in the fridge, and today was Sunday, we decided to break from
our routine of evening cooked meal to have a typical Sunday lunch. So,
having first removed the laptops etc from the oven we cooked and enjoyed
enormously pork chops, roast tatties, vegetables, gravy and apple sauce.
Yum!
Steve tucking
into Sunday lunch
Later that afternoon
as we were passing Isle de la Galite, off the Tunisian coast, our ears pricked
up on hearing a message in French repeatedly coming over the VHF. Each
time it was repeated we made a bit more sense of it until we eventually realised
someone was calling us! It turned out to be the Tunisian coastguard
wanting to know every possible detail about us barring Steve's inside leg
measurement! We managed to convey the info they wanted in broken French
and gave a sigh of relief as they wished us on our way. Ten minutes later
they called us up again, to ask our current location and speed. No doubt
they could see us on AIS so we have no idea what this was all about.
Anyway, we heard no more from them and were soon outside of Tunisian waters in
any case.
Isles de la
Galite - perhaps the coastguard were up on top?