Day 1
Digiboat's "Product Testing"
Simon Blundell
Tue 25 Oct 2011 17:34
08°28.9923N
108°50.1145E
Wed 26/10
0100
Perfect trade
wind sailing for our first 26 hrs. 15-20kn broad reach in mostly smooth
following sea has had us trucking along at speeds peaking over 14kn and an
average of 8.5kn.
We pulled
anchor at Nha Trang after a roast dinner around 9pm Mon and within the hour had
cleared the entrance channel and jumped straight into strong winds and fast
speeds. With a reef in the main, full mizzen and full genoa we sustained speeds
over 10kn for the entire first night. During my dog watch a series of
thunderstorms/squalls rained down on us with consistent 25-30kn of wind. Furled
the genny to a small triangle and waited for the squalls. The first paralleled
us for an hour with just occasional light rain, but we were right on its leading
edge - in the lightning belt. For over half hour we were surrounded by lightning
bolts hitting the water within a few hundred metres and the following
thunderclaps literally shaking the boat. The lightning was so close and so
intense that if you looked at it you were stun-blinded for minutes - like
looking at the sun. I found myself willing the inevitable torrential rains to
arrive as this generally means you've cleared the lightning region. The rain did
eventually envelope us and was heavy enough to flatten the sea. So, with
flat seas, 25+kn wind on the quarter, we charged at 13-14kn for several hrs
until the squall passed. I could say nothing to Win, one of the Sea Cadets,
anything that sounded re-assuring to him. I think he didn't believe that yachts
are expected to survive such conditions. Meanwhile I was having the funset sail
in recent memory and wondering why none of the other "sailors" aboard were up
sharing it with me? But it was bucketing, and several bottles of wine were sunk
during dinner....
The dawn
approached with partly clearing skies and firm winds. Only one squall hit during
the day, although several threatened. We hit the record speed so far for the
trip at 14.8kn during a 28kn gust. And, aside from an hr lull early afternoon,
the winds stayed at the typical trade wind strength
15-20.
Evan and I
have been reminiscing about last year's trip from Vietnam to Singapore. In the
aftermath of Typhoon MEGI, and just 3 of us onboard, we sailed the 800 miles to
Sing in 4 days with only a number 2 staysail - reaching speeds of 17.3kn. Evan
had the record speed, followed closely by me with 16.9, then 3rd place the
Autopilot (now been renamed HAL after some more independent thought
demonstrations today) with 15.7 and Mike Champion in 4th place with 14.9.
(Mike's not onboard this trip for a rematch with HAL, but his presence is firmly
part of the China Sea and EO anecdote collection).
Another roast
dinner last night (lamb) to maintain EO's culinary standard at sea, and another
heavy dig into the wine cellar and everyone's snoring soundly as I come back up
for the dog watch. More calm seas and moderate winds so more great sailing and
fast speeds, and so far the RADAR is showing no rain. One of the cadets is
asleep on the aft deck - I noticed he's tethered himself to the liferaft
painter, not sure if that was intentional or
subliminal...
SJB