Bernie’s Blog - Day 11 – Tuesday 31 May

In strong easterly winds we are heading north towards the Azores like a train ….but on a very, very bumpy track.  We have been doing over 7 knots for 18 hours now and this will be our fastest passage so far. We  will be able to report tomorrow but I estimate by 1800 this evening we may have cover 190 miles in 24 hrs.

Overnight and now we are having a very rough ride; the first of the voyage so far but not unexpected. We receive via our satellite phone daily weather forecasts to give an indication of what lies ahead.  In the forward cabin Colin and Peter S (P2) liken it to trying to sleep in a washing machine at full revs. We have all slept there over the years and can only agree! Even my Brenda has endured the rough & tumble of the for’ard cabin in this weather. You don’t so much sleep, as rest. We expect a reduction in wind speeds (currently 20-25 kts) during the next 12 hours (ie Tue midnight). We’ll see!

We managed our first Fray Bentos (FB) last evening – Chicken & Mushroom FB with potatoes, baby carrots and peas; and this morning in the rough & tumble, porridge, muesli & toast. So we are surviving very well.

Because Peter P1 – our skipper) needs to be available in this weather at short notice all the time, we our now working a 1 in 4 watch keeping system which is still very ‘luxurious’ for this type of long distance voyage.