Trade Wind Sailing
Sygitana
Wed 28 Nov 2018 13:11
A hectic couple of hours last night. the wind got up and so did the sea. with no moon until late in teh night it was pitch dark and helming was hardwork and quite busy as we drove Gitana down the waves with the poled out genoa and guyed put mainsail. working to avoid an accidental gybe at all times.
we had various small issues such a chafe on some lines which we addressed. as the load increased on the genoa sheet it started to really make a noise as it passed voer the coachroof. Mike eventually got fed up as it was above his bunk and arrived on deck with a large piece of pipe which he fed over the sheet and stopped the awfull noise.
we mulled over gybing last night but in the conditions i was just happy to be making above 7kts speeds and still in control. i felt it too early to dive to the west giv en the wind angles. we did furl some of the genoa however. it made no difference to speed but left us feeling more in control
I and others only slept for short naps last night as the noise below decks was quite loud. once you got on watch on deck it was much quieter but your mind runs amok when you are in your bunk listening to the water rushing past and the sheets straining in their blocks.
this morning dawned nice and bright although quite late for us as we were still on UTC. we put in the gype around 0900 and are now on the 2349NM run to St Lucia. we may have to gybe again if the wind goes south of east which i dont think it will do...
we are watching our positions closely within the main fleet and our class. it adds a level of stress i wasnt actually prepared for. Mike is plotting the daily positions and i'm happy we are mid fleet and middle of the pack. we seem to be doing well in our class. there is a looooong way to go.
nice lunch with fresh baked bread.
I'm off for a wash and perhaps even treat myself to a new pair of pants.
J,D,M,D,K