08:26:01S 133:42:06W
The Adventures of Sunboy the Sailboat
Al Sparkes and Deb Swain
Mon 7 Jun 2010 20:36
Current Conditions: Wind E.S.E up to 23 knots T
Swell E.S.E to Easterly generally 2-3 metres occasionally 4 metres
Sail Set: full main, poled out reaching headsail
Party Cloudy, Warm and Dry
Distance to go: 406NM
Distance covered previous 24 hours 162 NM
Well hello from Sunboy, sorry for the late post but have just spent the last 6 hours on the helm, making the most of the vastly improved conditions as far as passage making is concerned, trying to clock as many miles as possible. We had a much better day yesterday with winds starting to increase and swell decreasing. We started to increase our average speed and as our speed increased, our time to go of course decreased and the moral on board increased somewhat!!
The weather and water is getting warmer with the current ocean temperature about 29 degrees C and I would guess the outside temperature is somewhere around the same. Everyone is getting very excited now that we have cracked the 500 miles to go (currently, as I type we have 374 miles left to go woohoooo!!!). The winds got stronger last night from about 6.00pm and Nikki did a fantastic job with me on the 1800 to 2400 watch, handling the strenghthening conditions like an old pro. It is not easy sailing dead downwind, especially with the full main up and the poled out headsail, the combination means we have a massive wall of sail that is open to the effects of the wind and following seas. It doesn't take much for the boat to suddenly swing off course and cause all sorts of heartache, not to mention, all sorts of damage. We have gybe preventer rigged that helps minimise the risk of an accidental gybe but once that full main decides to go, nothing will stop it. The need for absoloute diligence on the helm is crucial and that is not easy, especially as the night draws on the tiredness sets in. I think in reality it is even harder for Debs and Lukey on the midnight to 0600 watch as thats where real tiredness sets in and those guys were absolutely brilliant last night, logging 43 miles for their 6 hours, no wonder there wasnt much conversation at the change of watch this morning, they were both dead on their feet.
Still hundreds of flying fish being seen everyday, sometimes in schools of maybe a hundred or more and they are just beautiful as they all come out of the water at once and then ride the winds on the top of the waves for 20 or 30 metres or so, crashing into the water in unison. I dont know whether they are being chased by big fish or just getting out the way of our boat as the flys along through the water. I guess the sight of the big blue hull coming at them would be enough to scare the crap out of any little fishes. Sometimes you also see them at night, covered in phosphoresence and they look a bit like huge fire flies across the water. For the first time last night, Nikki saw dolphins doing the 'disco dance' as the phosphoresence clings to their bodies as they jump and dart along beside the boat, it is a magical sight to see.
We had a hook up yesterday on our game rod but the bloody thing snapped the line so we think it must have been a record marlin or something similar. We have had the line out so rarely and to miss a fish was a real dissapointment but plenty of water left between here and home.
We all chatted about meals we miss the most yesterday and Lukey's all time favourite turns out to be his Mum's Steak Dianne, Debs has gone for a nice gourmet salad, Layni has gone for lamb fritters and Nikki has decided on chicken snitzel and of course I am still rabid about a lamb roast. At the moment, Nikki is in the galley doing a hug batch of lasagna which we are all looking forward to for dinner tonight. Debsy is on the helm and Lukey is standing by, reading his novel, likewise with Layni and I am about to go and have a lay down soon. We are all reading heaps, knocking a novel over every couple of days or so and it wont be long before we will have to find a huge big book swap to replenish our supplies.
So thats about all for the end of day 15, the mood on the boat is great, people are pumped and doing good. Hope to give a positive report again tomorrow, till then...........................