wednesday !5th November 016.43N 029.12W
Tikka
Wed 15 Nov 2017 20:12
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016.43N 029.12W
DF
Day 10 on the big brother boooaat, after a fairly tame, drink
free few days at the exotic resort of Mindello ,oh no, that was
another life when i still had a liver!!!! we finally completed some of the boat
jobs,restocked on food and topped up ??? the drinks cabinet. As for Mindello
,well what can I say,if you want a vibrant, foodtastic,modern,clean beach
friendly family holiday resort then look Much further coz it was none of
the above!!To give it some credit we did have a couple of good nights in
Cafe Mindello as the whatsapp photos show.... So Monday !7.00 hrs after chief
navigation officer Terry (Timothy) Nutkins had spent a long time plotting a
course to Barbados we set off into a foggy channel only to find that we
had complete navigation failure with none of the instruments reading correctly
and us making a course for The George in Yarmouth!!,so after lots of
confused stares at each other the hunt was on for the source of
the problem................tins and cables were removed from delicate
storage areas of the boat but still no change???still more puzzled
looks until it was suggested that maybe the "great sounding Bose"
speaker that Terry Nutkins himself had placed earlier in the day,
directly over the Giro Compass might be having a slight influence on our
instruments?? , with the puzzle resolved and we could finally turn 90
degrees south and head for the open Atlantic....
MB Left Mindello on
Monday 13th. Daves birthday. So as we disappeared into the fog in the general
direction of Barbados, we toasted the old geezer with two bottles of the finest
Cava that money can buy. Or rather, two bottles of the dodgy Cava that we found
in the local mini-mart. Still, when you get to Daves age, anything that doesn't
come through a straw is a bonus.
First night out and the wind really got up. Winds
gusting over 30 knots and a boat speed of 11.4 knots surfing. But then it all
went wrong just after 2am. The wind dropped to nothing and we were motoring. A
lot of motoring been done since then. A bit of sailing but not
much.
Drama on board around Tuesday lunchtime. The inverter
nearly turned into a BBQ. The inverter gives us the electrical power for things
like computers, kettles, TV etc etc. Quite vital. Following Sat phone calls back
to a sparky in Blighty, we managed to re-wire / dodge the inverter. Which,
thankfully, meant that 'Film Club' could go ahead as planned. Much red wine
drunk in celebration.
Wednesday and still very little wind, but the sun's
shining. Dave and I might play golf this afternoon....
FG day 3 after leaving Mindello now a
lost memory . movie club is a big hit on tikka every day at 18.00 also
fishing all day ..and catch nothing .. yesterday a big fish got the better of me
and TB as it snap both lines 40kg .we try to do
a little sailing whenever a little wind come about . night shift are sorted on
2.5 hr each watch , my been 6.00 to 8.30 was very lucky to have some very
friendly dolphins keep me company in the early morning
hours , lots of marine birds and flying fish , we have not covered much distance
but as MF say we will pick up some good winds in the mid Atlantic .... at the
moment we are only 320 miles in to our 2100 leg . drinks are flowing and
spirits are high .. ciao everyone
MF
Disappointing wind since we left under 5 knots not
good when your 25 tons and full of diesel and water beer wine ect oh and food!!
we,ve been playing with sails today although my twin poled out genoa,s work well
not in 3 Knots of wind so put the asymmetric poled out on the end of boom with
side opening block today spot on !!.
After our major electrical dilemma yesterday
IE No washing Machine, electric kettle, Toaster,
microwave ,electric oven, TV, player (movie club) oh and then unimportant
things like water maker, computer no 12 volt lead so no weather info emails
luckily sat phone is 12 volt so we phoned a friend . TB seems to be
getting up to speed with meridian passage morning after noon sun sights looking
fwd to star sight school .
Anyway luckily Tikka has big tankage we probably
can motor nearly halfway across the Atlantic I'm betting on picking up decent trade winds halfway across otherwise have
a good xmas and we will see you in February looking lean fit and detoxed !!
Asta La vista !!
TB - Bit harsh DF comments re speaker and gyro!
Everybody loves the surround sound effect for movie night. I purposely placed
speaker in position to prove how important back to basic navigation is
 Today my am /pm running plot and
meridian passage was within 10 miles of GPS position so there! Spent today
making Sheppard's pie which we have just finished and everyone seemed to enjoy-
used Carols trick of marmite for richness and anything else that was in the
store cupboard. Relieved that we have managed a work around on the electrics -
makes life a bit more comfortable and the fact that the ongoing body aroma
should be enhanced where showers will be available with water making facilities.
Now doing the 4 to 6.30 watch and have adjusted ships clox to GMT -2 so should
be able to do star sights tomorrow morning - cant wait for the amazement and
enthusiasm from fellow crew members when i share the delight of
sidereal hour angles applied to GHA Aries--- yipeeeee! |