Trolling in the Tradewinds
ULA
John & Jackie Richards
Fri 28 Nov 2008 16:44
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Position
020:39.198N 022:50.089W
Well its the captain on the blog again with great
tidings from just north of the Cap Verde islands. Shame to get so close and not
call in but thats life. Blue Beyond, a boat we have heard frequently on the
VHF radioed in the night to say they had a serious rig problem and are on
their way there to get it fixed. They dont require help so we dont have to go to
their aid.
Sailing at the moment is ideal, 18 to 23 knots
behind and blue skies although last night was a dark and cloudy one. After 2
days of spinnaker the wind got up yesterday a little and we decided to pull it
down. The main problem out here is with the boat rolling so much you have to
watch out for rope chaffe. We noticed quite a bit of that so we need to be
careful. We now have our twin headsail rig up on the inner forestay so thats
produced a good nights sail and lots of miles broadly in the right direction. If
the weather looks ok we turn for St Lucia tomorrow. Howard noticed that we are
much closer to Brazil than St Lucia and suggested we call in!
John has handed over the blog for me to complete as
he has now gone off watch. We are enjoying some amazing sailing at the moment -
an absolute downwind roller coaster. Life on board is now a continuous balancing
act as we roll. From midday yesterday to today we have covered 168 miles. The
day times have been great and most nights we have had millions of stars but last
night was pitch black on the 8-midnught watch and it was quite eerie sailing in
to the blackness at 7 knots! We had two other boats within a few miles of us and
could see their lights. By the time we were on watch again at 4am the stars
were out and it was much better. Thanks to our star finder book and Andrew being
appointed our boat astronomer for the trip we are now getting much better at
identifying more as the trip progresses.
Quote for this blog has to be from Adrian who
staring despondently at his empty fishing line (again!) this morning announced
that given the cost of the lures we've lost 'it would have been cheaper stocking
up on John West!! We are still hopeful .
Andrew and Howard have booked themselves in to a
5star hotel in St Lucia when they arrive. Apparently if they stay for 5 days
they get one extra night free. When things were going slowly and the weather
forecast not looking too promising we were thinking we may go way over schedule
Andrew was heard to say 'Well Howard, this could be the most expensive hotel we
never had!'
Andy C received a text via the sat phone from
Cazababe this morning and has had a smile on his face ever since!! He says great
to hear from you Caza and glad all is well at home.
Howard took the photo below at yesterday evening's
sundowner when life on board was a little less rolly!
Love Jackie
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