Now too much wind
ULA
John & Jackie Richards
Thu 4 Dec 2008 12:39
Position 017:17.40N 036:22.80W
Well folks its your skipper on the blog again with
tidings from the mid Atlantic. We have been bemoaning that the trade winds
are absent and we have had light winds for several days. Yesterday was a good
day with good winds and good speed. We put away the spinnaker when it got dark
and just caught a Spannish boat who is not in the ARC but left at the same time.
They were headed for Antigua. We sailed along side them for 6 hours but at 4.00
am all hell broke loose when a squall line hit us. These little beasts are mini
storms and you try to avoid them by steering away as they can have strong winds
inside. In this cvase no matter what Adrian and Jackie did it seemed to be
everywhere and so we got hit. All the sails were down and under motor it poured
there was lightning and strong winds. It took 2 hours to pass and then the wind
settled down to 20+ knots thats force 6.
Everyone on deck got soaked but we are now drying
out and getting the boat and crew back to ship shape. In todays information from
ARC Big Spirit reported a squall line hitting them with the same effect.
Probably the same one but alot of squalls were around last night.
We passed the half way point in miles today so
although we are still behind on schedule we are getting there. Winds up ahead
are still forecast to be light for the next couple of days excluding squalls.
Jackie may blog later.
John
|