0600: David and I are up with a continuance of the squall dance. We got caught a little short as David was down below attempting to sign on to the morning net. As Patricia would say - Not Today! Our speed was exceeding 7 knots and I was having trouble rolling in the genoa. No wonder - the line had come off of the drum. This can happen if you do not keep enough tension on the sheets when you are furling in the sail. Might have happened last night when Armon got hit with the 20+ knots and was on his own. The sheet got away from him for a few minutes before he could get control of the lines.
So David has to go forward but not at this moment so we altered course a little to take the strain off the sail and ran with the wind. Once things settled down a bit David went forward - still raining so hard that I could hardly see him - recoiled the furling lie on the drum and then I continued to furl in the genoa.
0900: The skies have cleared up, speed is down and David decides that it is time to shake out the reef. It is a good idea to do this once in awhile, weather permitting, to open up the sail and reduce permanent fold marks in the sail.
0930: Speed is increasing to over 6 knots again and another squall is coming our way on the port side. Reef is put back in - for you non-sailors - Increased wind! Decreased Sail! The genoa is furled to one third and we slow down to 4 knots. Armon is up to assist with putting in the reef. Life on the boat has settled down and the boys are hungry!
First things first - coffee for the crew!
Cheese scrambled eggs with breakfast sausage and English muffins. We just swallowed the last bite and were hit with another squall. We rode it out with the same sail configuration: one third ruled genoa and single reef main. I went down below to finish my coffee but it was like a sauna in the cabin so I came up on deck for my second fresh water shower of the day.
David grabs another nap and Armon and I stay on squall alert!
1130: Another squall topped out at 7.1 knots. Can you tell the Armon is loving it? **
1200 Position: 4* 20’N 121* 28’W
Clocks are moved one hour back.
90% cloud cover
Squally with 1 foot chop and swells at 2-3 feet every 8 seconds
Winds are from the SE though a bit wishy washy as the squall passes over
Distance Travelled in 24 Hours: 100
Distance Travelled to Date: 1570
David had a good 4 hour nap. The winds were slowly weakening and Armon was getting frustrated with Tori (wind vane) try to keep him on course. So I took over and with much perseverance was able to get him to settle down (Tori not Armon). Going forward but only managing a couple of knots.
Armon read and napped. I put out some of the clothes from the night before to dry as it appears that the squalls have eased off for awhile - nothing on the horizon anyway. I was fighting sleep but did not dare wake either David or Armon as they are doing most of the night watches. Even though I am often awake at least I am laying down getting some physical rest. I keep volunteering and telling them to wake me up but they are not listening. Too much testosterone! Or maybe just that chivalry is not dead! So I continue to do my part and cover as much of the day watch as I can - except when I am cooking!
Boys are up and I get a chance to lay down. They are on their own for lunch - which really means that they just have to heat up the left over lasagna. And dinner is another helping of paella - sure glad I decided to make double the recipe!
1800 Position: 3* 36N 122* 28’ W
The seas are relatively calm with a 6 foot swell. Sometime it feels like there is a hand under the boat lifting us up to see the horizon and quietly bring us back into the trough. No it is not scary - like a slow roller coaster.
Winds are weakening and we have decided to start up Mr. Diesel. Total run time has been very low for the first half of this voyage. Good time to decant the rest of the diesel into the main tanks. Once we did this David figures that we were almost at full capacity. This is a good thing as crossing the Doldrums is very unpredictable - could be as much as 600 nm which is about our capacity. So we only want to run the motor when we really have to - to recharge the batteries. But solar panels have been doing their job and we haven’t even had to do that very often.
Guestimation of our average speed to date is 5 knots - which is really excellent for this boat! Remember our hull speed is only 6 knots.
Armon thinks he heard a whale blow last night - maybe - or is he just hearing things?
No comments:
Post a Comment