It is pitch black on my second watch and there is absolutely nothing to see. No ships, no squalls (thankfully) and my watch passes without incident. Each night the moon comes up later – it is nearly 5.30am before it rises today and it doesn’t get light until after 7.30am. We are nearing the next time zone some time in the next couple of days.
During the morning Mike goes on deck and finds a nut and washer on the deck. This could be serious as it looks the type of thing that could come from either the shroud fixing (the top of course – he can see the bottom is fine) or from the top of the genoa stay. Both sails have to be put away to lessen the strain on the mast until the problem is sorted. He and Jim then spend the next two hours searching every possible place it could have come from, using the camera and then blowing the pictures up on the PC.
Photo: Mike at work at the nav table
Eventually, sitting frustrated on the deck, he looks at the goose neck fitting (the bit that joins the boom to the mast) that had been refitted in Grenada, and alleluia, that’s where it’s from. From a fitting point of view, it couldn’t be easier.
Today becomes a two-beer-day to celebrate the finding of the above.
We have couscous and salad for lunch and eat it in the cockpit just as the wind starts to develop. In these conditions we discover that couscous is not the best thing to eat because it flies off the spoon before you can get it into your mouth. You end up eating with your head practically on your plate. However, the wind combined with a relatively smooth sea with well spaced waves gives us a lovely sail in the afternoon.
As the afternoon goes by, however, the seas get bigger and bigger. The weather prediction for the night is for strong winds but they end up being stronger than the prediction, reaching 38 knots and Jeannius reaches a speeds 15.5 knots even with a reefed genoa and no main sail. In fact, we have so little genoa out that it looks like a handkerchief!
Before my shower (not a pleasant experience as the sail is by now so bumpy) I cut my hair again. This is getting addictive. I will probably end up scalped by the time I get to the Pacific!! It was a pretty stupid thing to do given the sea conditions but my concession was to use the thinning scissors (no pointy ends to stab myself in the eye with) rather than the real ones.
Our midday position is: 12 deg 08 min N, 74 deg 43 min W
Distance so far: 810 nautical miles
No comments:
Post a Comment