The main and the genoa stay out all night and we make good speed during the night, averaging 7.5 knots in winds of 17 to 22 knots. The wave action continues to make any kind of movement difficult as they hit the boat side on, and they are big. It’s been a long time since we’ve had to stagger around, crab-like, clinging on to things.
The constant lurching is exhausting, and the noise of the waves slapping the boat is deafening and continually breaks your sleep. Still, we are making such good progress and gaining on the fleet that it seems churlish to moan. Not that that stops me! My back is almost better but I worry that a sudden unexpected lurch will cause me to wrench it again and I move around as cautiously as possible.
Flying fish are the only living creatures we see all day, and the sea is too rough for us to do the death patrol, so goodness knows how many stiff little bodies we will find when it calms down enough for us to look at the trampolines.
There are squalls all around. It is so weird to watch the blobs appear on the radar and then grow. I sit transfixed – will this one hit us? One particularly large one appears behind us and Mike takes the genoa just in case lots of wind comes with it. When it passes we put the genoa back out. A couple bring a bit of rain with them to wash off the salt, but the rain only lasts a few minutes or so.
The wind keeps us on the right course all day, and we continue to make good speed through the evening but we are both physically exhausted from the constant motion. Even when you are sitting or lying down, your muscles are constantly flexing. I don’t know if this stops when you are actually asleep. Given how knackered we are, probably not!
Our position is: 10 deg 28 min S, 113 deg 05 min E
Distance so far: 13092 nautical miles
No comments:
Post a Comment