Hi everyone,
We are currently in position 32 55N 062 12W, saillng at 5 knots on a course of 100M. The wind is SSW at 20-25 knots with 2m sea and 1m swell. We are sailing under double-reefed main and triple-furled yankee. Broken high cloud with scattered cumulus. Our day's run was 110nm, our DMG was 116nm and we have 1661nm to go.
It's been a pretty dreary and breezy 24 hours. Yesterday afternoon the clouds came back over, bringing rain and 25-30 knots of SSE wind. That put the wind well forward of the beam - a close reach - which made the ride somewhat uncomfortable. Between the heavier rain there was drizzle and lighter winds which really slowed us down.
The conditions persisted all night with squalls of up to 30-35 knots coming through and persistent rain. We kept the double-reefed main and staysail up and during the squalls we were doing 6 knots but only 3 in the lulls. Better safe than sorry. This morning we replaced the staysail with the triple-furled yankee but that only lasted an hour before we had to go back to the staysail. Hopefully the current 20-25 will persist and the rain stay away! The wind has veered to the SSW which puts the apparent wind on our beam.
Last night we spoke on VHF with Allegria, a 150 foot motor yacht. The overtook us doing about 10 knots. I expect they'll burn more weight of fuel on their passage to the Azores than our full displacement!
Despite the weather all's well aboard. We're getting back into "at sea" mode and the boat is performing well.
Hey Mike, We'll still be in the UK until June 25th.
ReplyDeleteAm I right in thinking you could make land before then? :-) Would be great to catch up before we head back to the US. Cheers John H