We are currently in position 39 59N 027 25W, saillng at 5 knots on a course of 000M. The wind is SW at 10-12 knots with a slight sea and 1.5m swell. We are sailing under full main and single-furled yankee. Clear sunny sky with scattered cirrus. Our day's run was 131nm, our DMG was 94nm and we have 1126nm to go.
Sailing under a sunny sky
Yesterday afternoon the wind dropped as we passed W of Sao Jorge. We had been planning to leave the next island of Graciosa to starboard but had to choose between gybing to the NW in clear air or heading up on to a reach through the lee of Sao Jorge. We chose the latter which gave us two more hours of good sailing but we ended up having to motor for three hours when the wind died. The afternoon was sunny and surprisingly warm.
The wind came back in mid-evening from the ESE at about 8 knots initially. This gave us a nice reach to the NE. The swell, although only about 1.5m, made the boat roll and the headsail slat. Not very comfortable at all but we made reasonable progress.
Overnight we had a nearly full moon in a clear sky which was very nice. The night only lasts for about 8 hours and with the full moon it barely happens at all! The wind gradually veered around to the SW overnight and we gybed onto port at 0500. Our speed dropped to around 3 knots for several hours. The slatting of both mainsail and headsail increased since the swell was on the beam.
We're continuing to head north despite the swell to get into more breeze. This morning the breeze has gradually filled in a little. The slatting is a little less frequent. With a couple more knots of wind it would probably stop entirely. Hoping that will eventuate.
No comments:
Post a Comment