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| Barreling along at high speed on the genoa |
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| Rice with carrots, zuchinni, yogurt & feta cheese |
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| Sunset over SaltyPaws |
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| Sunset Panorama |
Today weather looks quite settled, and
due to the waves it takes a lot of work to keep the genacker up. We
decided to take it down, to get the crew some well deserved sleep.
Charles and I decide to play the gentleman's role, and split up the
night between us, so that Elizabeth can have a full night of sleep.
We haven't gone south that much, but
the temperature is already up from 20 to 24 degrees. The wind is
between 10 and 20 knots. The difference between armchair sailing,
and Volvo Ocean style.
We make steady progress, until 11 at
night, when windshift after winshift is thrown at the SaltyPaws.
Murphy's Law dictates, that wind shifts are never in the right
direction. Unfortunately, Murphy is usually right. Bravely, or
stubbornly, you pick, I decide to beat our way against the wind.
Finally, when the wind meter reads 0 Beaufort, we start the engine.
Quite amazing, that so far out on the open ocean, it can be this
calm. The Waves have subsided as well from yesterday, and I expect
that the sea will look almost mirror flat when daybreak will come in
a few hours from now. Running the engine is quite weird. It is
something we would do in this case, however, it is the first time,
that we don't have enough fuel, to make it to our destination, not
even half way.
The calm sea is no meant to be, as
just before sunrise, the wind picks up again. Also, this is not to
last. The day breaks, and we find a swell from a new direction, and
dark skies. Can the GRIB files ever get anything right? Even when 75
nautical miles offshore, the flies and other insects, still know how
to find the SaltyPaws. This remarkable feature can only be explained
by a homing beacon, installed by the flies in Gibraltar. Or would
they be blown offshore in massive quanties?
While I go to bed slightly grumbling
over having to run the engine, I wake up to the sound of water
swooshing along the hull and no engine. Before we know it, we are
sailing on 3 reefs! While we race along at 7.5 knots, we could not be
happier! The waves are quickly growing, but they are nice and long.
We have them at about 45 degree angle, and we are surfing happily off
them, sometimes at over 8 knots. When the wind gusts over 35 knots, I
turn the boat more downwind, to reduce the apparent wind speed, and
stay withing the reefing guidelines.
With the help of the electric tennis
racket, we slowly get the fly population under control. Tux likes to
eat the fried flies that have been grilled with the racket. Another
parting gift from Africa, is the layer of dust on the deck. With just
a few minutes of this rain, the white deck is now a formerly white
deck.
Charles is cooking, while outside it
is raging 7 Beaufort. While this is in progress, the waves shift more
onto the beam. I change the course by 10 degrees to get a slightly
more comfortable angle to the waves.
We are around 75 nautical miles
offshore, and we still see birds flying around over the sea. They
dont seem to be bothered at all by the 7 beaufort that is raging
around them
While on watch, I see on the AIS that
a massive vessel is coming straight at us. It is going at a staggering
20 knots, and it is almost 300 meters long. I call the ship ahead
over the VHF to let them know our position. They can see us on the
radar at a distance of around 8 nautical miles. The person on the
ship is very interactive, and asks for the ship name, course and
speed. He even calls us back later over the VHF to confirm the
distance, as the distance I reported initially was slightly off the
radar target he received. When the 300 meter monster is passing us, I
feel secure in the knowledge, that they know where we are.
We are now getting into fuel range of
the Canaries. While we have never been becalmed for more than a few
days, it is nice to know, that we can make the Canaries under our own
power.
Pictures by Charles
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