Thu 12 Dec 14:57.511N 48:00.025W Distance travelled in 24h 147 miles
Huge seas make life particularly difficult below decks. It’s almost
impossible to move around without using both hands to grip onto any available
hand hold and using other body parts such as shoulders, arms, back, hips,
thighs, calves and feet to brace against bits of furniture as you move around.
Everything has to be done very slowly, carefully thinking about what you are
doing, how you will do it without being flung around inside the cabin. Making
tea and coffee is still possible, but takes time and careful timing so as to
balance between swings and slides and swirls and catch the moment when you are,
for a tiny instant, in equilibrium.
Brendan opened our second ‘tin’ dinner of M&S spaghetti bolognaise
sauce and managed to add extra onions and garlic and herbs and to boil up a bag
of fusilli to go with it. He had sweat dripping off his (bearded) face as
he served it up to us on deck due to the exertion and concentration involved and
the physical effort.
We’ve had huge waves and big gusts... 34 knot gusts. Coming up on
watch at 8am Neil asked Brendan and Gabby not to laugh at the tiny amount of
sail up – we were still doing 9 knots in massive rolling seas with two tiny
handkerchief jibs.
Sightings: one other yacht last night for about 20 mins on and off in very
turbulent seas; a pair of shearwaters; quite a few flying fish but none on deck;
meteors; clouds; stars; 3
planets.