Free Spirit smashed her personal speed record
today. Admittedly she was surfing down the face of a mountainous wave at the
time but the breathtaking, and slightly scary, 12.2 knots was driven mainly by a
vast expanse of deceptively thin, brightly coloured fabric called Parasailor.
Expanded to its full extent by following winds it flies in front of the boat,
like a kite, lifting the bow in the water and pulling her along at an impressive
rate of knots,12,2 being the most extreme example so far. As David often reminds
me, "Dad, if you want to go fast get a speed boat". But, nothing compares to
ploughing through the surf powered by wind and waves alone. Normally, on Free
Spirit, we get excited if she manages 6 knots. So, 12 is very fast indeed,
and more than a bit exciting.
This is what we had hoped for from the
ARC; to zoom along downwind on the deep blue ocean propelled by our new
Parasailor before constant, warm equatorial trade winds beneath starry
tropical skies. However, as regular readers of our blogs will appreciate
this has not been the reality. A series of storms in the mid North Atlantic has
disrupted the normally reliable trade winds causing us to be alternately
becalmed and subjected gales, torrential rain and energy sapping turbulent seas.
But now, at last, with just a few hundred miles to go the trade winds are here
and we are flying. At this rate and barring further untoward incidents
we should reach the Caribbean island of St. Lucia this Sunday after exactly
3 weeks at sea. I can almost taste the ice-cold beer! Then we shall have to
get to work repairing some of the damage inflicted upon
our brave 'Free Spirit' during the course of protecting us from
the elements and delivering us safely to our
destination.