Great Day today all crew refreshed and sun is shining , Charlie had his
first bite on the fishing line , but after 30 mins of hard work trying to bring
it in we LOST it.
Total mileage travelled from start to is 623nm, the millage I
reported yesterday was wrong that should have been for three days totals
not two as i reported
All sails balanced and working to max capacity as trying to increase
our average daily mileage.
We saw our fist Dolphins this morning there were about 7 swimming with
us.
Just put up the cruising chute for a test , all went well now just
waiting for the correct wind to arrive and up she will go!
Skipper working hard at the chart table to ensure we have the correct
bearing and to avoid the doldrums
Keith
Richard Anthony first blog .
Well the last few days have been very challenging and I don’t know what
happened to the easy trade wind passage that was talked about,we have had
serious swells and winds of 40 knots ,we did our best to miss the talked about
acceleration zone but I don’t think it mattered as it all seemed the same to me
,we have crash jibed twice and smashed our mainsheet traveller ,but with a lot
of thinking and some help from Paul we managed to repair it good as new (well
not quite) the reason for the jibe was a newly rigged preventer so we have now
gone back to basics and all seems well , The downwind sailing is very
unforgiving with the boat constantly rolling and pitching off the wind angle .
We are all pleased with our progress and our best day is 165 miles in 24 hrs
with an average of 155 miles .We had a brilliant moon last night and also hooked
our first fish, we have not done much fishing as it has been to rough and
is very difficult to slow the boat doing eight knots with a prevented main and a
poled out head sail. We also hoisted our secret weapon today a 140 sqr mtr
cruising chute and it looks fantastic thank you Westaway Sails,we will be
bringing her out when the sea is calmer and the wind is less .We bought a
few drums of extra diesel with us as Why Not only holds 205 litres
but as of yet we have not used a drop apart for when we accidently jibed
,Oh well another great meal awaits me cooked by Catrin and lots of help from
Paul , My partner Tracey prepared lots of the meals and its like home from home
and I would like to thank her for helping to organise me to do the ARC as there
is so much work to do and we have been preparing this for two years now . The
ARC organisers Andrew Bishop and his team have been absolutely first class in
all departments and they all deserve a well earned pat on the back ,well done
guys ,well signing off now loads more to follow sweet dreams.....x
Richard Anthony