The wind blew
steadily from east-southeast to east-northeast and we sailed steadily from
west-northwest to west-northeast.
Most of the
above statement is true. The part of it that is not true is the use of the word -steadily-; neither the wind nor our progress was steady. From noon yesterday
until 4 o'clock this morning the breeze was fresh and gusty, with frequent
squalls of up to 25 knots. We ran along under 3 reefs in the main, with the
genoa, also triple-reefed, poled out on the opposite side of the mast. As the
squall approached, the wind would veer (move around in a clockwise direction)
slightly, and occasionally there would be a light flurry of rain. For the duty
watch, either Francesca-the-Mate and Kaya or the Skipper and Louisa, the rain
was not a problem; the rain was warm and anyway it soon stopped and they soon
dried out. But coming from behind the rain blew into the main saloon below. This
would rouse the sleeping Skipper from his bunk in the Saloon, or it would dampen
the log and the chart sitting innocently on the Chart Table. The Log and the
chart made no formal complaint, but after the first time the Watch kept the
washboards handy and when rain threatened, quickly closed off the companionway
to keep everything quiet as well as dry below. As the clouds passed overhead,
the wind would ease slightly, backing around anticlockwise to its original
direction as it did so. Throughout the day and into the night the seas remained
anything but calm, with the usual swell from the north being interfered with by
the waves from the east. Steering a straight course remained challenging, and
for some of the crew, sleep has become difficult, particularly as we have to
take it in four-hour chunks. By four in the morning, the Log shows that the wind
had started to abate and the squalls became less frequent and lighter. So the
Watch furled the genoa, released one of the reefs in the mainsail and unfurled
the geona again, matching it to the increased size of the
mainsail.
There are only
two things of note to add. Without the generator, the main engine has had to be
used to keep the batteries topped up. Cleone has four large batteries to power
the instruments, the VHF Radio and most important, the fridge (with its precious
content of gently cooling beer - Ed). At night the load increases because of the
lights, and the Autopilot, which we only use occasionally, is also a great user
of power. The main engine uses roughly twice as much fuel to charge the
batteries as does the generator, so we are now keeping an even closer eye on the
fuel levels, hoping we will not need to top them up from the spare cans whilst
still sailing along in the bouncing seas. The second event recorded in the Log
is much more auspicious. At 8 am UK time, the distance to go to St Lucia read
1413 miles, and the recorded distance from Las Palmas was 1422 miles. So
sometime between 7 and 8 am this morning, the distance run equalled the distance
to go, and now we are over half way there!
Despite a lack
of uninterrupted sleep, all are well and cheerful on board. In a late, starlit
conversation over the Steering Wheel, Louisa convinced the Skipper that she had
invented the concept of time (can any reliable outside source confirm the truth
of that? - Ed), whilst Francesca, in her other life a teacher, helped Kaya
prepare for his professional viva. We don't waste time here, and two of us are
having to get to grips with the concept of multi-tasking.
With very best
wishes and love to you all,
James,
Francesca, Louisa and Kaya
Yacht
Cleone
At
sea
Position at
1200UTC
on 05 Dec 2024:
N21deg21min
W37deg37min