As far as I can
make out, I have not sent this SITREP. So here it is:
oday it
rained, we are planning to refuel at sea and we are in a state of doubt about
the weather forecast.
We might just as
well have stayed in England, except that the rain was warm instead of being
freezing cold. It was 5am UK time, ie 3am ship's time, during
Francesca-the-Mate's watch. Kaya and the Skipper were sound asleep in their
bunks. We had enjoyed various rain showers up to now, and I do mean enjoyed,
because they had never been hard, driven rain and they have provided cooling
relief from the tropical sun. At 1am and for the next two hours, we had been
treated to a spectacular display of lightning and the odd rumble of thunder.
This had caused us to turn off our radios and the AIS, and to check that the
spare GPS was tucked up in its metal box in the grab-bag. And after the lighting
came the rain. It simply poured down, and instead of stopping and leaving us to
cool off as we dried, it went on and on. It was still raining at 11am UK time
after which it gradually petered out. We all put on our best wet-weather gear,
thus avoiding actually getting soaked to the skin, but the usual slight chaos in
the cabin was exacerbated by damp clothing being hung out to dry. A crop of
minor leaks has also appeared and added to the problem.
During the rain,
the winds have been light and fickle. It died completely at 7am, and we made no
progress at all whilst wallowing about in the confused seas. We were
uncomfortably enough already, and delaying our arrival and the promised Rum
Punches was not improving morale, so we motored for 3 hours or so until the wind
came back. We are hoping for better weather later today, but the weather
forecast has been confusing. As you know, we get forecasts in a text email every
day from World Cruising, who organise the ARC Rallies, and supplement this with
Grib Files from Mailasail. As far as we can tell, today's predictions from these
two sources do not match up. So we do not know whether to expect very strong
winds and rain squalls tonight, or slightly stronger trade winds, also with
squalls. Time will tell; you will hopefully hear about the actual result
sometime tomorrow.
As well as
everything else, the Skipper keeps an eye on the fuel levels in the tank.
Cleone's main tank holds 200 litres or so of diesel, and for ocean sailing we
carry a reserve of 176 litres in eight 22 litre cans (I hope he's got the sums
right Ed). Four of these cans are stored in a well under the cockpit, and the
other four (he means 3 ½, but that's another story - Ed) are in the Anchor
Locker. As you know, we have used the engine quite a lot on this trip. So today
the skipper has decided to top up the tank with the four cans from the cockpit
well. To me this does not look a great time to do this, and tomorrow I will let
you know how things went.
Although damp,
we remain cheerful and well. We have plenty to do this afternoon, and the night
ahead may be challenging!
With very best
wishes and love to you all,
James,
Francesca, Louisa and Kaya
Yacht
Cleone
At
sea
Position at
1200UTC on11 Dec 2024:
N17deg48min
W048deg57min