It has been
another routine day at sea on our epic voyage, with a modest day's run of 118
miles. However, for the first time there are no missing miles, and we are now
118 miles closer to St Lucia with only 310 miles to go. Modest trade-winds with
the occasion squall have kept the crew busy, and a claim for a sail-change
record has been lodged. In other news, the fridge is back online and the Skipper
has owned up to a 'procedural error'.
The Port Watch's
claim for a record six sail changes in one four-hour watch has been sent to the
Authorities for ratification, and has not yet been officially recognized.
However, a check by the Scrutineers has revealed that as of 0500UTC on
13th December the crew of Cleone had notched up over 90 sail changes
since leaving Las Palmas, and the forecast squalls suggest several more will be
required before we reach St Lucia. In two previous east-west Atlantic crossings
at this time of year, the Skipper cannot recall sail-changes were a feature; he
remembers settled conditions with infrequent squalls (he is known for his
selective memories, so I would not set too much store by that sort of anecdotal
evidence - Ed). Particularly when running downwind, changing sail-settings such
as reefing the main require us to furl the genoa before we can ease the halyard
and bring the mainsail down or up. And because we have an inner forestay rigged
in case needed for a hanked-on sail such as the Working Jib or Storm Jib,
whenever we want to tack or gybe the genoa, it has to be furled and reset.
Gybing or putting in or taking out a reef is therefore a laborious process
particularly as Cleone boasts no electrical or hydraulic winches. The crew have
become adept at these evolutions, whether in sunshine or in
darkness.
The mystery of
why the fridge gave up the ghost has also been solved. During the night, one or
two of the instruments began to behave oddly, either their back-lights started
flickering or they gave spurious readings. This was a minor annoyance, but in
the small hours of this morning the mast-head tri-light expired. This was a
serious issue. The Skipper was on watch at the time so he seized his multi-meter
(he really loves that thing - Ed) and started fiddling around, looking at the
instrument panel gauges and comparing measured voltages. The fog lifted. He had
failed to switch House Batteries, and one set was now flat. A twist of the
master-switch later, the fridge went into overdrive the tri-light again twinkled
red, white and green into the night and the instruments resumed their previous
sober and accurate behaviour. Naturally the Skipper is both relieved and highly
annoyed with himself, and was overheard giving himself a lengthy
interview-without-coffee on the foredeck.
We have all
discussed the joys of being away from the treadmill of normal life, and how in
some ways we would like this journey never to end. But as we get closer, the
excitement of arriving in a new and exotic place is building and each hundred
miles ticked off is celebrated more and more enthusiastically. Even so, we
remember the old maxim: 'plan for the worst and hope for the best' and so we are
still careful to measure how much fuel, food, water and beer we are consuming in
case the arrival plan falls apart.
Rodney Bay are
you ready? Cleone and her crew are on their way!
With very best
wishes and love to you all,
James,
Francesca, Louisa and Kaya
Yacht
Cleone
At
sea
Position at
1200UTC on 14 Dec 2024:
N15deg44min
W055deg53min