Friday.
Wooooh, flying along in some rather fruity conditions, three reefs and Y3
flying. Gusting 50 knots at times and Simon Rowell tells us to expect the gusts
to peak at 70 knots. (You don't always have to be so honest Simon!!)
We have a downhaul rigged on the Y3 and this is run onto a primary winch, so
when the time comes we should be able to hand him (for nautical definition
of 'downhaul' and 'hand' see Taylor's nautical dictionary, priced £9.99
and available in all good book stores). I won't tell you on here what Trevor
our mild mannered Aussie calls a downhaul!
This front is due to have passed by 2100
UTC and
things should be a little more normal for a while as we charge towards the
Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint, why oh, why could we not have had this little breeze
for that???
Thanks to Bob Beggs for his kind words in yesterday’s blog, you're a good man
Mr Beggs, despite what Mr Clough tells me!!
What news of Gertrude I hear you all ask? Well, it turns out that she quite
enjoys this breezy weather and prefers to be on deck rather than in the lazarette
(we've had to attach a tether to her leg though to keep her on board).
Today we are being tracked by an Orca Whale who was swimming in our wake for
quite some time, what a magnificent sight in an otherwise dull, grey, desolate
ocean.
Mother's Ben Acland and the Silverback cooked a tasty veggie curry with rice,
unfortunately an ill-timed boat lurch caused the rice to gain wings and it went
for a wee circuit around the main saloon. To which Ben responded 'oh goodness
me' or words to that effect!!
Anyway the front went through a little quicker and was all done and dusted
by 1930 UTC, the first watch being treated to a clearing sky, an easing
wind (but an old sea) and then a blanket of stars to steer by.
Next on our magical mystery tour is Gough Island (240 nm to the SE) then the
Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint. After this is a wee dash of around 800 nm to the
finish and a bloody big cold beer!!!!
Stay safe
PSP Logistics xx