Distance sailed today: 135 NM
Total distance sailed: 909 NM
Midnight GPS position: N 22.21 W032.13
Wind: ENE Wind Force 3-5
Sea state: Slight
Generator hours: 1.2hr
I was awoken with a shout last night at about 3:30am. Ellie was on watch and the wind had just suddenly shifted, causing the main sail to back on itself in a gust of wind.
Steve also heard the shout and raced up out of his cabin.
Naked.
“Don’t be surprised if you see me naked at the helm in the middle of the night,” Steve had told me a few days earlier. “When things are happening fast, there’s no time to get dressed!”
After a few minutes Steve had things under control and set up for the new wind direction. Satisfied, he wandered back down to bed.
Unfazed, Ellie went on with her watch. I too, surprised at how normal it all seemed to have a grown man naked wrestling with the steering wheel of a yacht in the middle of the night in the middle of the Atlantic, went on with getting ready for my watch.
“Off the coast of France it’s a different story though,” Steve had said. “At least here it’s warm. Being naked and rained cold rain on and hit by cold wind is no fun.”
In the morning we saw what the gust had done to the sail. It had popped a supporting baton out of its housing on the main sail. Nothing major to worry about, and if all else fails, we can just take the whole baton out all together. Unfortunately we don’t have the tools on board to fix it at this time.
The morning turned into a grey sort of day, with blue patches every now and then. Generally very nice sailing.
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WEATHER FAXES FOR TODAY
Our position is right on the edge of these maps, at about 30degrees West, and 22 degrees North. The one on the left shows a tropical wave about 200 miles west of us, so we should have no troubles with that one. Tropical waves cause unsettled weather with heavy rain and gusty winds up to 30 knots. The one on the right shows tropical cyclone danger zones, and of course we are about 2000 miles away from the one indicated.
