Sephina
Balancing act.
The last few days of light wind we have been happy to cover 120-130M per day, averaging just over 5K, but the forecast is for little or no wind in a day or so, lasting for a few days. This puts us in the position of possibly having to motor for a couple of days, or drift around the Atlantic a few hundred miles from Martinique for a couple of days waiting for wind. Either option is OK but to give us the choice we are hoping to conserve enough fuel to have the option of motoring. We have approximately 180l of diesel left, which should allow 90 hrs of motoring at 5K, so 450M. We just passed 500M to go at 0100 so we’re hoping the wind holds for another 24hrs or so.
Another issue is arrival time. We would prefer to arrive in daylight as the entrance is a little tricky with a twisting channel and possibly unlit buoys. So as we draw closer we may need to slow our progress to arrive early Tuesday 9th rather than late on the 8th. Over the coming days we will refine the plan.
One of the nice things about long passages is that we don’t have to think too much about arrival time during the passage. With shorter trips we always plan our departure to arrive in daylight and generally have to keep to a minimum speed to achieve this.
http://sephinacat.blogspot.com.es/
Seven Seas Adventure
I became very lazy these days. The wind helped us sail in a more straight line due to a change of direction becoming southeasterly. This is a bit of an anomaly in this area where the winds are supposed to be NE. It does help us however, as now we are able to sail at 6-7 kn directly, without zig-zag-ing, to our destination.
It also helped me to understand, what I couldn’t really understand reading weather books: this is the effect of a large air mass spinning clockwise, named “the Azores High” because it has its center more or less above the Azores Islands, thousands of km away. This mass is currently moving towards the East and this makes the wind blow from a different direction than usual. It will return in a few days to its “normal” place and so will the winds to their “normal direction”.
Nothing else…or…ah yes, just a few squalls, one flying fish (only) and another breakage.
The other day, during lunch, we just saw our largest headsail (81 sqm) falling into the water. Fortunately, the metal swivel at the top didn’t hit anything and got directly in the water. The halyard broke due to the constant chafe created by the movement of the sail. Fortunately there’s a second halyard that we could use to hoist this large sail when the wind will get again very light. But it’s annoying 🙂
Tonight Saint Nicholas will put presents in Paul’s shoes and he is very keen to clean and polish them in order to receive the nicest presents.
625 nautical miles to go, the chart plotter tells us we have 4 more days to go, but I believe it will be 5 days as the winds will get very light after Saturday and we’re not yet in motoring range (i.e. we don’t have enough diesel to cover all the remaining distance)… just got interrupted by a squall with all the associated sail reducing manoeuvrings… the sea state (waves) behind this squall, which covered a larger area than usual, is not so nice but won’t last long.
www.sevenseasadventure.net/blog/
Om
5 December
Dancing in the Night
We moved a bit yesterday afternoon with code 0 and an engine. It is always easier to motor sail with a catamaran, I think the stability keeps the sails in position better, don’t know.
Anyhow, evening comes and, as usual, things spice up. Spi is back up, and the wind, plenty of it, will move from 120 to 150 apparent all night, sometimes not enough, sometimes too much, most of the time perfect.
From my cabin I can hear the hiss of the water and the work of the autopilot, so, about 3 AM I got up (Anita’s watch) and started playing in the moonshine a game with the Parasailor to who was getting tired before the other. I think we ended square! 120 apparent is a bit tight for a spi, so I had to give in a couple of times and ease to 140 off the
wind. But by the morning I did convince the big sail to stay and pull at 120! Now we have 12 knots apparent and we make nearly 6 knots.
I am reading Doina Cornell’s book,”Child of the sea“, when it is not in the hands of Indra and I am convinced it is a great book for parents that want to sail with the young ones and learn something, not just a book for young ones. Or maybe I am just still a child of the sea and that is what like to read about…..
6 December
Wind from south
We have the main up, jib and apparent wind of 20 knots 60 degrees port side. The true wind is 90 degrees 16 knots. We are on more than 7 knots but we lose some with our Speed Over Ground because of the drift. In reality we make knots to waypoint. 1.2 knot of drift! Not exactly trade winds eh! But the sea is pretty easy. We will have to keep an eye on
squalls, the air is saturated with humidity. We are now at 280 miles from the channel that separates Martinique from Saint Lucia.
Anita very kindly is playing Barbies with Indra on deck and we are digesting the superb pollo arrosto di Tosca with smashed potatoes.
Kristine
Sailors at night; delight
The famous saying is slightly altered, but seems to be working better than the original.(“Red sky at night, sailors delight…”)
Wonderful, red sunsets, followed by strange and intense winds with lots of rain the day after. At least we’re getting closer.
Tonight I finished reading another novel, and I feel like I’m floating through several different worlds every day, quite an interesting sensation! Another strange feeling is turning on WiFi every day to blog, never getting a response, a life sign from the world out there. (Except for mum, but she’s gonna be there anyway, right?)
I can’t smell the ocean anymore. Maybe I’m infested? Maybe I’m one of those real sailors with salt water in their veins? Maybe I’ll grow a beard and have a funny hat and just sit in silence, explaining my experiences in detail with my worn out face?
Then again, I’m just sitting here with the auto pilot, not even tanned.
Oh well.
Papy Jovial
Wet sailing
We had a clear goal: By noon be at less than 400 n.m. from the line. And it was looking good until 11:30. That’s when the showers started stealing all the wind. And it kept coming heavy rain after heavy rain.
At some point we even thought that there was enough time for Tifille to go to the bathroom. So she went up, gave it a first try and had to run for cover before anything could be achieved. Then eventually she went up again and without wasting time to look for the proper aligment with the earth magnetic field she did it and came back down in a hurry.
The afternoon looks much better. We are doing 6.5 knots on a direct course towards the finish line with 384 n.m. to go, so it looks good for coming in on the 9th early morning like maybe 9 in the morning. That would be great !
Gazel Rebel
5 décembre: Ça craint les grains
Pour ceux qui n’ont qu’une idée imprécise de ce qu’est un grain, voilà une photo pour l’illustrer. Celui ci nous a perturbé pendant deux heures avec dans l’ordre :
– vent de 25 à 30 noeuds,
– pluie forte,
– pétole
– vent de 25 noeuds
– pluie,
– retour de l’alizé
Au passage prises de ris, de tours de génois… et largage.
Et des comme ça nous en avons eu des dizaines depuis le départ.
Ça met de l’animation : c’est sûr !
Séparons le bon grain de l’ivraie : certains nous amènent juste le vent qu’il nous faut pour nous rapprocher de notre île voire même un peu d’eau douce.
Ce matin nous avons régaté avec deux voiliers de rencontre – Damien s’est fait plaisir même si l’issue n’a pas été celle qu’il souhaitait.
Météo changeante pour les prochains jours mais pour le moment très favorable à notre progression.
6 décembre: Ça craint les grains II
Les productions Atlantic Odyssey ont trouvé un bon filon et nous reproposent le succès d’hier : la succession de grains continue. Ça veut dire pointe de vent, pluie, puis calme puis rebelotte comme nous l’avons raconté. Normalement l’épisode lll est attendu dimanche et lundi c’est fini. Nous faisons avec mais apprécierions quand même un retour du soleil pour notre arrivée.
gazelrebel.blogspot.fr
Anne
Mit den ersten Sonnenstrahlen wechseln wir die Segel und schlagen unser Parasail wieder an. Ruhig und schnell geht es bei 12kn voran. Gegen 14 Uhr sichten wir erneut direkt am Boot Blauwale. Zwei mittelgroße Exemplare (ca. Bootslänge) cruisen ein paar Momente dicht unter der Oberfläche mit uns mit. Zweimal sehen wir den so typischen Luftausstoß, dann sind sie weg.
Das schönste Cruisen geht weiter, Sonne satt und der Wind zwischenzeitlich bei ca. 15kn. Für Sonntag soll mehr Wind kommen, wir sind gespannt, von den anderen hören wir, dass sie ca. 500sm vor uns wieder die Motoren angeschmissen haben.
Larrikin und Mahe 3 – Glückwunsch zur Ankunft und dieser schnellen Überfahrt!
Alytes
Die Nächte sind in den letzten Tagen hinreißend. Nach täglichem Dämmerungsfeuerwerk segeln wir unter einem vollen Mond durch helles Zwilicht. Wann immer die Wolken auf dem Rückzug sind, explodiert der Himmel mit Sternbildern und Meteoriten. Wir steuern meist in kurzer Hose und T-Shirt. Nur die Weste muss natürlich sein, und die Pickleine verbindet die Wachhabenden in der Nacht mit dem Boot. Denn wenn hier einer über Bord geht, merkt der Rest der Crew es vermutlich erst drei Stunden später.
Das Meer ist nun voll treibenden Seetangs. Gelblich-braune Teppiche schweben im tiefen Blau. Zum Teil werden sie so dicht, dass unsere Angel ein Sträußchen einfängt. Leider finden sich kaum Fische, die auf diesen Köder anbeißen. Entsprechend haben sich unsere Erfolge auf dem Gebiet reduziert (Wir haben ohnehin noch genug Fleisch an Bord). Auch Alytes fängt ihren Teil. An den Rudern haben gestern große, buschige Nester gebildet. Uns ist das aufgefallen, da das Steuer schwergängig wurde. Ein paar Bilder mit der Unterwasserkamera von der Badeplattform aus brachten Gewissheit. Also beigedreht, Taucherbrille auf und wieder mal bei über 5.000 Meter Wassertiefe schwimmen gehen. Das Wasser ist bei 27 °C, macht also Spaß. Und die 4,5 Meter Welle bei vier Knoten Fahrt vom letzten Mal hatten wir auch nicht (Oups, jetzt habe ich micht verplappert. Die Geschichte wollte ich eigentlich gar nicht schreiben 😉 .
Die Crew ist nun optimal einespielt. Wir essen gut und viel (bis auf Janne, der will seine Frau mit einem noch härteren Körper überraschen), aben alle Probleme im Griff und sind insgesamt guter Dinge. Zur Zeit lachen wir vor allem darüber, wie uns die abstrakten und gelegentlich willkürlichen Wetterdaten in emotionale Extreme bringen. Mir ist nun klar, wie das Orakel von Delphi funktionierte. Mina hat exorbitant coole Nikolaus-Geschenke gebastelt. Alle haben stinkige Segelschuhe voll m&ms bekommen (die dann verstohle ins Wasser geworfen wurdne, da die Geschmacksrichtung “Käsefuß” nicht so angenehm schmeckt) und Mina steht jeden Morgen mit Ingo und Mir vor Sonnenaufgang auf um den
Adventskalender zu prüfen.
Uns fehlen zum kompletten Glück also nur noch ein paar Wale. Und dann Land in Sicht.
Hapa Na Sasa
Tweets:
Und ich kann euch versichern, dass der Nikolaus keine Wege scheut, sogar bis mitten auf den Atlantik 🙂 allen einen happy Nikolaus!
You can see the position of the boats on the tracking map. The weather forecast is here
