POS: 5 54.3S 101 39.7W
Last night got a bit busy, so two days in one here.
Day 3 was looking like we would have a reasonable run, right up to the point the sun came up, the clouds rolled in, the rain came down and the wind went did a runner! After a great night we were wallowing and the radar was showing showers all around us. The engine went on and we picked our way as best we could between them. Lesley was happy though, since with an upright boat the washing machine could go on! Less than an hour later a light breeze filled in and we were sailing again albeit at a rather slower pace. We l;eft the clouds behind, hung up the washing and had a relatively peaceful day. Our 18:00 24 hr run was about 169nm. A lovely steak dinner followed, washed down by a glass of Chateau Neuf du Pape (I wish… We actually don’t drink alcohol on passage except for the occasional milestone celebration, so a glass of chilled tap water actually accompanied the steak). However Lesley had baked cakes so I was allowed one or two of those (allowed one and sneaked two…).
And then our small world changed. As darkness fell we could see a band of cloud ahead across the entire horizon and the radar started showing bright orange patches all over the screen – rain, like the morning, however unlike the morning this rain was accompanied by wind, and lots of that too. The entire night was spent driving through and between rain showers in gusty variable winds that reached mid 30s knots, whipping up the sea into an uncomfortable steep sharp chop. On watch was wet and off watch was noisy and uncomfortable. We drove the boat higher in the lulls and lower in the gusts through the total blackness on a zig zag beam reach to try to get through the band of rain and just as the horizon started to appear at first light a couple of stars appeared just above the horizon – the first signs that we were close to the other side.
As the morning progressed the sky cleared and a patchy sunshine replaced the total grey mass and the wind became steadier.
And then a small triangle appeared on the chart plotter about 8 miles away. Initially just for a second then it disappeared, then it came back slightly closer. Small triangles indicate other boats that are being picked up by our AIS – some electronic gadgetry that allows people to see us and us to see other people. Each boat has a unique number and the numbers are issued by the country of registry. All british vessels start with 235 so I could see this was another british boat, heading roughly the same direction as us. We called them on the VHF radio and got an instant reply, and had a brief chat about routing weather and the general unpleasantness of the previous night! Apparently two of their friends are a little way ahead too, so we might see them over the next few days too. Whilst there is something very nice about the peace and solitude of ocean sailing, its also quite reassuring to discover there are other vessels around.
It took almost the entire day for the sea state to die down to something more comfortable, but finally now (at 21:52 local time), the winds are steady and the sea not too lumpy – just the normal waves and swell you would expect so far from land. The good part of the day is that despite a very wiggly course as we steered through the changing breeze, we were travelling a little faster, so we covered a straight line distance of 185nm in the 24 hrs to 18:00.
Hoping for a little more rest tonight we have kept a rather small sail plan until the morning so don’t expect to cover a huge distance overnight, but at least the current is now showing marginally in our favour.
Our tally of squid and flying fish found on the deck keeps increasing, but due to the bouncy seas the lure didn’t go in the water today so it was curry for dinner (and a few more cup cakes).
All is good onboard.