ME! As the song goes.
Yesterday went well, reasonable winds and distance. As evening approached we saw the dark clouds on the horizon and lowered the Parasailor. Engine on. In the distance lightening appeared. Now, I'm not a fan of lightening at the best of times (after being hit in Houston a few years ago), so the hairs on my neck immediately stood on end. We placed as much of our electronics as we could in the oven (protection from a lightening strike - the Faraday cage principle for anyone who wants to look it up) and motored on as now the winds were building and coming from every quarter. Then the rain came......worst yet.
Jon was on shift but I went to help him out. As the wind built we motored at 2.5 Knots into the wind....realising that the parasailor needed tying down better on deck, Chris and I clipped on and went forward under the spreader lines to make her fast. By now the Bow was digging in to the confused seas and waves smashed over Chris and I. But, happily, at this latitude the water is very warm so in away it was quite enjoyable! Everything locked down we continued to motor, in total for 4 hours before we cleared the storm. The lightening fortunately was sheet lightening...very impressive but not a threat. In Jon's words "I don't like that!"....
By Midnight we were clear and the word was blowing all angles at 20 knots, so we ran with the Jib only to allow everyone to get some respite from the previous four hours bouncing. The jib alone approach gave us over 7 Knots over the ground.
As daylight approached and in 18 knot winds we raised the Parasailor ready for a good run. It lasted 30 minutes before the wind dropped to less than 10 knots...such is our luck!
For those desperate to keep up with our culinary escapades, last night we really pushed the boat out with some high cholesterol generating chilli dogs. Very nice, but I think today we will suffer. 600 Miles to go.....
No more storms today please!
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Monday, 8 December 2014
Sunday, 7 December 2014
Log - Day 13 - Squall me!
A good days sail on the whole. Wind moving on to the beam meant a normal sail plan and 10 knots plus frequently passed.
No issues for another day (wow!). We are steadily heading South aiming to hit 16 degrees North later today before turning to head straight for St. Lucia. Plan is to avoid as much as possible the forecast weak winds that are meant to arrive in the area on Monday.
Pleasant stew for dinner, but let me digress for a moment.
My daughter, Jon's wife (the intrepid heads unblocker) were married just over two years ago in Florida. While there we had the chance to visit MGM studios and the backlot tour. On the tour I volunteered for the Pearl harbour special effects show. Never volunteer. For the pleasure of it I had to sit on a chair, pretending to make a call to the engine room while we were attacked by a zero (Japanese plane). The plane was supposed to drop a bomb nearby and for the effect, a 1000 gallon tank of water was effectively dropped on my head. I never thought I would get so wet again. I was wrong! Last night I had the Midnight watch and of course a squall came through. We had no reefs in and I was too late to call the crew so we took the 30 knot plus winds on the chin and Miss Liz II whizzed along at a cracking 14.5 Knots. Very nice until, SQUALL ME! it rained.....and rained....and rained. Cold and wet I thought surely, I can never get this wet again...Watch this space.
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No issues for another day (wow!). We are steadily heading South aiming to hit 16 degrees North later today before turning to head straight for St. Lucia. Plan is to avoid as much as possible the forecast weak winds that are meant to arrive in the area on Monday.
Pleasant stew for dinner, but let me digress for a moment.
My daughter, Jon's wife (the intrepid heads unblocker) were married just over two years ago in Florida. While there we had the chance to visit MGM studios and the backlot tour. On the tour I volunteered for the Pearl harbour special effects show. Never volunteer. For the pleasure of it I had to sit on a chair, pretending to make a call to the engine room while we were attacked by a zero (Japanese plane). The plane was supposed to drop a bomb nearby and for the effect, a 1000 gallon tank of water was effectively dropped on my head. I never thought I would get so wet again. I was wrong! Last night I had the Midnight watch and of course a squall came through. We had no reefs in and I was too late to call the crew so we took the 30 knot plus winds on the chin and Miss Liz II whizzed along at a cracking 14.5 Knots. Very nice until, SQUALL ME! it rained.....and rained....and rained. Cold and wet I thought surely, I can never get this wet again...Watch this space.
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Saturday, 6 December 2014
Log - Day 12. Whoops, we've dunnit again!
A quiet day, good winds and god progress - in the right direction.
Parasailed all day and the sail really is making a difference. For one the rolling is greatly reduced, which means we can actually sleep comfortably in the forepeak! Bliss. It also allows a run with very little adjustment which makes the days routine much easier. Better still Harry is perfect downwind so we able to maintain a good angle.
No more friends on deck this morning and minimal chafe as we are managing the Parasailor halyard carefully. Probably drop her at sometime today just to double check.
Movies have now moved on to band of brothers....which means we will have to stay out longer if we want to watch the entire series!!!! Panic at dinner as Jon set off the fire alarms and eventually provided us with a good but well baked chicken / chorizo pasta dinner.
So the title? After Jon's valiant efforts to clear Heads three.....it is down again. Not a blockage this time, looks likethe pump may have an issue. So we've done the dunny as the Aussies would say....
What will day 13 bring?
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Parasailed all day and the sail really is making a difference. For one the rolling is greatly reduced, which means we can actually sleep comfortably in the forepeak! Bliss. It also allows a run with very little adjustment which makes the days routine much easier. Better still Harry is perfect downwind so we able to maintain a good angle.
No more friends on deck this morning and minimal chafe as we are managing the Parasailor halyard carefully. Probably drop her at sometime today just to double check.
Movies have now moved on to band of brothers....which means we will have to stay out longer if we want to watch the entire series!!!! Panic at dinner as Jon set off the fire alarms and eventually provided us with a good but well baked chicken / chorizo pasta dinner.
So the title? After Jon's valiant efforts to clear Heads three.....it is down again. Not a blockage this time, looks likethe pump may have an issue. So we've done the dunny as the Aussies would say....
What will day 13 bring?
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Friday, 5 December 2014
Log - Day 11. Singing in the Rain and other Plumbing tales....
An eventful (ish) Day. No major issues - a major event in itself. The parasailor was up all night - even though we dropped to zero wind on occasions. On the whole, wind has faded now to 10 Knots
, still good enough to push us on though. We still hope for 15!
Not a curry or chilli in sight last night as Rob prepared his pork with three mustards pasta dish....OK, now mustard instead of Chilli's but still very good and team spirits high for the night shift.
After dinner, Chris and Jon had a swim as the wind had dropped - even though we were floating along at 2 knots. Fortunately we had a swim line in the water so they could then drag themselves back. Then the big event. We lowered Jon over the side to poke out the stubborn lugged heads. Poking the seacock with the end of an old fishing rod did the trick and the plug was removed - Much to Jon's dismay and screams of "Get me out of here"!!! He was back on board faster than a rat up a drain pipe.....spirits raised again.
With a good moon we decided to keep the Parasailor up all night for the first time, and with a Harry working well all looked good. And it was, until the 3 - 6 Shift - mine (David's) as it happened. Line after line of squalls, the Parasailor flew well, until we got down to 1 knot of wind and rain, well I think it was rain (more like a bath) that had it hanging like a wet rag.Not so much singing as cursing in the rain. The wind soon came back though and onward we went with Harry happily in control.
On board life remains good with a great British Movie last night - Layered Cake. Nigel is catching up on all he has missed in UK films...In the day, Scrabble has now become king with the Skipper as the decider on word fights....not that he can spell!!!
Bring on Day 12!!
Harry was working well the P
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, still good enough to push us on though. We still hope for 15!
Not a curry or chilli in sight last night as Rob prepared his pork with three mustards pasta dish....OK, now mustard instead of Chilli's but still very good and team spirits high for the night shift.
After dinner, Chris and Jon had a swim as the wind had dropped - even though we were floating along at 2 knots. Fortunately we had a swim line in the water so they could then drag themselves back. Then the big event. We lowered Jon over the side to poke out the stubborn lugged heads. Poking the seacock with the end of an old fishing rod did the trick and the plug was removed - Much to Jon's dismay and screams of "Get me out of here"!!! He was back on board faster than a rat up a drain pipe.....spirits raised again.
With a good moon we decided to keep the Parasailor up all night for the first time, and with a Harry working well all looked good. And it was, until the 3 - 6 Shift - mine (David's) as it happened. Line after line of squalls, the Parasailor flew well, until we got down to 1 knot of wind and rain, well I think it was rain (more like a bath) that had it hanging like a wet rag.Not so much singing as cursing in the rain. The wind soon came back though and onward we went with Harry happily in control.
On board life remains good with a great British Movie last night - Layered Cake. Nigel is catching up on all he has missed in UK films...In the day, Scrabble has now become king with the Skipper as the decider on word fights....not that he can spell!!!
Bring on Day 12!!
Harry was working well the P
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Thursday, 4 December 2014
Log - Day 10. Who Nobbled Harry?
We have Gremlins. After helming overnight yesterday, alter in the day we noticed why Harry ad gone awry on us. The vane had been knocked and so the response was greatly reduced, meaning no control. Easily fixed so we had 5 Happy Bunnies yesterday evening as we were back on automatic.
Other highlight was the halfway party with Champagne and Iberico ham. Very nice. Neptune had a champagne toast so we are hoping he will look kindly on us!!
The weather continues to frustrate as we never seem to be able to have a sustained blow. Squalls yesterday stole us of an hours sailing as the wind span around us, and meant the Parasailor came down earlier than we would have liked. But, we did make better distance by a considerable margin over the prior three days.
Our main tragedy was that we consumed the final ice creams (aaggghh!). But we still have chocolate to placate the crew.
Chafe remains a worry, especially on Chris's sunburn.
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Other highlight was the halfway party with Champagne and Iberico ham. Very nice. Neptune had a champagne toast so we are hoping he will look kindly on us!!
The weather continues to frustrate as we never seem to be able to have a sustained blow. Squalls yesterday stole us of an hours sailing as the wind span around us, and meant the Parasailor came down earlier than we would have liked. But, we did make better distance by a considerable margin over the prior three days.
Our main tragedy was that we consumed the final ice creams (aaggghh!). But we still have chocolate to placate the crew.
Chafe remains a worry, especially on Chris's sunburn.
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Wednesday, 3 December 2014
Log Day 9 -Half Way House
A cheery crew today as we passed half way during the night. We will be having our half way party at lunch today!
An interesting day again, but a good run over the day. We launched the Parasailor in the morning and lowered her at dusk. Finding some chafe on the halyard. We changed back to dyneema this morning and will keep monitoring.
Last night, as Harry was not coping so well we had to helm manually all night, not too bad with 5 of us, allowing 1 hour spells at the helm. we have played with the auto pilot but no response. Hanse and auto pilots do not seem to work well together - hopefully someone will be a made available to us in St Lucia to get it fixed!
In the evening as we launched the Jib, another minor incident as the becket screw on the sheet block (tacking assembly) parted. A minor issue which we will fix this morning. At least the "minor issues" give us something to do!
With the Parasailor up today and good winds we hope for another good run. During the day yesterday we caught and overtook a few other yachts in the vicinity - great for Moral! Even better, we made water last night so showers all round today!!!
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An interesting day again, but a good run over the day. We launched the Parasailor in the morning and lowered her at dusk. Finding some chafe on the halyard. We changed back to dyneema this morning and will keep monitoring.
Last night, as Harry was not coping so well we had to helm manually all night, not too bad with 5 of us, allowing 1 hour spells at the helm. we have played with the auto pilot but no response. Hanse and auto pilots do not seem to work well together - hopefully someone will be a made available to us in St Lucia to get it fixed!
In the evening as we launched the Jib, another minor incident as the becket screw on the sheet block (tacking assembly) parted. A minor issue which we will fix this morning. At least the "minor issues" give us something to do!
With the Parasailor up today and good winds we hope for another good run. During the day yesterday we caught and overtook a few other yachts in the vicinity - great for Moral! Even better, we made water last night so showers all round today!!!
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Tuesday, 2 December 2014
Log Day 8 - Downwind
Downwind sailing is not as easy as it should be - especially when the jammers aren't holding as they should.....This morning we launched the Parasailor but can't get a good sail down wind, we have to bear off about 10 degrees, which is frustrating. Harry also can't hold the course so manual helming is in order, and at night back to the main. Not very efficient at all. During the night we ran main only and had some chafe on the shrouds - meaning a little repair work today. Fortunately, structurally the sail is sound as it is on the batten.
So, today we hope that the porpoises we saw earlier this morning were a sign of good luck - and thta today we have a good run. One more flying fish on deck this morning, spotted it after the porpoises had gone otherwise we could have made some friends!
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So, today we hope that the porpoises we saw earlier this morning were a sign of good luck - and thta today we have a good run. One more flying fish on deck this morning, spotted it after the porpoises had gone otherwise we could have made some friends!
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