Day 3

Day 3

Crew all well and happy.

Continuing to make good progress to our desired waypoint.

The sea state has improved from rough to moderate. Wave height 1-2m with a frequency of 8 seconds. Winds have shifted further S now on a NE track, which means that the reciprocal course of about 240* works really well for us. We have hoisted the BWR (the really big blue & pink sail!). It now gives us about 6 knots of constant speed from 12 Knots apparent or 17 knots true. Very happy with that. At this rate we are looking at under 21 days passage time.

You may remember that we had some difficulty hoisting the blue water runner near Madeira. Well this time too! Anyone observing our track will have seen a decrease of speed for a few hours while we faffed, cursed and sweated. It’s a 20m high sail and handling it in windy conditions is tough. As we were hoisting it the wind caught the edge and unwound it before we could control it. We had to bring it into the boat, through the forward hatch, and run it the length of the boat, which is only 15m, and unfurl and furl it. A very hot and sweaty experience. Rehoisted on the second occasion it worked. But then the wind dropped necessitating the pole and boom to be deployed. We finished the deployment under floodlight at 19:30!

We are receiving daily weather forecasts from the organisers of the ARC. The Atlantic is divided into smaller boxes of a hundred miles square or so and as a result we are getting pretty bespoke forecasts. We are forecast to keep these NE winds but can expect the odd squall. These are potent rain clouds that travel at speed and bless the unwary with gale force winds and torrential rain for 20 mins or so if they pass close. This means we will need to drop the BWR when we see one coming. They are very visible by daylight but are much more common at night, but thankfully are also visible on the radar. So tactic 1 sail around them, tactic 2 drop the BWR, shut the hatches and then re hoist when safe to do so. Hopefully we will get the hoist right next time!

We have settled more into a groove with sleep coming easier, watches more enjoyable and fewer aches and pains from less bashing around. Showers have been had by all, with the water maker performing well keeping the tanks topped up.

Lunch today spicy sardines tortilla wrap and dinner cottage pie. Dennis our Dutch colleague has never had such good British cuisine!