We've just clocked under 1,000 miles to the finish (though we will
have to sail further than that). Mark Griffin's daily ask is “how far
is it to Fastnet Rock?”, so if you ever see him in Australia when he
gets back, don't forget to ask him that! Its 675 miles right now and
on our routing.
Today saw the first sail change for nearly 4 days. As the wind has
dropped from 20knots to 14 knots we've changed up to an A4 kite and
are moving along nicely at 10 knots boat speed. Yesterday saw the
last of the higher winds and with an added swell it was great surfing
conditions. Just as Andreas came on deck, I got my revenge with the
support of Jens' and Andy's grinding and James' trimming we pushed
down 2 waves to reach a new trip high of 21.04 knots in just 22 knots
of wind.... have to love this boat! To get this record with Andreas
watching just added a new level to our “speed sparing”.... we're not
competitive at all!
Last night was truly dark. With this endless cloudy sky the
phosphorescence in the water was great. We were joined by a pod of
dolphins in the night which glow like a salvo of torpedos as they zoom
along besides us... its an amazing sight. Aladin found a selection
of baby shrimp on deck this morning showing exactly where these
sparkles of green come from.
We're now able to dry things out a bit inside the boat and sleep is
being recouped after a few days where we need more than 4 on deck. It
would be great if this current wind holds, but it looks like we will
have a very slow weekend of only 10 knots of wind and Monday looks
very light. Seems the only way to get around this high is to ask
someone to move Ireland and Cornwall out of the way.... (clearly been
drinking the salt water).
Andy's work never stops – he's sorting out the next charter's
requirements, researching which relay is required to replace one
that's failed (we've had some battery charging issues) and he's just
done a full chafe check around the boat. With a very tight
turnaround for the RORC Cowes Dinard race, he wants to make sure its
right... either that or he really wants the Moule Frites when he gets
there.
Alice made a fantastic lunch after her watch on deck and which brought
sail change planning to a standstill when I walked into the cabin
holding one of the tasty wraps... Butternut & Kale Dal with Rice for
dinner. But for now, the music's on deck, the coffee is flowing and
its all smiles.
ETA at Cowes is currently Early Thursday... however who knows what
will happen with this high pressure ahead.