Rani wrote this morning to say that she was sleeping only 3 hours at a time. I told her that Brian and I could handle the watch schedule out here and to try to get some unbroken sleep.
Yesterday was a pretty rough beat for much of the day but by supper time the wind had died out and we turned on the engine and motored through the night until about 1 am when I deemed we had enough wind to sail. For two hours while Brian tried to sleep I chased a very light and fitful easterly, finally giving up around 3 am when we put the engine back into service. Surprisingly, given the turbulent seas, no one has been sick. Brian skipped breakfast yesterday but was able to scarf down 4 sausages for lunch.
My present when I woke for my watch around 6 am today was a fair easterly wind and we soon had the sails pulling us along at 5 knots. Then a few minutes later the wind rose suddenly from 6 to 20 knots. Not a squall but just the edge of a new wind. I had to wake poor Brian who had just drifted off and we tucked two reefs in the main. We are now bowling along with a 15 knot beam wind doing between 6 and 7 knots.
Position at 07:00 NZ time is 36 07 S 172 04 E. We are about 290 miles out from Port Hardy D'Urville Island and should be there Monday morning or even sometime on Sunday if the winds hold.
1 comment:
Hi Chris and Rani,
I love the 7 photos, and the video gives a real feel of what it must be like to be sailing at sea in a strong wind, thank you.
your writing reminded me of my Dad, your Uncle and how much he would have loved it, Mum too, more fearfully, perhaps, and ofcause so would l.I think you have solved the problem of how to live...I
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