Day 12 - Steady Progress - Which way?
Bonkers
Donald Macdonald
Sun 19 May 2024 20:21
Code 0 taken down after 23 hours as the wind got up a couple of knots and Harold not doing a great job in a straight line prefering big S's. Lost about half to 1 knot of speed but made up not douing extra distance.
Not a particularly sunny day bar about 3 hours this morning. 5 degrees cooler below for sleeping. On deck John is already feeling the cold as has his jacket on during the day as well as night. Last night he even put the Code 0 sail bag over his legs to keep warm, I think he went looking for his warm gear earlier that has been packed away since the Canaries.
Spinnaker pole had a new piece of tape attached to keep trip release in place. Old gaffa tape seen peeling off from the sun. In the cabin the window shades have been put back up as we no longer need to try and deflect the heat of the sun away.
For the next 3-4 days we should keep above 10 knots with one period in the 20 knot region on a run, we may have to steer there as the sea will be 2-3 meters with a period of only 5-6 seconds, maybe a bit wet then too. Last forecast update had a split in routes, we are opting for the direct one of GFS model although I have up to now prefered ECMWF, maybe a mistake. All models imply 10-11 days before arrival. 1110nm to go. Over half the distance done on leaving Antigua.
Dinner chunky chicken & vegetable soup, mashed potatos, cheese, fresh baguette then sliced peaches.