Halcyon - Day 11
Halcyon
Rob Withers
Thu 1 Dec 2011 18:15
rolly night for Halcyon and most of the other ARC yachts. On deck,
everything seemed fairly tranquil as we swooshed down the big swell at
up to 10knots. Down below, it was seemed less like 'swosshing' and
more like 'tumbling'!
Anyway, we're making good progress before these winds, clicking off
168NM yesterday and 164 the day before. We're yet to approach the 198
NM in 24 hours that Halcyon did across the Indian Ocean -maybe if the
current was working as advertised we'rd get closer - so far there's
been no discernible difference between the speed through water log and
the SOG.
Today, we've been sailing in company with Susanne - a Finnish boat.
This morning they started about 4 NM away and have now closed to
1.5NM. Obviously, we'll try to stop them getting past us. Various
forms of cannon have been suggested to thwart their progress, but none
have the range required.
A constant source of amazement is that some people row this course (and
also that I once harboured such ambitions). It would so very
uncomfortable and disheartening for so long, it's not surprising that
very few people do an ocean row more than once.