Tuesday 6th June
Northern Light II
Michael & Sarah Loftus
Wed 7 Jun 2023 15:25
After a long night slowly sailing with clear skies and a full moon we were able to fly our gennaker in the morning . This gave us the extra speed we needed to catch the leading boats ahead . As the winds increases early evening we lowered the gennaker and put a reef in the main .
The forecast for the night was for stronger winds , up to 2m wave heights and poor visibility . Sadly for once the forecast was right . No visibility , gusting winds and large waves made steering NLII very hard . Reaching speeds of 10knts the watch system was changed to 2 crew every 2 hours with 20 minute turns behind the wheel. No auto pilot because of the ongoing power shortage from the batteries - exhausting !
Bayona in sight ….
Michael