Fw: Sadko update 16 June 1200
Sadko
Martin Lamport
Mon 18 Jun 2012 13:43
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36deg52'N, 38deg32'W. 378 miles from
Flores.
Our luck with the weather could not hold and
yesterday the wind dropped below 5 knots and left us wallowing. To add to
our worries, bad weather is predicted in the Azores at the end of this week,
with a potential gale on Thursday/Friday. We seemed to have a choice
of running further south for safety, or piling on the miles to try to make port
in Flores before the usual Azores high pressure system turns into a
low. We discussed the options over our evening sun downer,
reflected on what Captain Aubrey might have done, and decided unanimously
to try to out run the weather.
"There's not a moment to lose!" But with no
wind we'd no choice but to motor to maintain an average 6 knots
needed to cover the distance in time. We chugged along for 28 hours,
profiting from the calm conditions to set up the storm stay sail (first time it
has ever been hoisted as far as I am aware) and top up our diesel from the jerry
cans in reserve. By yesterday evening we were finally able to sail
again and today Paul and Hugo had me up at 0400 to hoist the
spinnaker. I resisted this plan as the wind is expected to strengthen
and so we rigged up our goose wing system with the genoa hauled out along the
spinnaker pole with a tackle, looking like a lop sided tuna
fisherman. But it works well enough and we are improving our batting
average at a steady 7 knots. This should move us to within 70 miles of Flores by
Wednesday, when the winds are predicted to back easterly. A lot will
depend on exactly where they blow from and if they let us to beat up those
last 70 miles, but I am confident Sadko can handle any weather these parts are
likely to throw up at this time of year and we can always run away south if we
really need to.
With the prospect of an exciting few
days,
Signing off
Martin
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