(Days 9 -10 : 9th - 10th December) Also crossed the half way point
in the early hours of the morning!!! Yippee!!
Well it all started with us bitching that we need more sail area up
when going dead down wind.
On the old Reverie we had a spinnaker pole, so we would sail with
the mainsail out one side (to leeward) and the Jib / Genoa out on
the pole to windward. Works really well. Keeps the boat from rolling
and gives us plenty of sail for good speed. On the new Reverie we
are without a spinnaker pole ( we will get one in Sint Marteen) so
we cannot have the main and Genoa out at the same time. We
have been running with just a Genoa sheeted to the end of the boom,
works really well, just not quite enough sail and doesn't help with
the rolling.
So at the start of Day 9 Jason has a thought. Lets see if we can
get the small jib out and set it to windward, no pole, just see if
it sets, there may be enough wind coming forward of the Genoa to
keep it filled.
Well it worked, like a dream, we picked up an extra knot, settled
the boat right down - Perfect. If only we did this 3 days ago!
So we had a great day, Jo made a few passage meals, (taking
advantage of the nice smooth motion) and Jason read another book,
all very relaxing.
We left this sail configuration up all night, lovely... The wind
started to lighten through the early hours of the morning. Up early,
fishing lines out and we thought hey lets put the spinnaker up that
will give us a good shove along.
So in the process of taking down and sorting the Genoa / jib
arrangement, Jason says to Jo, "this is when we will catch a fish,
right when we are in the middle of putting up the Kite".
Sure enough, Jason is up front hooking up lines for the Kite, Jo
yells out "we have a fish!!" - Perfect timing. A Mahi Mahi (Dorado).
Well, we dragged him for a bit while we got the kite up and trimmed.
Speed was up, hitting a top for the day of 12.8 knots though the
water! Now the fish.
We pulled him in, did the business. He wasn't too big, but made 4
big fillets bagged and in the freezer.
The Kite gave us a great run for about 4 hours, the wind angle was
changing so we needed to let out one of the lines. (this time the
front one - Tack) So Jason is up front winching in the tack
line and Jeepas it jumped off the winch, a quick bit of rope burn on
the hands and out it went!!, so now we had a very large Spinnaker
flapping around like a massive flag, held on the top and one
corner!!. " Well I guess it's time to bring in the Kite!!"
So in it comes and out goes the Genoa. Probably a good thing as the
wind started to come up to around 20-25 not long after we had
finished. We then turned upwind a little, just enough to allow us
fly the main and Genoa on the same side. Just after getting the main
up and sorting the lines out!!!, Another Fish!!! Mahi Mahi again,
awesome!!!.
So with the main and Genoa up we settled in for the night, light
wind for most of it. What a busy night it was, squall after squall.
12 in total!. They seem to be less intense than the ones we had in
the Caribbean and Pacific. Not as much wind or rain, however we did
get a light boat wash. The real problem was each time one passed it
would cause wind shifts and even take away the wind for 30mins to an
hour. So neither of us got much sleep for the night.
Day 10. 161nm for the last 24hr run, not bad considering the light
wind we had through the night.
Winds up again, back into the 20-25 knot range, seas up and again
quite confused. - Seems to be a feature of the Atlantic. Reports
from the boats in the ARC are that there are 2 maybe 3 boats
abandoned, one crew member picked up by a cruise ship for medical
treatment, and a few booms broken or bent. I guess there will be a
lot of sails blown out as well.
So far all is well on Reverie apart from a few bruises, stubbed toes
and lack of sleep.
As we are on a different tack ( winds blowing on the other side of
the boat) Jo had another interesting showering experience, this time
the shower door collapsed open on her!!!, maybe it would easier to
put a harness on and shower off the back of the boat. Better still
we could drag her along for a pressure wash!!. - ohhh we wouldn't
do that!
Til next time
J&J
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