17 Jan: We keep our watches on GMT so sun not up now till 9:30am. Wind is now between 14-18 kts. With twin headsails we make 6.5 kts, which seems a little slow after our previous 7.5, but still too windy to switch to spinnaker.
We spot flying fish all around. They really do actually fly, about 30cm above the water and for 50m or so. Not exactly Life of Pi, but still interesting to see. We found a dead one on the deck – he must have flown a little too high. Talking of fishing, we threw the fishing line & hook in the afternoon, but no takers. We’ll try a more colorful lure tomorrow maybe.
In the midday heat (30 deg C today) Glen is inside playing with SSB (HF Radio) and tunes into BBC world service – and first thing we hear is a report of a meteorite seen over Detroit. That got Ellie’s attention! But generally the radio crackles away with half tuned-in voices and warbles. Oana says it sounds like we are in a war movie! We’ll soon try to tune into some of the Caribbean cruising HF networks. But at 1000 miles we are still too far away for the MF (Medium Frequency) they use. Glen emails several of the US, French and Caribbean MRCCs (maritime rescue coordination centers) to see if he can do an HF emergency test call to them. But all reply that they no longer have HF radio equipment. Hmmm, back in the day, eh? All satellite now I guess. Well let’s see who’s laughing when the movie “Gravity” becomes a reality and all the satellites blow up!
Meanwhile Oana is heavily into her books and Ellie writing papers. After another wonderful creation for lunch – Oana’s summer salad – it’s time for the spinnaker. Der-Der-Der-Dun!(dramatic music). We’ve been told above 12 knots we won’t get it down again. It’s 15 knts… what the heck, lets do it! By the time we’ve gybed the main, stowed the pole and sorted out the usual jumble of crossed ropes, we are already exhausted before the spinnaker is even out of its bag!
Finally it goes up and fills – bang! It looks good and speed back to 7kts, but Glen wants to see if the snuffler sock will come down in this wind. So while Ellie eases the sheet to collapse the spinnaker, Glen is on his back by the mast pulling like hell on the snuffled line. 1st it comes down, then he gets tangled in it and starts pulling up again! Finally down it’s snuffled. Phew, what a monster. 205sqm of material is a lot to handle. OK back up again. But this time the boat is rolling and the spinnaker threatens to tangle around the forestay. This is our biggest fear, as someone would need to go up the mast to disentangle it. As Jennie will well remember, Glen did that once in Newfoundland. Not to be repeated!
As it will be dark in an hour, the Monster comes down again, leaving Glen and Ellie in a pile of white spinnaker on the deck, looking exhausted. Bugger, “why did I buy that thing” says Glen as Oana gives him the “I told you so” looks from the cockpit 🙂
So we continue into the night with the trusty twin headsails and the spinnaker firmly handcuffed to the deck! Big day tomorrow – Ellie’s Birthday!!