North Atlantic 2

Wednesday 13th May 2009

OK first things first . Hove To and finally go to toilet, my first since the start of the trip! Man this Caribbean bread blocks you up! Afterwards I felt absolutely awful. I have had minor feelings of sea sickness but put it down to not having my sea legs yet and nerves about the trip but there was no mistaking this. One thing I can't afford is to get seasick! Straight to bed for half an hour and then sat in the cockpit in the fresh air. I still felt a minor queasiness but I am sure this was the psychological effects of me worrying about getting sick.

1200utc position N21 31.45 W60 18.82 with a 24 hour run of 108nm. I uploaded a blog update to Mr Crute to post for you readers and downloaded the next 3 days of grib weather files - and then wish I hadn't! I simply can't get enough easting into my heading to beat this depression. I have no other option than to pinch up as tight as I can and keep pressing north and see where that puts me in 2 days time. I am guessing I will enter the depression and then head east on a port tack when the winds swing north. It's either that or a nice beam reach to Bermuda.

I spent the day reading 'The Life of PI'. Now two questions (I nodded off to sleep a few times during this part):

1. Does Richard Parker actually talk when they are both blind or is it all in his head? If so why does he not talk there after?

2. Is there really another boat with another blind man that gets eaten by Richard Parker. PI says he saw the body when he got his sight back and used an arm for bait and also ate some of it, or again, is this all in his head?

I’m on page 275.

I spent the rest of the time sleeping and shaking in and out reefs and sail trimming. For some reason the boat feels like its sailing through treacle and I can't get her going any decent speed. 2 reefs in feels too slow but 1 reef in rounds up in the swell and makes the Hydrovane work too hard - its also a pain during the 30kn+ squalls. I also had another shouting match with the bloody lazy jacks getting caught on the mainsail battens going from 3rd reef to 2nd reef in the afternoon and then later that night doing exactly the same thing.

I am going to concentrate on sleeping tonight.



Thursday 14th May 2009

After a really good nights sleep I 'woke up' at daybreak which is about 5am local time. I think of it as 0900utc which is a more sensible time to wake up! As the sun rises I usually have a hot drink and watch the sunrise as my body knows its still 'early' and doesn't feel hungry. I usually spend the next few hours getting the boat back up to speed, shaking out reefs and napping or writing up yesterday's events.

As 1200utc approaches I take my 'noon' position and mileage, plot my position and spend some time agonising over grib files and routing decisions and a general 'what can I expect mother nature to throw at me today' plan. Today's position N23 05.67 W59 55.34 with 100nm covered.

Time for 'breakfast' as it's now about 1300utc I can go straight to 'lunch', wow where has the day gone? Three slices of toast, a can of beans and loads of grated cheese on top with a dash of BBQ sauce all washed down with a large cup of tea - just what the body needs!

With my 'chores' complete its time to finish my book. 'The Life of PI' - it disturbed me!

It promises a 'happy ending', I'm not so sure. I don't feel all fuzzy and happy and I spent another 30 minutes rereading different parts of the book all over again as in disbelief! Forget yesterdays questions, I think I have the answers. This book is a must read, its genius. I guess its like a good movie, if you spend the next hour or so discussing or thinking about it when you leave the cinema it's a good movie despite whether you liked the ending or not! Go read it!... (Book Review Over).

As usual I spent most of my time napping below out of the sun then around midday I came up to see a familiar set of sails on the horizon. Through the binoculars it looks very much like the French guy from the other day. I tried several times to raise him on the radio without success. Two important facts here, firstly he is still behind me (about 4nm) and second I am still to windward of him despite me being the worlds laziest sailor!

The wind has dropped to around 12kn and my reefed sails aren't doing me any favours. My competitive streak kicks in and out comes 'the whole nine yards'. Well ok if I had nine yards I'd get them out, but full sail it was none the less. As I left him behind I could imagine the response 'Dam zat petit bateau is fast non!'.

With the wind dropping so have the seas and before long the ocean had barely a meter of swell and Doris was gliding along. Full sail, ok a roll on the jib to stop her rounding up and making life easier for the hydrovane and a slightly open leech on the mainsail traveller to ease the heel - lovely! I'd almost forgotten what sailing Doris was like and it bought back memories of sunny day sails in Brighton. The conditions are better than what I experienced throughout the Caribbean!

What better way to enjoy the afternoon and cool down than to have a shave and a 'bath'. As I sit there scrubbing myself of salt and god knows what else, I can see a mast on the horizon up wind of me getting closer. Finally I am clean and ready to receive my new visitors. They get to about 1nm behind me, now to leeward and don't appear to be getting any closer. It seems they could gain on me if they bear away a little but can't overhaul me sailing as tight to the wind as I am. They sit 1nm of my stern for the entire afternoon and I try several times into sunset to raise them on the radio. I am a little worried about them being so close as it means I will not be able to sleep.

Finally after dark they call me up on the radio. The boat name is 'Leera' heading for the Azores and has three (German sounding) crew on board. Yes they keep a fulltime watch and yes they will call me if there are any ships in the area on their Radar or AIS and 'have a nice sleep'. Happy Days! Im soon deep in the sleeping bag on the portside settee on the leeward side as it stops the jib luffing and keeps the sails full even at 35 degrees to the wind.

I sleep hourly for about four hours and have put in a few reefs over that time to reduce the noise. By which time they have passed me and are just starting to vanish into the distance.

A one hour sleep almost guarantees I dream and every time I get to 'the good bit', the damn alarm goes off! I'm back in that familiar 'Lost' episodes of dreaming. I'm in a hurry to get back to bed and try and 'resume' the dream - I fail every time!

This dream addiction also goes a long way to explain why I am going to be about 10-20nm short of expected total mileage tomorrow. Despite a flat ocean I am not monopolising on it. Still sleep is important and I think I need to 'bank some' for the approaching depression.

From what I can see the winds will back from E to NE either tonight or tomorrow. I have been pushing N making as much E as I can hence the sailing tight to the wind. As soon as a N direction becomes impossible I will tack E. In short I want to go N with a touch of E and then E with a touch of N. I don't want to see any S or W!

I may be becalmed tomorrow or 'God forbid' have to use the engine but by Saturday I should be seeing full on Northerly winds that will hopefully continue to 'back' to carry me towards the Azores - that's the plan.



Friday 15th May 2009

An early post for all you avid readers, before you go off to enjoy the weekend.

Usual story 'up' at 0900utc, coffee and ginger nut biscuits before shaking out all the reefs, lets get going. I tried the other tack several times throughout the night but the best I could make was 120-135 degrees, yes I would be going East but losing a lot of the North I have been working for. I continued North throughout the morning until around 1200utc when even with everything hauled in tight I was only making 355 - 10 degrees, time for that tack! It's still desperate but on the new tack I am now doing a steady 5kn of speed at 92 - 110 degrees (88 in gusts) in about 10kn of wind. My apparent wind (around 14kn) closes the angle down heading me early. I have to have 1 reef in the mainsail with the traveller down to leeward and a roll or two on the jib to reduce heel and leeway. It's amazing I sail higher (actual COG) with a reef in! Under full sail I was pretty hard pushed and life was not ideal hanging on to the sink for dear life to make a cup of tea doing 6.5kn into Easterly waves . bang bang bang!!!!.

So sails set, nothing to do now but hope the winds last. According to the gribs (fresh this morning) the winds should get lighter and head me again going easterly. When that happens I'll deal with it probably working north again as best as I can until Saturday when the winds fill in and I'll try and head E / NE up into the depression. Funny I've never chased 'bad' weather before!

It was Cannelloni and cheese biscuits for breakfast with a tin of chocolate pudding in the fridge. Yes this time I am using the fridge, I have turned off all the electronics except my small handheld GPS. Last night I was checking course while on deck using Polaris (the pole star) it's easier and faster. Simply, when I go to the left of it its time to tack!

This morning, the sun is out and Doris is flying along nicely. So far (and I don't want to jinx it) this trip has been far more enjoyable than the crossing over. Certainly more tactical! Yes it's to windward but at least the boat heel is fixed instead of rocking and rolling all over the place. I guess it helps that the 'worse is yet to come' and I think I am going to be freezing cold before half way across. For now at least, the sailing is amazing and DORIS is the perfect tool for this route. I keep asking myself how will I cope in an older boat that doesn't point so high or handle in light airs etc . Hmn?!?!?

With 'the Life of PI' finished (I'm still thinking about it), the next book I will be 'reviewing' is 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'. I know I know . I promised Kat I would read it a long time ago and being one of the few unread books onboard. So far it's amazingly funny and more than a few good laughs to myself have been had.

Anyway 'noon fix' was N24 24.11 W59 27.74 with only 90nm covered (must try harder!). Currently heading 82 degrees (true) at around 6kn - wo0ho0!!!

Thanks to you all who are 'keeping me company', Crutey, Francois, Kat, Sym & Amy. If anyone has any message, advice etc or weather updates please feel free to send me an SMS. Enjoy the weekend!!!!

North Atlantic 1

Sunday 10th May 2009

I woke up around 0730am local time only to find Ben sitting in Otahi's cockpit reading. He shouted 'Good morning!' ensuring Freya and Medi were now also awake. Minutes later James jumped into the water from Veracity and swam over for tea. Freya had also joined us before the kettle had even boiled - so much for sneaking off quietly!

We arranged to have breakfast on Otahi with Frey producing the goods one last time in the form of scrambled eggs with cheese on toast followed by tea and more jam toast - perfect. Good ol auntie Frey also sent me on my way with a tin of home made fruit & nut cookies. It seems cookies are becoming a tradition each time I set off across an ocean. Frey - you are the best!

We all (Ben, Freya, Medi, James and I) chatted for a while before I decided it was time for me to get going. James and I lifted the anchor at 1000am (1400 utc) with James helming before jumping over the side after a quick goodbye and good luck. His departing words . 'I'll be watching!' . no pressure!

Minutes later there I was was trying to free the mainsail batten from the lazy jacks (again) - typical! Soon after saw the ol faithful 2nd reef and reefed jib taking me safely out to sea away from land. I tacked my way up the Antiguan coast following the same route to Green Island as I had done a few days previous. With the wind freeing I Shook out a reef and headed offshore with a rough course of 30 degrees magnetic (best to windward) on a starboard tack in 10-15 kn of wind.

Doris pretty much sailed herself for the remainder of the day I put in the 2nd reef back in just before dark. At midnight (2400 utc) the full moon appeared to brighten things up and keep me company. I plotted my first real position N17 29.47 W61 32.36 with 48nm covered in the first 10 hours.

Through the night the seas got bigger until I was plodding along at 4kn trying to reduce the slamming. I heard a few other boats that were also heading for the Azores over the radio and also saw two large ships. I hope the route isn't going to be busy making sleep difficult.

I slept in short intervals throughout the night but felt extremely tired in the morning. The boat is uncomfortable due to beating into the short lumpy seas and waves come over the cockpit soaking everything every few minutes. 3 weeks of this - Jeez!

Monday 11th May 2009

I plotted my position (1200utc) N18 19.49 W61 21.53 with exactly 100nm covered in 22 hours, not so bad considering the sea state. I made jam toast for breakfast while holding on for dear life.

Not much to report except that its clear that I am basically heading almost North and any hope of staying close to the 'Great Circle' is impossible due to both the wind direction and sea state. I did start reading 'The Life of PI', not sure about the wisdom of this - a book about a boy marooned in a life raft in the Pacific with a tiger. I am not sure what my sleep deprived brain will make of it.

I sailed with the 3rd reef for most of the day as the slamming was unbearable. I cooked pasta with tuna in the late afternoon with plenty left over. While the ride was a lot more comfortable, I was not going anywhere fast and decided to shake out a reef. This decision was met almost minutes later by my first real squall with winds over 30kn - typical!

Due to a large portion of the route being close hauled on a starboard tack, I decided to move as much weight (including myself) into the starboard rear cabin. With the boat slamming, the forepeak is a 'no go' area and it actually gets worse when I'm in there. I moved all the fenders and surfboards (light stuff) forward and made a space for me to sleep among the tinned foods and sails in the back cabin. The effort seems to have helped the motion of the boat.

The 3rd reef went back in just before dark as I could see squalls all around giving an indication of what to expect through the night. I did manage to get a little more sleep through the night, mainly because the cockpit is miserable with everything soaked through even the companionway steps are damp. I already despise the egg timer and the thought of another 3 weeks of these conditions makes me cringe.

I saw three ships just before it got light (0900 utc) so I still need to keep a good look out as I am only 200nm offshore.


Tuesday 12th May 2009

As it got light I saw a sailing boat about 4nm on my portside. I couldn't help but immediately shake out the 3rd reef to keep up with my new neighbour. It soon became apparent that he was not pointing as high to windward as me as we became further apart. The boat turned out to be a French guy also bound for the Azores, he also complained about the lack of easting due to the Atlantic swell. His lack of English and my lack of French ensured the conversation was short before he vanished over the horizon.

Maybe I'll meet him in the Azores?

Yesterdays pasta was livened up with some cheese and mayonnaise for breakfast before I retreated out of the sun below. During the day the boat is like an oven as it's impossible to open any windows because of the constant waves over the decks. In the cockpit the sun beats down and I have to constantly wash my face and eyes with fresh water because of salt from the deck spray - 3 weeks!

I spent most of the day down below out of the sun reading. In contrast the nights are cold and very wet not just from waves but also damp. The bed clothes already have that sticky feel to them and moisture appears on the boat walls around the companionway steps.
Since this morning I have noticed an increasing large amount of weed floating in the water. Maybe its from the Sargasso sea? My position at 1200 utc was N19 56.91 W61 06.63 with 101nm covered in the last 24 hours.

Later in the day the wind veered allowing me to get some easting (40-50 degrees) with 2 reefs in 18-22 kn of wind. Not much else to report except that I maintained direction and sail. James sent me an SMS message later that night announcing a new depression forming and if I can get to the East of it 'I'm on to a winner', if not - its head winds all the way. I'll check the gribs tomorrow.