Day 2 Lagos to Porto Santo
22 August 2016 | Atlantic Ocean
Gillian
We had a horrible night last night. The wind was not a problem but the swells although not large were uncomfortable. On top of that, we had a clonking noise from the starboard side stays. They seemed firm enough but to be cautious we rigged the running back stay to the side. The swell and the noise was enough to keep me awake and busy catastrophising, so no sleep for me, and Neil hardly slept either. Otherwise the sky was magnificent with stars the nearly full moon later, taking Neil by surprise when he saw this bright light coming up behind us! By the morning the clonking had stopped but a new clonk started around the boomvang. Again nothing obvious, so more grease applied and it eased. Another irritating occasional knock around the rudder, but nothing too concerning. We may get the bearings checked at the Canaries. We have had Hans the Hydrovane (yes, he has a name now!) steering a perfect course, and the hydrogenerator whinging away as it charged the batteries. Actually, not sure if it is charging the batteries, as the connection seems a bit loose, so another thing to look at in the Madeiras. The wind and swells have eased now, clonking noises have ceased, and we are sailing at 6 knots in 10 knots of breeze. Yesterday we did 144nm and we have 278nm to go.