27/06/2009, 68nm southwest of Glendore Harbour
Well, life don't get much better than this; the promised South Easterly breeze one point abaft the beam, flat sea, 'Viente' effortlessly slipping along on course at 7.5 knots; grandson Max on the helm, tweaking and coaxing our beautiful yacht to 8 knots and more.
We are grateful for a fast ship; have been watching a nasty summer LOW tracking North into our sea area and deepening 983mb by Sunday, packing 38 knot gales; thankfully we have maintained good boat speed to put us to the North East of the bugger, so we should carry these moderate southeasterlies all the way to Glendore on the south coast of Ireland. With present speed, we will be shortening sail tonight to arrive at first light Sunday morning.
This has been a grand voyage; the crew have gained some worthwhile ocean sailing experience; Max has certainly earned his Duke of Edinburgh 'Gold' points - character making indeed!
Crew member Shay's photo shows the elegant RMS 'Queen Mary 2' as she passed us yesterday making 26.3 knots, on passage for New York; I'm rather hoping to persuade my wife that we are on that ship for my next Transatlantic!
24HR Run: 165nm
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26/06/2009, 240nm SW of Union Hall
Photo at dawn on Friday June 26, 2009; as Eileen Quinn beautifully sings:
and the suns coming up, another day at sea, all is right with the world and me...
Yesterday evening was a nice surprise; expecting less than five knots of wind, instead we received 8-9 knots on port beam (from the Northwest) which Max expertly teased into 13-14 knots of 'apparent' wind - the yacht skimming over a flat sea at 7+ knots. Pure Magic! So at last the crew enjoyed a quiet night; just the haunting sound of seven knots under sail. The breeze held until 1030 this morning, before fading away; time to give the machinery a go and get a good battery charge.
Now the hope is that we will get a good push to Glandore from Southeasterlies ahead of that rather daunting LOW moving up from the south. Nil Desperandum Pat, God Willing we should be moored off Union Hall in Glandore Harbour early Sunday, before any strong winds arrive.
This afternoon our lookout Jody, spotted a large ship on the eastern horizon which Max identified on the AIS (Automatic Identification System) as the Queen Mary 2; a splendid sight, the 1130ft transatlantic liner passed us 7nm on our port side, Course 264(M), at 26.3knots; ETA New York 01/07 0330.
We dine tonight not quite QM2 style - but we do look forward to a defrosted chicken curry!
PS: 1945hrs - Joy of Joys - wind now WSW 18kts; running 'wing & wing' on course, on port tack.
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25/06/2009, 370nm SW of Union Hall
Here is Max, to tell how it is for a sixteen year old:
So far we have covered over 800nm and I have experienced many different things, from 60 ft whales 50 meters away, to roaring winds and powerful seas. It took me a few days to get settled into 'life at sea', but as soon as I grew a pair of 'sea legs' I found it much easier to move around the boat to trim the sails etc. After yesterdays 8+ kts average boat speed, today has been an entirely different story the ocean has been a Millpond meaning we have had to motor, with all sails setting, from 1200 onwards. A big thank you to Granny for the excellent 'Pre-made meals' which have been lovely! (I think you should open a restaurant). We are just about to sit down to a nice Chili with a coleslaw salad.
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24/06/2009, 525nm SW of Union Hall, Ireland
The crew want to add a postscript to today's Sailblog; thanks Pat for the superb beef stew eaten with relish in the cockpit; Max produced his excellent creamed spuds - morale good, all OK on board.
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24/06/2009, 45 22.0'N:20 03.0'W
Grand sailing at 8 knots+ for last 24 hours; hard going on the crew, but they all responded well, turning out cheerfully for their Dog Watches and doing their duty keeping the ship safe. After 35 years offshore sailing, your scribe made his best ever 24 hour run. Our GRIB weather charts have so far been extraordinarily accurate; the crew hope the promise of easier winds tomorrow will work out - we could all do with a break.
So far, so very good.
24hr Run: 191nm (averaging 7.95kts)
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23/06/2009, 43 53.7'N:22 30.6'W
A very good day; as promised by GRIB US the wind backed into the Northwest, meaning freed sheets and the joy of 8 knots (max 9.1kt) on course for Union Hall.
Skipper Peter was looking for a 'Challenge'; looks like our challenge is to stay ahead of a developing LOW, packing 30 knot easterlies on Friday/Saturday. We are currently riding the back of a LOW 1013mb at 45N,18W. Mr GRIB forecasts we keep this sweet northwesterly breeze through Thursday. The trick will be to maintain this excellent boat speed to stay well east of the next LOW 1001mb at 47N,22W on Friday, deepening to 995mb by Saturday.
Inshallah, we will make our approach to Ireland in moderate southeasterlies. Come on Family, get out your prayer mats pleeese!!
Days Run: 155nm
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