Clock back an hour, closing in on the international date line
08 September 2021 | 17 39.313'S:174 31.757'W, At Sea to Fiji
NC
8th September
17 39.313 S
174 31.757 W
Weather; sunny, wind 1-7 knots, waves 1 metre
Let's start with the good news, we heard from Sherard late yesterday and he had managed to get a decent sleep in by reducing his sails to almost nothing and just drifting along, luckily the wind was pretty much as we had been seeing it Ð not worth mentioning, so he managed to keep fairly close to his course. We aren't too sure about the last 24 hours but at least we know he's taking a sensible approach to a dire situation. Gerry has suggested to him to call in at Fiji to get the auto pilot sorted out but as yet we haven't had a response from him so don't know if he is taking that option.
Now on to us, there is nothing new to tell you really, the wind has dropped away to puffs every now and again, not enough to fill a paper bag never mind a sail! It still persists in changing from one side to the other and we think it is just having a laugh at our expense as Gerry, with his ADHD jumps around all over the place wanting to change the spinnaker pole over to the other side and back again, gybes at the merest hint of wind on the other side and puts out one sail after the other and then pulls them back in again when they won't hold their shape for more than 2 minutes, he really is quite exhausting to watch in action but he at least tries hard to get every last bit of wind working for us. Meanwhile we have the engine running at the same time to make sure that we at least have some forward motion happening. It's slower than slow and we have been hard pushed to make 3.5 knots an hour over night and into this morning but apparently a change is on its way (can't wait to
see that happen!) At least we can manage to get some sleep whilst the water is flat calm and we aren't being hurtled around all over the place. I've spent the morning baking as there was nothing else happening and as soon as the cake I made was out of the oven Gerry wanted to try a piece, he didn't want to wait until it had cooled down, anyone would think he was starving the way he carries on, I have made him wait as I've seen the doorstop wedges he cuts, I'll slice it up when its cooled down.
We had a brief moment of excitement a short while ago when the fishing line began to zing out, but the usual story followed, as Gerry began reeling it in, and it was heavy going, the line suddenly snapped and we lost the fish, the line, the trace, the lure and hook. Not to be put off a new (old) lure has been attached and the line is once again out and trying to catch us something for dinner, yes I have a stand by meal ready to go!
In the 24 hours we have managed to cover a mere 96 NM, which is pretty pathetic especially as we had to run the engine for 21 hours to even reach that total, at least it's in the right direction.
We have put our clock back by an hour, as of this moment, to get us more in line with the local time, unfortunately we will be crossing the international date line soon and will lose a complete day but at least we will then be on the same day as Australia making us feel closer to home!