Yacht Cerulean Atlantic Adventure

Log:453 DTW 661; BTW 046deg 42deg 51'N 018deg 48'W COG: 031 SOG:6.0 Wind NW f4-5; 10026 Satus: Sailing 2 reefs main / 66% staysail / 25% Genoa

Boat time 07:00 (UT)

Day 05 at sea

All at sea today

Sea gunmetal Sky dirty white cold and damp Wind howling halyards frapping plates rattling kettle whistling sea swishing by waves crashing boat creaking our symphony of the sea.

Not to mention the water dripping down my neck as I sit at the nav table writing to you...where is that blasted leak coming from.

Made good progress yesterday despite motor-sailing from 09:00-12:00 due to light tail wind, then the wind picked up and veered to the SW, we were on a dead run until 18:00 full genoa goosewinged out on the pole and the main tied back on the preventer, making a good 6-7kts. By early evening the wind had come back round to the W, and we were back onto a broad reach with 50% genoa and two reefs in the main, by morning where are on a beam reach. Having looked at the weather decided to head a bit further to the north to hopefully pass above a deep low coming in a couple of days time, bringing gale force 8-9 winds, don't fancy getting caught up in that. Now heading to windward, we have 60% staysail, 25% genoa and two reefs in the main, making 031deg(T) True wind direction 310deg 15-20kts we are making about 6kts a little bit of current under us giving us a lift.

No stars or moon to look at last night to while away the hours, it has been a bit drizzly and damp over night, thick cloud from horizon to horizon, visibility down to less than 2nm for much of the time, now about 5nm. The odd ship passing by way off out of site, a few Spanish fishing boats lurking around, changing direction and speed now and then, sometimes heading for us and sometimes not. A few yachts have passed us by going in the opposite direction, stragglers on the Azores and Back (AZAB) yacht race, Alison spoke to one on the VHF to pass the time of day, Nutmeg out of Hailing island.

With three of us on board for this passage life is a bit easier, we get more of a rest between watches 4hrs on 8hrs off during the day between 6am and 6pm, 3hrs on and 3hrs off during the night between 6pm and 6am. It gets dark about 9pm and light about 6am. Despite the banging and crashing and getting soaked every now and then when you are in the cockpit, down below snug in your bunk, sometimes the boat doesn't seem to be moving at all, I wake up sometimes and think we a lying at anchor in a sheltered bay, then crash, the boat lurches and I am thrown from one side of the bunk to the other, then back to sleep again...someone will call me if they need me.

I have just finished the 3am to 6am watch, sort of saw the sunrise, there was a glow of orange and yellow on the horizon off to the starboard bow, for a few minutes...before it was consumed by the cloud again.

I feel my bunk calling me, time for a sleep.

Richard and Alison yacht Cerulean of Penryn

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