Day 11 – Mindelo to Paramaribo

So according to the forecast the wind was supposed to veer some 15-20 degrees so we set out into the night on starboard hoping to just keep our course of 255 degrees. Unfortunately, forecasts lie. And the wind shifted 15 degrees in the other direction. Putting us on a very southerly course moving very slowly in the wrong direction all night long. Sitting at watch staring at the chart plotter getting angry and frustrated doesn’t help much but given that we didn’t want to gibe in the dark unless absolutely necessary this is what I spent the night doing. This morning we made the gibe and set off happily exactly on course for about 1 hour. Then the wind decided it would do the promised shift a day late. This is the shift that would have been highly desirable yesterday but is completely undesirable today. Now we are heading slightly more quickly in a northery direction also about 30 degrees off of the desired course. And to top it all off we now have current against us! Expletive, expletive, expletive.

We check the boat and rigging thoroughly at least once a day as such a journey is taxing even to strong materials and from time to time something breaks and a small break can become nasty if you don’t get it in time. Seb is particularly diligent in his checks and is constantly alert. We all know the fairy tale about the princess and the pea. Well, Seb is as sensitive about small sounds on the boat as that princess was sensitive about that pea. Yesterday evening, while standing talking in the pilot house he stopped suddenly “Did you hear that?” He then donned his life vest and tore outside to make a full inspection of the deck and rigging. My prince then returned with a look of triumph carrying a tiny rivet that had sheared off with the banging of the boom. Over the racket of the water, the flapping sails, the wind and my voice he had heard a different sound, the wrong kind of sound…the tiny ‘plink’ of a rivet hitting the deck.

Day 11: Atlantic Crossing
Date: December 18, 2017
Time 12:00 UTC
Position 7’53.883N / 48’42.179W
COG/SOG: 245 degrees / 6kn
Trip distance: 1565nm
Distance to go: 402nm
24h distance: 139nm
Cabin temp: 29.6C
Sea temp: 23.4C
Conditions: sunny few clouds, wind 72 degrees / NE 15-20kn, sea moderate Sails: Full main and genoa (port) wing-wing

Live position tracker at: https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02nKvBqvxOgtWvAPCDkUEUqyTcWFsO96a

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3 Comments

  1. Zusje 19/12/2017

    Ahhh wat mooi verteld weer! Elke dag een avontuurlijk verhaal en dat vanaf de oceaan…wow Rhi! En geweldig met die foto, zo knap broeder! Hopelijk zit de wind vandaag wat meer mee. Trots op jullie lieve kleintjes! Liefs xus

  2. Evert 19/12/2017

    Unbelievably cool – you should bundle and publish your journey as a book!

  3. Helen Thomas 19/12/2017

    What a gem he is, and you are all closer all the time, yea!

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