can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Koala - Dec 8th: Ahh... Sleeep....



Had a great night last night. Both of us got our full allowance of sleep and feel much better for it. This 4 hours on 4 off pattern is fine when you get to sleep when not on watch, but gets pretty tiring when you can't! Because we are trying to get some more south in to avoid an area of light winds up ahead, we were on a bit of a tighter angle to the wind. Koala sailed herself beautifully all night without a single adjustment and making 6-7 knots to the south west as well. We should have a good daily run today although our 24 hour VMG will not be quite so good as we have not been pointing directly at St Lucia.

We are now down at 14 degrees N and it is getting hotter. Today is a port tack day (sails out on the Starboard side) which means that we will not get any shade from the sails as we are heading west. On a starboard tack day, we have complete shade on the boat after lunch from the sails. Still, helps the tan along. Especially since I reinforced my mankini with some spare bits of dyneema to form a low tan impact safety harness.. :o) Only joking, fully CE approved lifejackets with built in harnesses are worn at all times...

Wind has now dropped to 4 knots, which is pretty much nothing for all practical purposes when there is a swell. We are considering motoring through the hours of darkness, and then we can see what conditions we get in the morning. We don't have enough diesel to just keep motoring for the next 36 hours, but a night motoring will at least see us fully charged and watered up by tomorrow, and should give us another full nights sleep.


Previous | Next