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Starblazer - 14/05/2014 – Fast and slow



We had a really good 24 hour run to 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, covering 156 nM. We
continued at a similar rate until 2000 hrs, that’s when the squalls began.
Typically squalls bring rain and wind and soften a windshift. The first
squall, just after I went off watch, comprised heavy rain, gusts to 24 knots
and a 90 degree windshift which Q (the wind steering) couldn’t cope with.
John got soaked to the skin hand steering until the squall passed. The
squalls continued until nearly noon today, Wednesday. Unusually they often
brought a lull in the wind accompanied by a significant windshift, the boat
slowed right down going in the wrong direction then slowly built up speed as
the squall passed. This has contributed to a drop in the day’s run to 10:00
a.m. of only 121 nM.

We must take the positives though, we are still sailing and at the current
speed we hope to reach Suwarrow during daylight hours. If we had continued
averaging over 6 knots we would have arrived at the finish line in the
middle of the night and would have had to mooch around until after sunrise
to allow us to enter the pass in good light. There is an advantage in going
slower!

Another positive, nothing broke yesterday and the generator oil, when John
finally dared to check it, showed no signs of water at all. This log is
somewhat later than usual, that is because I normally write it at about 6:00
a.m. as dawn is slowly breaking but today I needed to be on deck to hold Q’s
hand, giving a tug on the wheel when the wind suddenly changed significantly
in either direction or strength.

Last night’s dinner was going to be spaghetti Bolognese and I had prepped
the vegetables before I discovered that I had not left a pack of mince in
the fridge when I put the other packs in the freezer. Oh well, we had an
interesting sausage dish with baked beans, onions, peppers, carrot and
celery with added tomato puree. The French sticks in Polynesia are not the
same as in France, two day old bread is still pliable (for want of a better
word) so I buttered two large pieces, sprinkled on garlic granules then
toasted them. Sausage and beans with garlic bread, yummy.

Joyce

Stop press: the sun has just come through the clouds!

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