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Rafiki - Wallowing between the Squalls



El Capitano Roberto writes: Monday 3rd December

Everyone was a bit low in the morning after a rather poor night’s sleep all round, plus we lost a fishing lure at some point in the early morning, no doubt to a large tuna that Rob is still looking to catch. The dorado we landed a few days ago tasted lovely and was by a factor of 5-10 the biggest fish any of us have caught, but it cannot be described as good looking! Tuna on the other hand not only tastes good, but are really beautiful – we will keep trying tomorrow.

We took advantage of the daylight to put away the whisker pole and set the second reef in the mainsail along with the staysail (the smaller of our two foresails). Around 11am, we ran into the first of a series of minor squalls with accompanying stronger winds and heavy rain.This carried on for another two hours or so and was rather frustrating, as once you know one is coming your way, you need to reduce the size of the sails in advance of the stronger winds, but then spend a while wallowing around at low speed before the wind and rain arrive.

It was interesting to feel the effect of the squalls on the temperature, from one minute to the next the wind would change from warm and humid to distinctly chilly as gusts come down from the clouds, not something I have experienced before. We also had southerly winds during the squalls which was a change from the normal easterlies we have been experiencing.

The weather and mood brightened up in the afternoon as the wind moved round to the south east and we set off on a fast reach in a southwesterly direction, heading down to 18 degrees north, which we hope to achieve by end of Wednesday before we turn right and take the direct course to St Lucia.

Phil rewarded us crossing the 30 degrees west meridian with a large packet of sweets which we all enjoyed as an extra pudding after supper. This also roughly marks halfway in a westerly direction between Southsea and St Lucia!

Menu

Lunch: tapas with jamon, fresh tomatoes, globe artichokes, olives andmarinated peppers served with fresh baked rolls

Supper: red pepper risotto, fresh pancakes for pudding.


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