It's 00:00 and my 3 hour night shift has just started.... it's piddling down with rain and still no wind to talk of.
I'm sitting here in the pitch black of night, it's poring with rain and still no wind. The wind has been poor so far this trip and we've been unable to sale for a straight 24hours.
It's 03:00 and I've handed over the watch to Chris..i'm soaked and off to bed. As i'm drifting of to sleep in my bunk I hear the engine stop and the sound of water trickling against the hull... That's better..
05:30 i'm woken by the boat pitching and the sound of strong winds and rain. Sounds like Chris has had a busy shift, the boat is really moving and the water sound on the hull has gone from a trickle to a full on waterfall.
The tiredness is taking its toll and i fall back to sleep.
I'm awaken by the power winch (sits above my cabin and sounds like a machine gun)it's 07:15, still dark, Paul on shift taking in some Gib.
Sounds pretty wild up there... i try to get back to sleep but it's too ruff....I'm up.
Had a quick cuppa with Paul and he informs me the wind is sustained 26mph with gust up to 34mph. NICE looking forward to this shift which starts at 09:00.
Okay i'm back...plenty of wind now...I've spent the last 3 hours with wind speed at an average 29mph with a gust of 39mph. Some large 3.5-4m waves which keep you on your toes.
Back to my bunk for me....looks like the strong winds are in for the day..Fantastic.
till next time
R