Saturday 15th November
Ripping along with the spinnaker
Whilst the weather the previous day had been perfect spinnaker weather, the wind and sea conspired against us today. By morning, the sea had worked itself in to a choppy frenzy and the wind increased and backed to the north-east.
We were woken up by a call from Malcolm on deck at 7.00am "All hands on deck!" As we all emerged from our bunks and lurched in to the cockpit, poor Malcy was tackling the spinnaker on the foredeck. The spinnaker had ripped across the foot; it had got caught in the navigation light attached to the bow.
An hour later we had the spinnaker firmly stowed away, replaced by the yankee, which needed to be poled out (the pole prevents the yankee from collapsing, a tendency it has when shielded by the main sail). We were all sitting in the cockpit with a mug of tea in hand and a steady supply of biscuits, contemplating the change in weather; it was grey, drizzly and cold; the seas were causing poor Quasar to lurch ungracefully.
It was at that point, Malcy decided to extend night watches in to the day, which left Linds and JB on watch between 8-10 and 10-12 noon respectively, with everyone hotfooting it back to the comfort of their bunks and us two mugs taking on the morning squalls!!!! That's skippers for you!!
Sunday 16th November
A roast off the Madagascar coast
Thankfully, the sky lightened up, the lumpy sea abated and the wind dropped and backed to the north-west. Judith made the most delicious roast dinner, succulent beef, an array of fresh vegetables and the most gorgeous roast potatoes. Our spirits were lifted; we felt nourished and refreshed.
Rather interestingly midway through our Sunday roast the wind changed from the north-west to the south-west.
Linds spent an hour on the radio flirting with a pleasant South African guy who was on a nearby fishing vessel. His name was Dougal McGibben!! We kid you not; Lindsey McGibben. It just doesn't sound right, much to Linds chagrin.
The lumpy seas returned with a vengeance as dusk descended upon us and we were punished with an uncomfortable night with poor Quasar slewing and yawing in the high seas. The reason for such erratic waves was because we were in 1700m of sea, a relatively shallow area, about 150 miles off the Madagascan coast.
Monday 17th November
Slogging on
Yes, this leg is rather feeling like a bit of a slog. Winds continue to come from a south-westerly direction, which is not particularly good given that is the direction we are heading! This requires us to tack south and later tack west as we are unable to sail directly in to the wind. The seas have calmed down slightly but we are unable to shake off the stubborn grey sky and grey seas.
We can't even star gaze as the clouds smother the sky at night. We continue with our 2 hour night watches, starting at 8pm and finishing at 8am. The worst watches by far are the ones that start at 12 mid-night and 2am. It's generally lonely, cold and dark and there's always a ship in our midst; generally on a converging course so we need to call them up on the radio to warn them of our presence. We are not overly confident that they keep a good look out in these waters!
Good night for now folks!