Tuesday 25th November
25 degrees 53.8 W 17 degrees 41.6 N
Distance travelled 76.3 Nautical Miles
The wind has gradually changed from about 10 knots to zero and by 5.22am we had had enough of wallowing and only travelling with the current at a speed of between 0.5 - 1 knot; So on went the engine, against the grain I must admit! 3.5 knots seemed fast by this time but well behind our original schedule however looking at the other entrant positions in the Arc; we were by no means last. There were boats behind us and to the East of us, anyway we are all praying for some wind and by 1650 we had some, not enough for the large jib etc but for the Spinnaker, yes the Spinnaker! Down came the poled out jib and Staysail up went the Spinnaker and wow it filled with wind and along we went at around 3.5 to 4.5 knots. I have to admit we were prompted to put it up by a yacht behind us who was slowly catching us up. Off went the Engine and we were moving along very nicely, poled out on the starboard side and flying high and proud. A little main complemented the whole show. Now we watched the yacht behind slowly retreat and we were overhauling a couple in front and to the west of us.
At some point during the day we sent out our fishing tackle, just hoping to catch a fresh Tuna for dinner, or something!
We have to use the generator more than envisaged, probably because we are trying to keep the freezer below zero. We are up to 10 hrs per 24hrs still we have sufficient fuel.
Dusk was about us and around us the few boats with them up, hauled in their Spinnakers. After much discussion we agreed to keep ours flying and see how it went. By this time the boat was flying up to 5 knots yet only with 8 to 10 knots of wind, so still we kept it out. The boat was very comfortable hardly rolled or pitched whilst we all enjoyed a couple of Fray Bentos Beef and Mushroom pies (no fish caught!) with fresh Mashed Potato, Carrots, and Cauliflower followed by Fresh Pineapple. Still the spinnaker was doing its job.
Great excitement when Rob went on deck, he had a bite on the line. We all went up to see what he had and once brought in we saw it. It was the longest and ugliest fish with very nasty sharp teeth and no flesh to eat! So back it went to feed Neptune.
Night Watches came on and the decision was to continue with the spinnaker but to have a contingency plan to bring it down if needed.
I went to see David on watch during the early morning to check how we were doing and apart from changing a couple of degrees, we still were travelling along under the power of the Spinnaker.
Early nights were the order of the day due to so much excitement