26 January 2011
We were puzzled as to why John did not come on as radio net controller. It was Tzigane's turn this morning. Turns out that their autopilot failed and they are having to hand steer. With 1400nm still to go this must be a major setback for them. Thank goodness though they have Leila and Chris with them. They take half an hour each on the helm. We understand how hard a thing it is to hand steer for long periods. David and I once hand steered a yacht with two others from the Azores to Portugal, a distance of only 600nm, and the concentration required to steer to the compass is immense. I well remember my limit was a mere 20 minutes. We feel so helpless. The best we can offer is moral support over the SSB radio.
We have noticed there is a definite pattern to the wind. By day it creeps round to the southeast so we run wing on wing with the genoa and main, at night it backs east southeast so we have all sails out on the same side. This way we keep as close to our rhumb line as possible. We have had a couple of very slow days with winds less than ten knots so our daily runs work out at an average of about 140nm a lot less than we had hoped for. But hey, the weather is wonderful, we are getting lots of rest and relaxation and just making the most of this great big empty space......
Remembering Rabbie Burns!
It is that time of year already. Amazing to think we 'toasted the bard' a year ago in Panama. Then we asked all the World ARC boats to join us in a pontoon party. With Graham's (Eowyn) assistance we must have fed about fifty people, most of whom it was their first taste of haggisLast night it was just the two of us, The tinned haggis has travelled well, the whisky aged even better. Sadly the piper forgot to attend.....
Susan Mackay