Man with one watch knows the time, man with
two is confused ¹
As with watches, so it is with weather
forecasts. Commanders' Weather issued another of their Delphic forecasts
just before the start of Leg 8. It was unexpected ? clearly something had
changed ? and as far as one could tell, it contradicted slightly their previous
offering. So skippers gathered together in various cockpits to discuss this
news, and other forecasts from different sources were added to the melting-pot
of knowledge. The net result is that none of us know what to expect, and as
usual, what you should expect is what you get. But we are still looking
out warily for squalls.
The breeze that wafted us through Suworrow's
narrow pass and westwards along the coast died after half an hour, and even
Branec could not make progress using sails alone in the calm that followed. We
had no compunctions; we switched on the ever-ready Yanmar and, at first keeping
close enough to the reefs to be able to see Suworrow's great colonies of terns
and frigates, Suworrow's low-lying motus soon disappeared from view. For most of
the night Northern Sky kept us company, but at some point, Gerry turned up the
wick, and she steadily forged ahead. Come the dawn, which is late at the moment
because we are due another hour's shift in time, the breeze had built
sufficiently for us to try the sails. But progress has been patchy, and even
with the mizzen staysail doing its best we may yet have to resort to the engine
again. But the day's motoring gave the Skipper the chance to read Tom
Neale's fascinating book (An Island to Myself) about his two spells as a
hermit on Suworrow; it's a short but a compelling read, and strongly recommended
if you can still find it in print - the second edition was published in
1967.
Luckily the swells from the south (driven, we
think, by a large storm way down in latitudes of about 40 degrees) are dying
down, so Niue's deep-water moorings that have been reserved for us may yet be
tenable. We are getting low on gas, so let's hope so.
All well with us, and best wishes to
everyone.
.