1st of December, the Christmas period has started, we had Christmas music, advent calendars and a constant request from Louis and Summer for the Christmas tree to be put up. But to summers frustration the tree is hidden somewhere onboard and isn’t due to come out till later on in the month, down to Ians discretions as he is the only one onboard who knows the whereabouts of the magical tree.
Sailing wise, today has been an on and off day, with some big wind shifts as well as the wind picking up and down driven by rain clouds passing over, near and around us. The good ship Rush has required quite a bit of attention on the set up and sail choices although she has been sailing very nicely and I think we have done a good job finding the balance between sending it and enjoying the conditions to backing off and relaxing into the cruise.
We started the day on the big spinnaker which we held all night, then when the dawn came so did the wind and we quickly changed to the Code 5. By mid morning things had settled and we changed back to the big kite. With smaller seas, longer wave period and more constant wind Rush was sailing beautifully, holding constant speeds between 10-14knts , she was light on the helm and a real pleasure to steer. I took full advantage of this sending her down the gentle surfs in these more forgiving conditions than we had at he beginning of the crossing. This lasted a good few hours in the middle of the day needless to say Ian and I did a fair amount of helming. Then that is when the clouds started to roll in again like the previous later afternoons and nights, only this time more frequent than we have experienced on the trip so far. As I write this blog we are currently alternating between C5 and Solent as the wind shifts and picks up (seeing just over 20knts in front of the clouds and some 50 degree wind shifts. It’s going to be a night of playing with sails and the pilot. Ian, Nia and myself have become pretty efficient at the crewed head sail peel going from A2 spi - Code 5 or vice versa, each of us with our specific jobs and roles in the process, we have now reached the level of getting the job done with minimal communication required, like a well oiled machine, efficient and slick.
On the fishing front, today has brought no joy. The green squid lure which saw its second outing today might get side lined tomorrow as it has produced no fruit.
The big news of the day that we have been following thanks to multiple emails was the rescue of Kevin Escoffier as his boat snapped in half and he was forced to abandon ship. It seems amazingly fitting that Jean le Cam would be the the one to rescue the skipper from PRB, returning a favour when Jean himself was rescued off Cape Horn in a previous Vendee by this boat. I remember Jean telling the story to me last year about the rescue, what a great seaman and sailor he really is showing his class in this race. We are all happy that Kevin is now safe aboard and will be back on Terra Ferma soon.
This night will be significant, with full cloud covering at present it is set to be a very dark one with no hint of the newly waning moon. Tonight we should break the 1000 mile to St Lucia mile stone, this is when normally you feel the numbers start to drop a little faster as we drop from 4 to 3 figure miles. However the sailing over the coming days could be tricky as we sail through a heigh pressure ridge with light winds that seems to be predicted differently across the various weather models. Hopefully we will be able to sniggle through this zone and pick up the winds on the West ofthe ridge to take us in to the Carib.
Other things to note of the day are that we have come to the end of our fresh fruits and vegetables program and now moving on the the more hardy, longer lasting veg and tinned meals. Still i have to admit many levels up on my Figaro meals so i am a pretty happy boy.
Now on to night shift for me, its nice to have people to share the work load with, it makes a pleasant change. As well as being able to share the moments, experiences and situations with I am rather enjoying the shift hand overs, where the previous shift prepares a tea or hot chocolate for the oncoming shift, a nice touch, as we discuss what has happened over the past couple of hours, what might happen over the next ones and the cool things to look out for.
Good night.
Alan
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