Saturday 4th December Noon position (Ship's Clock) 18 degrees 02 minutes North; 47 degrees 55 minutes West
Overnight the wind gradually decreased and the seas decreased. By early morning we were able to set the mizzen sail, unfurl the genoa to its fullest extent and shake the two reefs out of the mainsail. It was still blowing a Force 5 to 6 and too strong to hoist the spinnaker but we were making good speeds and averaging 7 knots. Unfortunately, it was in the wrong direction. We were now heading for Florida instead of St Lucia! This was a result of a combination of shifting winds and people helming for comfort rather than abiding with the prescribed course. The rolling motion overnight meant that the crew trying to sleep were being tossed like pancakes in their berths and when they came on watch they steered a conservative course. Nothing for it but another gybe! On some transatlantic crossings a sailboat might do two gybes in the 2,800 miles, we, however were getting in a lot of practice.
Once we'd finished gybing all the sails we settled down to a perfect day. All eight of the crew had lunch together listening to music and chatting. It was quite idyllic. The sea was blue with white foam flecked waves, the sky was blue with puffy white trade wind clouds. The wind was warm and the boat's motion was a gentle surge and over regular rolling swells. The conditions were settled enough for Bones to conduct a sextant session. Determining your position in the flat featureless ocean by using the angle of the sun, planets and stars above the horizon was the main method of navigation before the advent of GPS. The sextant is the instrument that has been used for centuries to measure these angles. We gathered on the aft deck and took sunsights under Bones's direction. Trying to hold the sextant and bring the mirrored image of the sun down to the horizon and measure the angle was not an easy feat. 'Now!' we called out when we achieved this and Bones noted the time. The next step in the process is to use the data in nautical almanacs to calculate the boat's position
but that's for another day.
Elizabeth
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