Day 1
After leaving Mayflower Marina we think we confused the rest of the RP fleet
as rather than turn left towards the start line Sarah wanted to review the Royal
Naval fleet in Devonport dock yard. We only had time for one ship , HMS
Gloucester, but the crew waved and wished us well.
And so to the start..... light or no wind but it was agreed that BM would try
and cross the start line without engine....and so we did , about 12 mins after
the gun with about 0.1 knots of boat speed . As we crossed the line the wind
strengthened and we tacked our way out of Plymouth sound under sail but it would
seem that most of the fleet had started their engines by this time and were well
on their way to Bayona.
The winds remained light for most of the day and as long as BM did not spend
more than 10 mins below 1.0 knot of boat speed we would endeavor to sail.
By mid late afternoon Blue Beyond called us on the VHF to see if our engine
has been fired up as they were about to restart theirs, but still our skipper
had the engine key locked away in the safe!
the rest of the day continued with light and variable winds and multiple sail
changes (spinnaker up - down -up) to keep the crew busy but eventually the call
of "are we there yet "was heard so Sarah started the usual eye spy" game in an
effort to keep the crew focused as the winds became even lighter.
The next game was to try and remove some weed we were trailing from the
rudder using only th boat hook. harder than it sounds but we had no winner.
will the crew get the engine key or will the wind fill?
wait for day 1 part 2
From
Blonde Moment and crew
Paul, David, Sarah and Jackie drifting in the English
channel