A very hot slow boat to Bermuda.
I have to admit this is not the trip Matt and I planned to Bermuda. The gulf stream and
weather has decided it is going to deal us a cruel blow. The weather forecast has
completely turned on it head since we left Fairhaven and we now have 15knots of breeze
coming direct from Bermuda. There is no favour tack, its coming straight from where we ant
to go. In the sea state we are tacking through 100 degrees and its looking like the second
half of this trip is going to take 3 or 4 days. The grib files show no change in direction
during the next 3-4 days so its just going to be a long grind to get us there. The bearing
to Bermuda we need to sail is 165 and we can only sail 115 or 215, directly into the gulf
stream either killing the SOG or giving making out 115 about 100. For this time of year
the wind should be South Westerly making this a broad reach but no not this week. We
initially expected the trip to take 5 days but its looking like we will be luck to get
there in 7. Is this payback for a relatively easy OSTAR. I pray to god I dont get treated
like this on the way to the Azores next week.
To add to the fun the temperature down below is 32 degrees and the humidity is 70%. My
weather centre say hot and wet no sh*t. You should try cooking in these temperatures!
The waster temperature is a staggering 30.9 degrees to at least the occasional wave over
the deck doesnt upset you to much. Matt and I are both walking around in our pants as it
just to hot to wear anything else.
We had a brief sighting of a whale this morning and also found a dead fish in the cockpit.
Not big enough to eat. His tail was sticking out of one of the cockpit drains. We seem to
spend most of the day out of the sun and down below decks and tends to result in dozing in
and out of consciousness, waking up to find that you have hardly made any progress and
that you are now lying on a sweaty damp bed. Is this normal for sailing in this part of
the world?
Anyway, apart from that the positives are that it is a lovely day and we are sailing. Umm
but would I swap this for a air conditioned office that I could leave in a few hours to go
home. Not sure lets just wait and see what the next few days are like. The way I am
feeling now, is that if I didnt have to get Matt to a plane in Bermuda by Sunday, I would
just crack off a bit and head for the Azores.
Ill leave it there.
Will, Matt and Elmarleen
Lat:36.51N
Lon:66.06W
If you enjoy this website why not make a donation to The Institute of Cancer Research. For more information visit our Charities page.