Champagne sailing at last!
Position: 27 26.9S 179 50.0 E speed 7.5 knots in the right direction, sun shining, all crew on deck
Hello from the good ship Victoria!
As I write, the kids are all on deck, clipped on in the cockpit in their harnesses. Every cushion, pillow, blanket and duvet on board is filling the cockpit and they are lolling around, taking it in turns to lie in the deepest, softest part. The sun is shining, and Victoria is blasting along with full main, mizzen, staysail and genoa at 7.5 knots directly to Tonga. We are on a beam reach (wind at 90 degrees to the boat), and the waves are well spread out and gently rolly, which is a welcome change from yesterday.
When I wrote yesterday, things were just getting going in the weather department. The wind was increasing and the sea state became horrible. The waves were very close together; we counted just seven seconds between them. The seas were steep and the breeze was strong. Angus and I burned a few calories on deck getting ourselves organised for another gale. Fortunately it never got as windy as our first night, but we saw over 30 knots quite a few times. I dug out the storm jib, which we wished we had done on the first night, but by the time we realised we needed it on that day, we weren't really up to the task of rigging it. The storm jib is a small, very strong, and rarely used sail, which goes on the inner forestay. We removed the staysail and brought it below, and rigged the storm jib instead. It sounds quite easy but the motion was quite violent at times, and only one of us can be on the foredeck at once, because the other needs to be in the cockpit / on child alert, so it takes a long time to do a simple job safely. We are very aware that if one of us hurts ourselves then the remaining team members will have a challenge on their hands, so safety is number one.
With the storm jib set, a handkerchief of our other jib rolled out on the forestay, and two reefs in the main, we felt pretty happy that we were ready for any weather that might come. The wind was manageable but the sea was just horrible. Eloise spent the whole day lying in the cockpit, and George and Jack didn't move from the low side seat in the saloon, except when they needed a wee. I wouldn't let them go to the heads as the boat was leaping around so much, so I deployed a saucepan / cup / whatever was closest to hand, and held on to them while they peed in that. I hope I did a good enough job of the washing up...
By the time night fell last night, the wind had steadied a bit, but we had two problems with our mainsail which would need daylight and a flat sea to rectify, so we accepted a slightly slow night, only making 5 knots or so, and we both slept well in our off watches as a result. We have settled into night watch from 8pm - 8am which is working well. I do 8-11pm and 2-5am, and Angus does 11pm-2am and 5am-8am. We're getting enough sleep that we don't need to nap in the day, and the three hours of night watch is a great time to be alone on deck looking at the beautiful stars and the phosphorescence and contemplating the world we live in. Last night I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open, so I resorted to lots of stretches and lots of cups of tea and coffee.
We are all doing really well on board, and today we had "half way breakfast" as we are now more than half way to Tonga!! We had freshly baked mini baguettes with chocolate spread for the kids and marmalade for the grown ups. The Opua general store sold us frozen dough before we left which was a great idea. Croissants a couple of days ago, french bread today. Delicious and a great morale booster for all.
Since starting this blog I have been on deck numerous times to alter the sails with Angus as the conditions have changed. It is now pouring with rain, and blowing 20-25 knots. We now have two reefs in the main, the staysail and a small handkerchief of jib. The genoa is furled away and the mizzen is down. Meanwhile, down below, Jack is playing with some trains and dinosaurs, George has written a lovely card to his friend Bertie (which rather tellingly reads "Hi there, how are you, I'm looking forward to getting back. Love from George xxx") I'm sure the kids will like it more once we get to Tonga.
Right, better get this sent and try and finish making lunch. I thought I'd do spag bol as things seemed quite calm on board, but not sure it was quite such a good idea now. I made some jelly on my night watch so the team will be very excited about that - it's becoming a firm favourite for pudding on passage.
Love to all, Laura, Angus, Eloise, George and Jack xx
A few more pics from ashore before they set off:
Hello from the good ship Victoria!
As I write, the kids are all on deck, clipped on in the cockpit in their harnesses. Every cushion, pillow, blanket and duvet on board is filling the cockpit and they are lolling around, taking it in turns to lie in the deepest, softest part. The sun is shining, and Victoria is blasting along with full main, mizzen, staysail and genoa at 7.5 knots directly to Tonga. We are on a beam reach (wind at 90 degrees to the boat), and the waves are well spread out and gently rolly, which is a welcome change from yesterday.
When I wrote yesterday, things were just getting going in the weather department. The wind was increasing and the sea state became horrible. The waves were very close together; we counted just seven seconds between them. The seas were steep and the breeze was strong. Angus and I burned a few calories on deck getting ourselves organised for another gale. Fortunately it never got as windy as our first night, but we saw over 30 knots quite a few times. I dug out the storm jib, which we wished we had done on the first night, but by the time we realised we needed it on that day, we weren't really up to the task of rigging it. The storm jib is a small, very strong, and rarely used sail, which goes on the inner forestay. We removed the staysail and brought it below, and rigged the storm jib instead. It sounds quite easy but the motion was quite violent at times, and only one of us can be on the foredeck at once, because the other needs to be in the cockpit / on child alert, so it takes a long time to do a simple job safely. We are very aware that if one of us hurts ourselves then the remaining team members will have a challenge on their hands, so safety is number one.
With the storm jib set, a handkerchief of our other jib rolled out on the forestay, and two reefs in the main, we felt pretty happy that we were ready for any weather that might come. The wind was manageable but the sea was just horrible. Eloise spent the whole day lying in the cockpit, and George and Jack didn't move from the low side seat in the saloon, except when they needed a wee. I wouldn't let them go to the heads as the boat was leaping around so much, so I deployed a saucepan / cup / whatever was closest to hand, and held on to them while they peed in that. I hope I did a good enough job of the washing up...
By the time night fell last night, the wind had steadied a bit, but we had two problems with our mainsail which would need daylight and a flat sea to rectify, so we accepted a slightly slow night, only making 5 knots or so, and we both slept well in our off watches as a result. We have settled into night watch from 8pm - 8am which is working well. I do 8-11pm and 2-5am, and Angus does 11pm-2am and 5am-8am. We're getting enough sleep that we don't need to nap in the day, and the three hours of night watch is a great time to be alone on deck looking at the beautiful stars and the phosphorescence and contemplating the world we live in. Last night I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open, so I resorted to lots of stretches and lots of cups of tea and coffee.
We are all doing really well on board, and today we had "half way breakfast" as we are now more than half way to Tonga!! We had freshly baked mini baguettes with chocolate spread for the kids and marmalade for the grown ups. The Opua general store sold us frozen dough before we left which was a great idea. Croissants a couple of days ago, french bread today. Delicious and a great morale booster for all.
Since starting this blog I have been on deck numerous times to alter the sails with Angus as the conditions have changed. It is now pouring with rain, and blowing 20-25 knots. We now have two reefs in the main, the staysail and a small handkerchief of jib. The genoa is furled away and the mizzen is down. Meanwhile, down below, Jack is playing with some trains and dinosaurs, George has written a lovely card to his friend Bertie (which rather tellingly reads "Hi there, how are you, I'm looking forward to getting back. Love from George xxx") I'm sure the kids will like it more once we get to Tonga.
Right, better get this sent and try and finish making lunch. I thought I'd do spag bol as things seemed quite calm on board, but not sure it was quite such a good idea now. I made some jelly on my night watch so the team will be very excited about that - it's becoming a firm favourite for pudding on passage.
Love to all, Laura, Angus, Eloise, George and Jack xx
A few more pics from ashore before they set off:
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