Day 6 at Sea
Position 25 24.7S 178 39.8W, course 35T, speed 7 knots.
It's our sixth day at sea and you can tell when you look around the boat. Things are fairly tidy but not very clean - the whole place is in need of a good scrub and a vacuum, but it's not quite cleaning conditions at the moment. The deck has had more water over it - both waves and rain squalls - than in any time since we moved on board, so that at least is looking lovely and sparkling. The crew are also in desperate need of a wash. For a while yesterday, we thought we'd get the big plastic washing tub out in the cockpit and have a good old scrub, but then the moment passed with the arrival of a rather cold and very windy rain squall. Angus has quite some facial hair and we are on the verge of calling him Jim, so he is looking for an opportunity to shave (and a change of clothes wouldn't go astray!).
At the moment we are rocketing towards Tonga, at over 7 knots, with 18-20 knots just aft of the beam, which is a very comfortable sailing angle. We have lots of sails up, and are being pushed along very comfortably by a 2-3m swell going in almost the same direction as us. The kids are all in the cockpit, and are excited to see some really big waves of a friendly variety for once. George is reading a Richard Scarry book to Jack, and Eloise is making beads out of paper and glue. It has involved some crisps and a sweetie or two to achieve this moment of calm. "Brett" (the self-steering) is doing a fantastic job and Victoria seems to be in her element. I am perched far forward in the cockpit, typing away, hoping there are no rogue waves.. Angus is just up from a quick nap, woken prematurely by Eloise ringing the cockpit bell for no particular reason, and is now in the aft cabin trying to untangle the birdsnest of fishing line that we were left with after the massive tuna catch a few days ago. We had a pretty bumpy, rolly, crashing-around-down-the waves sort of night, including putting a second reef in the main and taking down the mizzen, so neither of us got that much sleep. I had a little lie-in in this morning while he did breakfast, and we're both revived now.
We are starting to think about our arrival in Tonga. With about 340 miles to go, it suddenly seems quite close. We have been averaging somewhere around 150 miles a day, but are currently going faster than that. It's good news as, even if we slow down quite a lot when this wind dies down, it still gives us a really good window for making landfall during daylight. There are a few reefs and rocky patches south of Tonga, so it would be reassuring to be able to see them.
Most of the issues on board are stable now. Seasickness is, for now, a thing of the past. The leaking stern gland is back to one drip every 40 seconds, and is much happier now that we're sailing (so only running the engine twice a day for an hour to charge the batteries and keep the fridge and freezer cold). We've fixed the battens in the mainsail, and we even had Angus up the mast (fortunately only to the first spreader) in a calm moment, to retrieve the end of a thin line (the lazy jack) which holds our sail cover up, which had come untied and made a bid for freedom, leaving our main sail cover flopping down on one side, and the reefed flakes of sail flapping about in the breeze. We're looking much more shipshape now. We haven't yet sorted the electric bilge pump which is in the optimum place to pump out water from the leaking water maker. So it's a bit of a joke when we run the water maker. In an hour we make about 20 litres of fresh water into our tank, meanwhile we leak 30+ litres of salt water into the bilge, which we then have to pump out with a hand pump and bucket! We'll get it sorted once the motion settles.
The really amazing thing is that we're getting to know the boat, understand which sail plans work, how to run our night watches, and how to manage the batteries, power, navigation, receiving weather and sending emails via long range radio. The children are doing brilliantly. Jack has taken to crawling around down below today, as it's the safest option. They have become quite a team, including all sorts of undercover operations like trips into the galley to hunt for sweets, and one of them has added a fingerprint login to Angus' phone this morning...
So, two more nights at sea for us we think. The wind is due to die down over the next 24 hours so if the sea settles too, then the fishermen on board are keen to put a line in again. Fun times. It's amazing to be out in the open ocean. We haven't seen another boat for days.
Hope everyone well back home. Lots of love from the Good Ship Vicky!
It's our sixth day at sea and you can tell when you look around the boat. Things are fairly tidy but not very clean - the whole place is in need of a good scrub and a vacuum, but it's not quite cleaning conditions at the moment. The deck has had more water over it - both waves and rain squalls - than in any time since we moved on board, so that at least is looking lovely and sparkling. The crew are also in desperate need of a wash. For a while yesterday, we thought we'd get the big plastic washing tub out in the cockpit and have a good old scrub, but then the moment passed with the arrival of a rather cold and very windy rain squall. Angus has quite some facial hair and we are on the verge of calling him Jim, so he is looking for an opportunity to shave (and a change of clothes wouldn't go astray!).
At the moment we are rocketing towards Tonga, at over 7 knots, with 18-20 knots just aft of the beam, which is a very comfortable sailing angle. We have lots of sails up, and are being pushed along very comfortably by a 2-3m swell going in almost the same direction as us. The kids are all in the cockpit, and are excited to see some really big waves of a friendly variety for once. George is reading a Richard Scarry book to Jack, and Eloise is making beads out of paper and glue. It has involved some crisps and a sweetie or two to achieve this moment of calm. "Brett" (the self-steering) is doing a fantastic job and Victoria seems to be in her element. I am perched far forward in the cockpit, typing away, hoping there are no rogue waves.. Angus is just up from a quick nap, woken prematurely by Eloise ringing the cockpit bell for no particular reason, and is now in the aft cabin trying to untangle the birdsnest of fishing line that we were left with after the massive tuna catch a few days ago. We had a pretty bumpy, rolly, crashing-around-down-the waves sort of night, including putting a second reef in the main and taking down the mizzen, so neither of us got that much sleep. I had a little lie-in in this morning while he did breakfast, and we're both revived now.
We are starting to think about our arrival in Tonga. With about 340 miles to go, it suddenly seems quite close. We have been averaging somewhere around 150 miles a day, but are currently going faster than that. It's good news as, even if we slow down quite a lot when this wind dies down, it still gives us a really good window for making landfall during daylight. There are a few reefs and rocky patches south of Tonga, so it would be reassuring to be able to see them.
Most of the issues on board are stable now. Seasickness is, for now, a thing of the past. The leaking stern gland is back to one drip every 40 seconds, and is much happier now that we're sailing (so only running the engine twice a day for an hour to charge the batteries and keep the fridge and freezer cold). We've fixed the battens in the mainsail, and we even had Angus up the mast (fortunately only to the first spreader) in a calm moment, to retrieve the end of a thin line (the lazy jack) which holds our sail cover up, which had come untied and made a bid for freedom, leaving our main sail cover flopping down on one side, and the reefed flakes of sail flapping about in the breeze. We're looking much more shipshape now. We haven't yet sorted the electric bilge pump which is in the optimum place to pump out water from the leaking water maker. So it's a bit of a joke when we run the water maker. In an hour we make about 20 litres of fresh water into our tank, meanwhile we leak 30+ litres of salt water into the bilge, which we then have to pump out with a hand pump and bucket! We'll get it sorted once the motion settles.
The really amazing thing is that we're getting to know the boat, understand which sail plans work, how to run our night watches, and how to manage the batteries, power, navigation, receiving weather and sending emails via long range radio. The children are doing brilliantly. Jack has taken to crawling around down below today, as it's the safest option. They have become quite a team, including all sorts of undercover operations like trips into the galley to hunt for sweets, and one of them has added a fingerprint login to Angus' phone this morning...
So, two more nights at sea for us we think. The wind is due to die down over the next 24 hours so if the sea settles too, then the fishermen on board are keen to put a line in again. Fun times. It's amazing to be out in the open ocean. We haven't seen another boat for days.
Hope everyone well back home. Lots of love from the Good Ship Vicky!
Comments
Post a Comment