Steady conditions after squalls

Hi Everyone,

No report yesterday, so let me run through the events of the night before last to start with.

It was a not a night to see Al Bakr, it was a night of squall after squall, first weak squalls that reduced the wind to 8 knots and then later in the night, heavy squalls with gusts to over 30 knots. I spent almost the entire night in the cockpit, coaxing the boat through all the changes in wind direction and velocity, getting covered in rain, salt spray or both at the same time. So I am certainly washed clean now. No sleep either as there was too much to do. I was glad that I was pretty well rested in the previous days to keep going through the night.  At the end of the night it was fairly exciting with full main and J2 with gusts to 30 knots. The boat handled it perfectly, the only problem was that my 3rd reef line came off its attachment on the boom and went out of reach into the sky, so I pulled it out, and I will have to drop the main to 3rd reef in the high pressure in two days to re-lead the reef line.

These were fairly localised squalls as Temenos also lost a lot to the west of me, but it looks like Safran to the East by 30 miles just sailed through at 14 knots, and that is where she gained 30-40 miles on both of us. Just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cannot worry about it now.

Later that morning it was much better sailing as the squalls fell away behind, but the wind kept building until it was a steady 35 knots. Not in the forecast at all, but had to deal with it, with reefing and changing down headsails. Would have liked that 3rd reef line at times, so instead had to change from the J3 to the J4 for a while till the wind moderated. Sea state quite lumpy.

Then in the afternoon yesterday the wind settled down into more regularity and finally Bahrain Team Pindar got its groove back and was clocking up 15 knot average speeds, and I tried to get some naps. It was actually quite hard to get to sleep after the excitement and all the action of the past 18 hours.The other thing that stopped me sleeping was that my great furry sleeping bag was pretty salty after hurling itself across the boat in one of the big 30 knot squalls and landing in the leeward bilge where there was a little water. It really doesn't feel quite the same now., though I am trying to air it out, and she is drying well.

Last night it was cloudy but with really steady conditions and the boat went well, and I caught up on sleep and on food; what a change from the night before. Today the wind has gone forward much more than predicted and I am almost upwind. The seastate is much better and it’s a good chance to catch up on some jobs around the boat, that have been delayed due to the weather. There are lots to do, including finishing off the A3 repair,  the Southern Ocean is rapidly approaching, and I need to have the boat 100% for that, as any weaknesses will be exploited by the sea. Problems you can live with in 20 knots could quickly escalate into a chain reaction to something serious breaking when it's blowing 40 knots.

Just had a call from my current neighbour, Dominic Wavre on Temenos, and it was great to chat as we voyage these waters together. He is also rested after last night and is working on his boat. He is hopeful of catching some miles on the leaders over the next few days, and I am all for that!

Passed by Trinidad Island yesterday and saw it for the first time. Lots of seabirds came out for a look at the big blue BTP and I was sure that I saw an Arctic Tern amongst the other birds. Away from the island today no birds, but still the occasional splash as another flying fish launches itself out of the water to skip away across the waves to land up to a hundred metres from its take off point.

Cabin temp now 29 degrees and water temp 22.7 at 25S 2810W, It is noticeably cooler now. The days are growing noticeably longer now as well.

Regards

Brian