Location North Atlantic
Weather Sunny and cloudy
Heading 320 degrees to Boston
Fleet position 9th
Over 4,000 miles sailed on this leg (leg 5) and as a crew we have performed one tack that was around the first mark off the shoreline at Cape Town. We have not done a single headsail change and so far have not stopped from lack of wind.
In fact all we have done is sail off the breeze and peel spinnakers and send a man aloft to either uncross halyards or complete a rig check.
Don't get us wrong we are not complaining at all. In fact since the foredeck boys have got used to the inactivity, they are quite enjoying the sun and relaxation. We did have to check their pulses at one stage to confirm they were still living. If we had to change a headsail now, we would need time to consult the manual as it has been so long!
It is frustrating because apart from pointing and shooting there is little else one can do to go faster. Trimming rotations are in force and everyone is consciously sitting where their weight is most effective. Let's just hope our breeze is better than everyone else's.
Memories from leg one are flooding back where we remember the conditions we sailed down the Atlantic in and these have certainly not led us to believe we would have this kind of passage north. We were becalmed and then we saw squalls from nowhere turn up and give us nature's shower and blasts of 35-40 knots of wind. All a very different story back then in October heading south.
Fearing the worst, failure of all the electronic equipment and all the back ups, some of the crew are practising using the sextant and taking sights. There have been some pretty accurate first attempts, all in the correct Ocean and hemisphere, which is reassuring. However, some need more practise, so I am glad we can be quietly confident in the electronic equipment we carry onboard.
Having the wind forward of the beam makes life a little cooler on deck. The cloud cover has delivered some deceiving pretend shade from the sun but not its rays and therefore the tanning and burning is probably more easily done now than when it was blisteringly hot downwind with no cooling breeze.
Down below decks the conditions are still the same sweaty, sticky sauna, which we are slowly acclimatising to, so long as you do not have to move or make any actions suddenly.
So what a change this leg makes. Fast, straight line sailing and getting a great tan. It is all good and hopefully will stay for us to get an early arrival into Boston.
Dee Caffari/Yachting World, 20 May 2005
