If last night was akin to white water rafting then today would be lying on a lilo in a pool with a large G and T. The sun has been shining all day and the seas calm (for the middle of an ocean!). The wind has been around 15 kts all day from the South/Southwest and I have spent the day watching George steer. Occasionally i would turn George off and have a drive myself, normally short lived as I would find something to take away my attention! It felt a little like driving miss daisy so i rarely stuck at it for more than a few minutes! I have had numerous encounters with large ships, one of them even told me very proudly he had 3 sailing boats 'like yours' on board his cargo ship deck. As he passed so close I could get a great look at the boats being piggybacked, all at least 100ft'ers!
Every forecast since leaving Ponta Delgada has given a wind veering tonight through west, as such I have positioned myself well out west to take advantage of it when it arrives, I am though still waiting for the shift and if it doesn't come I may have shot myself in the foot! I was waiting for it to arrive with the spinnaker hoisted so i could Gybe and keep the best boatspeed through out the night, however as it started to back instead and was therefore taking me even further towards west at great speed I thought i should drop it once again and at least start pointing at the right country. I the rest of the race is as planned and the forecast remain true i am expecting to arrive sometime tuesday pm.
On a side note if anyone fancies doing the delivery sail from Falmouth to Portsmouth on Wed arriving Portsmouth Thurs with me then text via sat phone and you'll be very welcome.
Over the last week, and indeed the week before that many people have texted through the link on the the blog page, Thank you all so much for messages they really do make a difference and they are always welcome. Especially Chris, thanks for your many daily messages all very welcome, it nice to think that other people are enjoying the race so much (hope the RTIR was good).
As most of you will be aware this race is also my qualifier for the OSTAR 2013, a solo race from Plymouth UK to Newport RI, USA. I thought I would have a eureka moment at some point in this trip and either scream, 'No effing way am I doing the OSTAR' or simply satisfy me that the OSTAR is for me. I must say so far I haven't had either. I guess it is because the trip has been fairly benign as far as weather goes. Believe me know one in this race wanted a force 9 less than me, but I guess until one has experience of sailing in those conditions then it is hard to tell quite how I would get on 1500 miles from the nearest piece of land in either direction in a storm by yourself in a 35ft boat! One thing that this race has certainly pressed upon me is how important home life is to me now, having been a virtual nomad my whole adult life(!) I have never really experienced missing home before, now I know how strong a feeling that can be. Anyway enough of that, I think I had better put some Metallica back on the stereo instead of this Kate Walsh bird!!
I should really go back on deck, check the sail trim, steer the boat and eek every 10th of a knot out of her all night. But i may put the kettle on again and let George carry on!
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