Saturday, August 1, 2009

The shaker

We had been told that the best run that Papy Jovial born Precept had
done was 165 miles. So, we felt challenged and this morning, I tried
again to set up the spinnaker boom in a different way. All I achieved
was waste time. The genoa is definitely too small for that boom, or the
boom is definitely too long for that genoa, but whatever, it creates too
much compression on the boom and I am afraid that in a big roll it would
snap. So we went back to the genoa having the sheet all the way back, to
try and open it as much as possible, and a block and tackle near the
shrouds, to pull the clew down. With these weather conditons, it appears
to be the best we can do. We also have the main down to 3 reefs, but if
we were to go up to 2 then the monitor finds it too difficult to hold
the course.
At noon, we had covered 161 miles over the ground and had closed on the
destination by 155.
All night and morning, we had over 20 knots of wind with a long and big
swell from the SE, which causes us to roll heavily continuously.This is
life in the shaker. Another 17 days and we will be rolling gently at anchor.
At noon, rainshowers began to appear all around us and whenever one gets
too close, it takes the wind away and we slow down to 4 knots with still
heavy rolling.
No more fishing for the time being. We still have to eat what we caught.

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