Tuesday, 11 August 2009

Tussle off Land's End

Tues 11:25 An interesting development approaching the Runnel Stone - we crossed the path of Vitesse - another Sigma 38. We are travelling west, towards Wolf Rock while she has stood on north, towards the mainland. It will be interesting to see who wins out!
Trev

Off Penzance

Tues 07:15 - the new dawn finds us in Marazion Bay, in a benign sea with a hint of ocean swell remaining. The wind is light and, nor'westerly, bucking the trend of coming exactly the direction we want to go. Most of us had a good night and ready for the daylight rounding of Land's End. Unfortunately, the current wind will force a beat to the Fastnet rock, but we have hopes for a swing to the SW which will be a big boost.
Trev

Cold stew and cous-cous


Tues 0200; Keith and George enjoy a hearty meal after a cold night watch off the Lizard. The ride frn Plymouth was rock'n roll, with strong winds and a confused sea. But we're making good progress, morale is high and the dawn is coming.

Monday, 10 August 2009

It's a sea horse.


Gromit's track from Sunday night.


A Breathless Night

Mon 0730 Well, we made it past Portland and are romping along at over 7 knots (SOG). Just crossed "Inspiration of Boss" But it was a hard night. The early night watch fought with a fickle wind, making reasonable VMG with the friendly tide. We had a meeting with Torbellino but lost them as night fell. But hardly had Grommet watch taken over when the wind died and we were left in 40m of water and the beginnings of a foul tide. We zig-zagged through the night and, as the tide finally turned again, we were only about a mile back from our original position - could have been a lot worse!
Trev

Towards Portland

The wind is dying with the sun as we make our way slowly towards Portland Bill. The IRC1 fleet are slowly moving up the fleet, which seems to have largely opted for the offshore route. That said, there are boats spread all the way from our position, about 6 miles off St Albans Head, to the coast.