Hello again.
Lots of action today.
At about midnight last night a 15 knot north westerly breeze piped up so good old Perkins was given a well deserved rest leaving Chimere jogging along very comfortably under mainsail and jib. At about 1 AM Arthur the Auto-helm pulled a heart muscle and refused to steer for us anymore.
At 6AM the decks were still dry. Cam got into his bunk after his night watch and with cool air flowing through the hatch above his bunk fell soundly asleep. As he slept the wind increased to about 20 knots and then up to 25 knots. No one on watch noticed the open hatch but and a sly wave did and jumped through the hatch and into bed with Cam. Certainly a refreshing way to wake up!
Our forecast said light north westerly winds and calm seas. It seems the weatherman the “Solstice” is using was better than ours!
As anyone who knows Bob will testify, he is a man who often goes well beyond the call of duty to serve his crew. After breakfast, Bob squeezed in under the cockpit to have a talk with Arthur and with tender affection pulled him to bits, removed some grit and other gunk, greased up his insides and put him back on his perch. Alas even with such love and devotion Arthur has refused to play and now sits under the cockpit and sulks. Maybe he is grumpy because Perkins is having the day off?
It’s great to be sailing again and Chimere is loving it too!
Anyway it’s time to put the spray dodger back up as it is getting wet outside.
Well we got a lot more than just wet. A few heavy rain squalls and a sudden wind change to the south west. We have gone from a pleasant but bumpy fast sail directly to Sydney to a very slow, very rough, bash into a 35 knot south westerly and the best we can do is aim toward the Gold Coast!
Best regards ’til next time.
Cheers,
Cam.