End of Day 3 Beaufort NC USA towards Guernsey

This Blog entry is an edited version of the message we sent back whilst we were on the passage.  The original, without pictures, was sent by radio with a laptop that controls a modem connected to the HF/SSB radio.  With that set up we can contact one of the SailMail stations to send the daily text message to my daughter Charlotte in Guernsey who then forwards it on to a list of family members.

2359hrs (EDT, GMT -4) Sun 31 May 2020

Dear All,

Sunday breakfast treat

Today's sailing has been a lot more civilised.  A grey morning was brightened up by a fabulous breakfast.  Nicky made American style pancakes which we ate with strawberries and bananas and lots of maple syrup.  Definitely a Sunday treat!

Good sailing……

The morning's sailing was excellent with relatively smooth seas, and the apparent wind on our starboard beam at 15-18 knots.  So we made good speed averaging 6.7 knots midday to midday. 

……and the sun even made an appearance…….

We even had sunshine which made a nice change to the grey and overcast skies we've had for the last 2 days. 

……but it didn’t last for long

However, the second weather front then started to show itself with steadily building cloud; initially high cirrus cloud followed by lots of low stratus and stratocumulus cloud.

Early evening and a little more sun but the wind is starting to veer, heralding the approach of the next front

Whilst the sea was smooth and BV was stable we showered and ran the watermaker to refill the tanks.  All done in time for the grey low clouds to arrive at 1330hrs with rain, light at first then getting heavier.  So I left Nicky on deck for the afternoon watch all wrapped up in oilskins whilst I slept below.  She dealt with light rain, heavy rain, and various sail changes to match the varying wind strength.  When I appeared again it had all settled down and the wind had veered enough for us to pole out the genoa and sail downwind, a much easier point of sail for Georgina (our hydrovane self steering) to maintain a steady course.

Not to be out done on my watch, as we relaxed over sundowners it was clear that there was still part of the weather front to pass us by.  Showers were visible behind us and the wind had not yet veered as much as it should with the complete passing of the weather front.  When it does, the wind should come from the north, probably at around 20 to 25kt so we'll look out for that, as well as some more rain showers on my watch up to midnight.  The stronger wind will be harder work but we will sail faster which will help to counteract the effects of an adverse current that we seem to have found ourselves in.

As it turned out between 1900 and 2359hrs we had dark clouds and showers scattered all around us which made the wind variable both in strength and direction. I spent my watch dodging the darkest looking ones and then at 2300 the major windshift that marked the frontal boundary reached us.  The wind disappeared entirely for about 20mins and then reappeared 5-10knots stronger than before, blowing from the north.  So I spent a very busy half an hour or so, dancing on deck stowing the pole, dropping 2 reefs in the main and sorting out a half-size genoa, before we were set-up properly and BV was hammering along, close-reaching with 20kts over the deck, pointing in generally the right direction (at one point in the pole down and reefing process I had looked up to find that Georgina had faithfully followed the shifting wind and we were pointing virtually due west!).

So, according to the GRiB files, we can expect this wind for the next 24 to 30hrs after which it will back and ease.  At that point we need to start making our way north to latitude 35N to keep in the best of the wind for the next few days.  In the interim, here's to a fast start to June!

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky

Passage statistics:

Position at midday 31 May: N34 00 W070 33

Position at midnight 31 May: N33 59 W069 15

Midday to midday distance: 161.4 nautical miles through the water (average 6.7 knots).  155nm towards destination.

Midnight to midnight distance: 156.2 nautical miles through the water(average 6.5 knots).  139nm towards destination

Total miles covered:  409 nautical miles

Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Guernsey): 3343 nautical miles

End of Day 3 Beaufort, North Carolina, USA towards Guernsey