End of Day 5 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) Tue 2 Jun 2020

Dear All,

Dawn on Nicky’s watch….

….and from a slightly different angle

When I came on watch at midnight Nicky reported that the wind had moderated to 20kts and was starting to back towards the northwest.  That was our cue to adjust our heading to start to migrate towards the 35N line of latitude.  Studying the detailed weather models before we left Beaufort we had seen that there would be an area of very light winds just ahead of where we are now.  Our hope is that by moving slightly north now to 35N we will be able to latch onto a bit of wind that will keep us moving.  We stayed further south for the past few days to avoid potentially gale force winds at around 35N latitude.  However, the weather system that generated those winds has moved on a bit, allowing us to head a little further north now.  Anyway, that's the plan and we'll see how it pays out over the next 24-48hrs. 

There were still some showers lurking about first thing…

… and even a part of a rainbow

The change in the weather also made for colourful dawn skies despite the looming presence of a horrible looking shower or 3.

Nicky digging into our food supplies
locker.  Honest guv, the lentils
are down here somewhere!

We spent some time this morning doing some boat admin, digging out stores, etc.  With the calmer seas we also ran the watermaker.  We just needed a small top-up to the tanks but we like to keep our water tanks full in case something goes wrong with the watermaker or generator.  That way if we did have to start water rationing we would be at a good starting point.

In the afternoon, Nicky continued the run of boat jobs by lubricating all the clutches, some of which had become quite stiff to operate after several days of being continually washed by rivers of salt water.  In the process of that job she spotted that one of the sheaves at the forward end of the boom, inevitably the critical one over which our No1 reefing line runs, had cracked and was about to break apart.  So we spent an hour juggling tiny and vitally important parts whilst standing on a heaving deck replacing the damaged sheave.  The only two saving graces being that it wasn't windy enough for us to have a reef in and that the sun was shining!  And after that, we baled the bilge which seemed to have more water in it than we would have expected......one to monitor.

There was still a 2-metre swell but the sea was good deal smoother this afternoon

On a positive note: For most of the day we have been sailing with 15-20 knots on our beam with blue skies and white cirrus and cumulus clouds dotted about.  Much better than the grey overcast and rainy conditions we've had to date. For the past couple of days it has been a lot cooler, just 15degC on deck at night and 18degC in the cabin.  That might not sound bad to roughty toughty Brits but for those of us who, just a month ago, were well used to swimming in 28degC seas and living at 32degC, that's quite a change!  Nicky even had a fleece and a fleecy hat on last night as well as full oilskins [Ed: though to be fair I was wearing shorts, rather than trousers, under my oilie trousers].  However, today's weather has been glorious and even the sea has been blue again - far more as it should be!

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky

Passage statistics:

Position at midday 02 Jun: N34 26 W065 05

Position at midnight 02 Jun: N34 54 W063 34

Midday to midday distance through water: 174 nautical miles (average 7.3 knots).

Midday to midday GPS distance towards destination: 179 nautical miles

Midnight to midnight distance through water: 177 nautical miles (average 7.4 knots)

Midnight to midnight GPS distance towards destination: 153 nautical miles

Total miles covered through water: 762 nautical miles

Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Guernsey): 3010 nautical miles

End of Day 5 Beaufort, North Carolina, USA towards Guernsey