By Rob
The Scene
The build up of tension (read weather forecast) that sailors all know and fear the most. Wind forecast to die to nothing..... for many days...... seriously !!!.
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| Just before the start, Sally on the foredeck |
In the best long term interest of our campaign be both decided to up the "resistance training level" by starting the race as tired and work stressed as possible. Sleep would be a low priority for the next 3 days, grunt up !
I don't like light air and truly many of my really bad memories of this are in the B.O.P. When there is always a left over swell that rolls the boat uncontrollably and makes the sails crash in the rigging and just tear my heart out. It was this fear that consumed my mind until we finished that any moment the breeze may die. But while the wind came and went throughout the race we never lost steerage way, so again like so often the worrying was just a wasted emotion.
The Race
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| Another awesome start by Rob! (Photo Alison Howitt / comment Sally) |
In fact on average there was more wind than predicted with interesting (funnelling) acceleration thru Colville Channel well above the forecast and lots of wind (gusting 30) around White Island. These last 10 miles into White Island were on the wind, we rounded about 23:00 on a very dark Friday night . We know its not safe to rely absolutely on gps in close quarters but they are great tools to be used in conjunction with all other available sensors. So with a close eye on Hdop position errors, (a significant function on our Expedition performance software) cross referenced with depths and my eyes wide open we skirted White Island as close as I dared. Things (like rocks) look closer to me at night. That was the highlight of the race for me, which is probably as it should be.
So the breeze came and went as we sailed back to Auckland. Luckily we held more wind than we expected and had a great sail in from Coromandel until Waiheke when it got really tough and we worked it as hard as we could for 6 hours until we literally drifted across the finish line on an incoming tide at 08:30.
What a relief. 2 1/2 days for 320nm? worse things happen at sea !
What a relief. 2 1/2 days for 320nm? worse things happen at sea !
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| And we are off - 300nm to go! |
Things that worked well:
Sally's handmade beanbag mattress, so comfortable and surprisingly warm, a must have
The Icom HF (long range) radio. I just love the fact that an electronic thing has lasted 12 years and still works perfectly.
Expedition performance software. When you are so tired you just cant think anymore but you need to know whatever, its right there, like a perfect navigator. Thanks Nick
Sally's handmade beanbag mattress, so comfortable and surprisingly warm, a must have
The Icom HF (long range) radio. I just love the fact that an electronic thing has lasted 12 years and still works perfectly.
Expedition performance software. When you are so tired you just cant think anymore but you need to know whatever, its right there, like a perfect navigator. Thanks Nick
You guys are legends. Well sailed.The brain-bending, eye-popping, draining fatigue sounds familiar.
ReplyDeleteWe've renamed the Bay to the 'Bay of Plenty of Sail Changes' because it didn't seem to let up! There were some adventurous moments for sure - we got a top speed of 18.8 knots on the log but we didn't recall doing it - probably in the Colville Channel. We got 40 knots at White Island while we were trying to hang on to the big gear - which led to some interesting shenanigans on the foredeck.
We've been learning some hard lessons along the way, but we are so much better for these races. You guys are our benchmark and an inspiration to us - so keep it up.
See you soon.