10 May, 07 – 21.35
15.3568N,49.1708W
24 hr progress: 11.6 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 724 Nautical Miles ( 1339 km)
Distance completed: 2430 NM (4495 km)
Wave height: 8-10 ft, Winds: 10-15 knots NE, Bearing: 260 – 270 degrees.
Todays posts is shorter than usual.
I've decided to take a break, rest the muscles and catch up on some sleep.
Very little sleep last night. Sea has been very erratic over the recent weeks. At first its dead silent. No sound of waves breaking. Just a small swell and lite breeze from the east. Then all of a sudden the Atlantic changes her mind and hell breaks loose with waves breaking over the stern, wind picking up and waves coming beam on to the boat.
Last night was one of those nights. I got very little sleep. The sea state was calm until around 2.00 am before going bananas. Rowing was impossible so I tried to get some sleep. I put my body weight as far back to the stern as possible to keep that part of the boat down. Each time a wave hit it would send me sliding across the mattress to the opposite wall and I have to get back into position and brace my self for the next wave.
Miss Olive has been handling the waves till now. I'm a bit concerned about stability however as she is much lighter now than at the start. I have consumed about 200 kg of food since leaving (counting the weight of tins, glass bottles, syrups, etc etc). In addition, the stern is quite light as it had three of the compartments that cannot be used to store anything owing to the water leak. All last night the waves were hitting us on the port quarter. We were rolling quite a bit with the gunwales coming within inches of the water.
Next on my list of items to do, is to see if I move some more weight below deck. For now, as a precaution, I am keeping all hatches closed in case of a capsize despite the heat in these patch of the ocean.
In other news, today was a nice and sunny day. As I had my swim today the water felt noticeably warmer. At least by a few degrees. A possible sign that we have successfully caught hold of the Antilles current which is a warm water current. The breeze also feels a lot warmer these days and so it's getting even harder to escape the heat of the sun.
Hasta pronto,
B
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Sunny side up
Taken at 22.48 GMT
Inside the cabin
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