Oh well, time to motor again. I started the engine. It died within seconds. Oh, oh, have I pushed my luck too far? I tried again. It took some time but eventually settled down to its normal rythm. Next, drop the slutter jib, furl the genoa and sheet the main in tight, lock the hydrovane, set a course on the autohelm and chunter onwards in a northerly direction at around 3 knots.
Then back to dozing in the cockpit until a shower forced me below at around 0300. At some point the sea stopped being so lumpy.
I slept on and off and to my relief, except for occasional falters, the engine behaved itself. I'd already decided to take the lazy approach to dealing with it - hope that it gets me to Bermuda. Once I start fiddling I might make matters worse or at least that's my excuse!
Around 0830 the wind returned. That was good of course. Less helpful was that it was from around NNW which meant we couldn't lay Bermuda but had to head NEish. The forecast was that it would veer north this evening and then east of north during the night, so heading NEish now seemed a good idea. Then a lengthy debate took place amongst the crew.
Should we point as close as possible to the wind or free off a bit and go faster? Quite why a debate was nessary I've no idea. I know that in lightish winds you make more progress by going the long way round but faster. It's a bit like taking the B road directly to your destination or taking a detour on the motorway. It's a no brainer isn't it. So I didn't. I hardened up and in the process had to drop the slutter jib, because hard on the wind it just got backed by the Genoa.
On we ambled pointing as high as possible going slowly and making more leeway as a result (the sideways movement of the boat as it goes through the water). Result, the boat's course over the ground (COG) was actually worse than if it were pointing another 5-10 degrees away from the wind.
After a few hours the penny dropped, I fell off the wind a little, eased the sheets and re-hoisted the slutter. Result: speed up half a knot + and COG better by 5 degrees or so.
The kink in our track in the photo below shows the effect.
The left most, near-vertical red line is part of the direct route from St Martin to the south and Bermuda to the north. The line with the kink is our track. The dashed red line is the boats heading and the other red line going up from the boat icon is the direct bearing to Bermuda.
Everyone knows you can't teach old dogs new tricks, but it seems this old dog can't even remember the old tricks he's already learnt.
For those who may be interested - a few domestic photos....
First an overview of the galley complete with restraining bar that I use to wedge myself in when the the boat is either leaning a lot to starboard or is generally getting flung about. It provides just enough space for me to turn around if I bend my knees. I find it invaluable but it's no good for those with a wider girth!
Next, a close up of the draining board area complete with now worn out drainer that Mick found in the Canaries. Its proved invaluable.
Once it's full of washing up one simply sticks it out in the cockpit to dry or get an extra rinse subject to the weather!
Underneath the home made wooden draining board which lifts off is the fridge trap door...
...giving access to the top loading home made fridge box which extends underneath the stainless steel draining board. A bit of a pain to find stuff, but it stops the cold air from falling out!
Anyway we've continued slowly North Easwards for most of the day, sometimes touching 5 knots but mostly around 3 - 3.5.
As of 1645 local time (BST-5) we have 404 miles to go so we're only about 50 miles closer than around this time yesterday!
I'll probably have to tack NW later if the wind behaves as forecast.
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