Grabbing a mid morning knap!
Ironically, I sleep better during my on-Watch hours than I did whilst off-Watch. I did my hourly checks and set my alarm for 0600 when George is due to start his Watch, so that we can gybe the boat onto the starboard tack and head further south.
First I have to rig the starboard pole which I accomplish without too much trouble. The sea state has improved since last night but it's still pretty rolly. As I have frequently done in the past when sailing with a crew mate, I wonder how I manage to get these tasks done when on my own and yet I do. It's certainly so much easier with two - one up in the foredeck the other controlling the various lines from the cockpit and I haven't experienced such bad weather for so long on my own.
Take this job of rigging the pole for example. On this occasion I'm starting from scratch - it's lashed down on deck (but the guys are already run out and are clipped on to the rail at the bow).
Firstly, I attach the fore-guy and the stern-guy to the outward end of the pole and run the genoa sheet through the end.
If I'm alone I need to ensure I free off the guys at the cockpit end or face the frustrating trip back to the cockpit when I realise there's not enough slack in the lines. When someone else is aboard they can do that, which George does now. Once the pole is attached to the mast and lifted to the horizontal, the guys are used to control the angle of the pole to the boat - roughly 90°. The fore guy pulls the outer end forwards, the stern guy pulls it aft.
Secondly, I attach the pole halyard to the outboard end of the pole.
Thirdly, I unlash the pole from the deck. Doing so after I attach the guys and the halyard, means I have a chance of recovering the pole if it slips over the side. A lesson I learned the hard way when I lost Arctic Smoke's pole over the side en-route to the Cape Verde in 2016.
Unlashing the pole from the deck
Fourthly - (and this is where I am at my most vulnerable and must make sure I am securely fastened to the boat which I do by looping my safety harness around the mast) I insert the heel of the pole into its holster on the mast. To do this I have to stand up for the first time. I lift the heel upwards and push the pole forwards to get the heel over the mast fitting and then pull the pole back onto it until it locks. This can be a bit tricky when the boat is rocking and rolling in a heavy sea.
Fifthly, I haul the outer end of the pole up with the halyard until the pole is about horizontal. This is where two people makes things so much easier. George controls the pole with the guys as I lift it and secures the guys, one pulling the pole backwards the other forwards so that it sits at right angles to the boat. If I'm on my own, the pole will swing (wildly if its rough) until I can make off the halyard and grab the guys to control the pole. Then I would have to get back to the cockpit as quickly as possible to make off the guys properly.
Finally, George (in this case) releases the furling line and hauls on the sheet to pull the clue of the genoa out to the end of the pole (unless that is we decide to reduce the size of the genoa).
Afterwards George goes back to bed to try and catch up on his lost sleep. I write up the blog until I too start falling asleep (about 0900).
I wake about 1030 feeling peckish and rather fancy a bacon and egg sandwich in Pitta Bread. Eventually George stirs a bit later and I establish he likes the idea too, so I get up and make the sandwiches. They are very well received.
Today gradually turns into the quietest day of the passage. The wind eases, so much so that by mid morning we dispense with the final reef in the mainsail. The seas diminish too albeit more slowly than the wind and we sail more gently at around 5 knots.
I cook supper, which, just for a change comprises sausages, fried onions and fried cabbage in .... yes that's right .... more pitta bread - well we had to (almost) finish the now opened pack of pitta bread didn't we.
The wind eases further so that by the time I go to bed an hour early at 2100 our speed is down to 4 knots.
Our midnight to midnight run in a straight line is 114 nautical miles. Our distance from Lands End is 517 miles which means we're a 112 miles closer than the previous midnight!
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