Race 12 - Day 13
Skipper Report
09 July
Hello Team,
So, it’s moving “Moving Monday”, we were moving quite well until shortly before dawn and now the wind has died on us and is shifting as much as 60 degrees within as many seconds. Also thinking of you Lorraine this morning and hoping everything can go as smoothly as possible with the house move.
Today's dawn which sort of started at about 0300UTC isn't as grey as the last the few days, in fact since mid-morning yesterday we have had blue skies and sun shine, which has lifted spirits, new we'll find out that England are through to the next phase of the world cup having won 2 nil.
Sailing-wise, we are slight heavily influenced by this high pressure system and the associated light airs and shifty wind directions. We are currently with the Code 2 (mediumweight spinnaker) and full main. The Code 1 (lightweight spinnaker) is still out of commission and is looking like a full rebuild when we get to Derry- Londonderry, when Beanie will lead the mission to put it right again. I know I have said it a few times over the last couple of days but the standard of helming being up in is excellent. These are not easy conditions to work in and everyone is having a go, the lack of spinnaker collapses and the associated grinding of winches is a fine testament to the effort and concentration the GREAT Britain Crew is putting in. Awesome stuff.
With talk of repairing spinnakers, it is noticeable now among those who have done multi Legs that personal kit is becoming worn and having a seriously lived in look to it. Some kit requires repairs and only yesterday I had to use some sail repair tape to fix a jacket. However, the prize for working out exactly how long clothing lasts has to go to Ray. As a Round the Worlder, lots of his clothes are just falling apart on him, as they are on their last legs it’s a good job this is the last Leg! The good news is that he will not be looking for a laundry in Liverpool just a bin bag. He tells us he is flying back to Australia with just a carry-on and that will be full of duty free!
The highlight of yesterday has to be the pilot whales, we had two encounters with them, spread across both watches which was good news. The was with Jack Watch when we had about half a dozen following the boat about 50 metres behind for about half an hour. Then later in the morning Union Watch had two encounters, the first about 8 whales came up to the boat accompanied it for a time. Then about an hour later approximately 30 followed the boat, which Thomas managed to get some Great video footage of. The big hope of the crew now is that we can see some Orcas that have evaded the GREAT Britain boat on this voyage, before we concluded this adventure.
The galley highlight of the day, which was produced by Phil and Luise, was our traditional weekly Sunday breakfast of eggs bacon and fried bread.
So, some GREAT Britain facts to consider among the challenge of starting a new week. Distance travelled in the last 24hrs 154nm (average 6.4kts) DMG was 150nm (97%), even though that is low we are delighted that we didn't grind to a stop. We had 425nm to DTA at 1400Z 080718, leaving us 14.5% of our passage left.
Oh, did you know? Isaac Newton invented the first cat flap made of felt for his laboratory door to save his light experiments being ruined by his cat wandering and out.
Standing by this Channel-out
Dave