The second night

Published on 15 January 2024 at 15:08

I'm on watch at 4.30am on our second night, really enjoying the peace and solitude.

 

There is nothing else in sight visually or on our instruments, I know there are other boats just over the horizon but it really feels like we're on our own.

Very little moon but so many stars, so it's not pitch black, I can just make out the sails, and white caps on the waves around us, with a tiny bit of phosphorescence each side of us.

We have a steady 18-20 knots of wind, and we're running dead downwind with a preventer on the boom and the genoa poled out, making a steady 7 knots over the ground aided by a tiny current. The only issue is an occasional big roll as the waves move us around.

The stars are amazing - watching the whole sky rotate very slowly around the North Star. I'm feeling very inadequate about how little I know about the different constellations. At least I've learnt how to tell the time from the position of the Plough in the sky, but that's not even scratching the surface, there's so much more to know. I must learn more about it all - maybe tomorrow!

We caught a seriously big fish today, briefly - it jumped out of the water to show us who's boss before disappearing with all our fishing gear as the line (120kg line) snapped like it wasn't there.

We had a couple of hours sailing slowly, and about 30 degrees off our preferred course, as we did some work to try and reduce chafing on some of our ropes and learnt more about how to set up a new downwind sail, but we didn't actually fly it as the wind and sea state both picked up. Apart from that it's been a very tranquil day. Just sea, sea and more sea - but it is amazing how fascinating it all is despite the scenery not changing!

Well I have a log to fill in and Amanda will be up soon to do her shift as the sun rises - I can already see the first glimmerings of paler colours on the eastern horizon, so Goodnight for now!

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