27.01.2008
Amidst the squalls
Aboard Temenos II there have been repeated squalls virtually the whole time
since yesterday evening and Michèle and Dominique have been forced to make a
series of manœuvres in line with these. The fatigue is evident after most of the
night spent on deck adjusting the sail area and the trim to the rhythm of the
passage of these clouds. The weather activity is particularly intense off the
Brazilian coast and in the space of a few days Michèle and Dominique are
expecting to have to negotiate a front and some high pressure.
For the time being, thanks to the influence of the clouds the monohull is still
managing to make headway, though Michèle is expecting the boat to slow
dramatically over the next few hours.
“The skies are really very disturbed. We are surrounded by squalls. You can see
them coming and it's all black on the water, the rain falling at 45°. One minute
you end up upwind, the next you're downwind. Sometimes there is no wind and
other times it's the very opposite of that with some almighty gusts. Each squall
is different and as the clouds closes in on you, you soon see what it's going to
be like. We’ve been making a number of manoeuvres and that's set to continue!
The night has been fairly tiring. With the arrival of each squall we wake the
other person up so as to be more effective and not lose ground. We were
expecting this situation though and we got some good rest beforehand.
We're approaching the zone of calms situated in the front off Brazil so our pace
will be slowed again soon. It’s a windless band of around sixty miles, which
should take about 24 hours to cross. Each time we get a grib file, the passages
are different, a little more to the East on one, a little more to the West on
the second, so it’s difficult to grasp exactly what the best strategy is for us.
We'll simply have to make northing and good speed so as to extract ourselves
from this zone.
The sea water is warming up and we’re beginning to find a fair number of flying
fish on deck.
As soon as a good rain squall comes along today I intend to get out the shower
gel. Aboard we’re drinking sea water and we’re washing with water from the sky!”
Kate Jennings
Expression.
P.O. Box 26,
Dartmouth,
DEVON.
TQ6 0YG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7795 116699
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