18 September 2011

19 nautical miles

Gentle morning sail

20 nautical miles (route incorrect, more towards Cape Pyla)

Tim was flying to Dubai this evening so we only went for a short sail. However, the new asymmetric spinnaker is amazing... 

To start with there was no wind at all so we motored out and anchored and Tim and Jacob swam and cleaned the growth off the outboard. Meanwhile there were loads of boats moving around the bay so I played radar - tracking targets with MARPA as this is something I want to hone as a skill.

Then there was maybe 4 knots of wind so we thought we'd try and see what the new asymmetric made of this: 2 knots SOG! The wind increases slightly to 6 knots and we did 4 knots SOG. We are definitely trimming the sails better and King Malu is sailing faster.

Lunch was amazing. Now we have two gas cylinders we are more prepared to use the gas and Tim cooked pork fillet with apples and salad with blue cheese sauce. My mouth waters thinking about it as I write up the blog. 

Coming back we have 11 knots of wind and we're doing more than 6 knots SOG. We decide to furl the asymmetric since I am not feeling great and it needs quite a lot of energy to furl this smoothly on the magic furl.

All in all a wonderful sail.

Monday sail

25 nautical miles (route incorrect, missing sailing north)

Our guests for the day were Mark with his two daughters Emily and Marie. Marie had just completed a contract testing samples of water and such like in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil disaster, so we very used to being on and off boats, though being treated as 'the scientist' on board is very different to being on a sailing yacht. Much quieter than a work boat!

There was no wind, so first stop was to find somewhere to anchor and let the girls have a swim.

Emily is just starting her career as a singer/performer on Broadway - couldn't really be more different to her sister who is a naturalist/scientist. She was catching some sun before returning to 'the big apple' to look for work.

Although Mark is from the mid-west, he looks as if he could have been born on a boat.

It didn't take long for the two sisters to find the laying in the sun place on board and lie there and catch up with old times.

They referred to Tim and me as 'the two captains'. That's a phrase (captain) I still don't really get used to.

And this is to show they did all really have a day out together sailing!

Oh and I should mention the stowaway we caught on board clinging to the lifelines...

Friday sail

19 nautical miles

Our guests for today's sail were Mark, Lois and Anahita. Mark grew up on boats. When many of us took  the bus or train to go to school, Mark went by boat. He lived in a small island just off the mainland of Canada. It was a very pleasant sail.