Once the waxing gibbous set in the early hours of the morning, it made for a very dark, but magnificent starry night, the likes of which can only be seen at sea.
By 0630 the skies had lightened with beautiful colours from the east and by 0730 we had enjoyed our first sunrise at sea for this passage.
By 0800 Elaine and Justine had had breakfast and had headed to bed, leaving the boys on watch, although Roy seemed to be the only one struggling to sleep and definitely looked sleep deprived. The rest of us were sleeping like babies on our three-hour off watch slots.
With the wind remaining at 10-15 Kts out of the east and with full sails still flying, we altered course slightly to starboard, putting us on a COG (Course Over Ground) of 225T, taking us a little further off the African coast and running parallel to our planned route.
We did, however, have two large monohulls pass across our bow within half a nautical mile at first light, heading due south. By midday they were just a blip on the horizon, but we were trundling along nicely with an increased SOG of 7.3-8 Kts, deciding then to pinch a few more degrees to starboard, putting us on a COG of 232T and increasing our VMG (Velocity Made Good), a measurement that tracks the positive distance we’re making towards our destination. The closer one’s VMG is to the SOG the better.
By noon, Elaine and Justine were back on watch and it was time for the SSB/HF radio net, following which we enjoyed lunch. It wasn’t long after that that Roy and Paul surfaced, although Elaine sent Roy back to bed to try and make up for his lost sleep, while she remained on watch.
As the day progressed, though, the skies became overcast with cirrus, then hazy due to the red dust in the air coming off Africa. That said, we were keeping an eye on the barometer, since one of the weather forecasts had indicated a localised front near the Cape Verde islands due south of us; something we wanted to avoid!
By 1830, we’d all enjoyed our pizza dinner, we’d reefed down for the night, with Paul chipping in to help, and Elaine and Justine had headed to bed.
During the boys watch the wind dropped, forcing on an engine, but shortly after the girls came on watch, the winds had increased again, the full headsail was unfurled, the engine was switched off and we could enjoy sailing again.
By 2300 the stronger forecasted winds arrived, forcing Elaine to reef the headsail as well, but we still managed a SOG of 6.5 Kts and we’d claimed back a few degrees to starboard, taking us back to our route. We were contented with that and sailing along nicely.
