By 0730, daybreak was on the eastern horizon again, with a waning gibbous about to set in the west.
The only activities of the night were at the change of watch when Elaine and Roy took Paw Paw off the wing-on-wing configuration, choosing a broad reach configuration instead, given the change in wind direction and putting us on a COG (Course Over Ground) of roughly 270T, maximising our VMG (Velocity Made Good). This was slightly altered during Elaine and Justine’s early morning watch to bring our COG to around 259T, thereby allowing us to run parallel to S/Y Rockhopper of London rather than converging with them. A wind shift, however, sounded the alarm, waking Roy up, but after he went back to bed, allowed Elaine to reclaim our previous wind angle, thereby increasing our SOG (Speed Over Ground) back to above 7 Kts again, but still had us running parallel to S/Y Rockhopper of London. Since Roy had been woken up, he asked Elaine to start the generator, ensuring our batteries stayed charged, before he trundled back to bed.
Breakfast was the usual affair; cereal or cereal bar, fruit juice, fresh fruit and tea or coffee, although this morning the only fresh fruit we had left were oranges, which were supplemented with tinned mangoes.
Our halfway mark was fast approaching too, with only 30 NM to go, following which we’d be on the downhill run, always a psychological relief on any ocean crossing.
Crossing the imaginary line at around 1230, celebrations to mark the occasion included a lunch of freshly baked cheese scones, complements of Elaine, crackers, smoked salmon, smoked mussels, prosciutto, Kalamata olives, Spanish green olives, sun-dried tomatoes, an assortment of cheeses and a small bottle of Moët Chandon champagne, a small bottle given that we were still on passage, which we always undertake as a “dry boat”. Needless to say, everyone was completely stuffed afterwards, though, and needed a nap, leaving Elaine on watch after she’d slept all morning. It was a fitting celebration indeed, including a toast to Neptune for our safe passage onwards!
On the weather front, it’s been an overcast, gloomy day, with a storm of sorts materialising to our stern just after daybreak, bringing with it some rain and churned up seas, as it passed overhead during the morning. The associated stronger trade winds, though, were most welcome, allowing us to keep our speed up all day.
We did have a few other yachts for company today too, including S/Y Lulu and S/Y Helena, in addition to S/Y Rockhopper of London. S/Y Anila was somewhere just over the horizon from us and Roy had enjoyed another chat to them earlier in the day.
By the time Elaine and Justine came on watch tonight, the waning gibbous was just appearing from behind the cloud bank to the east of us, S/Y Lulu and S/Y Helena had continued in a southwesterly direction, passing astern of us in doing so, while S/Y Rockhopper of London had taken off like a bat out of hell, doubling the distance between us. Paw Paw, on the other hand, was reefed down for the night, given the unsettled weather all day. This of course, reduced our speed and provided a more comfortable ride, allowing everyone to sleep more peacefully, rather than being flung around in their beds as Paw Paw bounced over waves.
During the intervening hours since crossing the halfway mark, we’d covered an additional 60NM, bringing us ever closer to the finish line.
