Day 9
Noon report, 18:00 UTC
Pos 9deg18S 105deg24W
Distance to go 1957 miles, course over ground is 260deg, we are sailing parallel to the rhumb line.
All is well, we are averaging 7 knots now in rough seas (10 ft chops amongst a 15ft groundswell with a force 4 wind and white horses) with 16-20 knots of true wind and 12-15 knots of apparent wind. We seem to have settled into 150 mile days. Still one reef in, i started rigging the spinnaker this morning then decided against it when the true wind went to 20 knots. We are doing fine and i want to leave good enough alone. There are still tremendous shock loads on the main sheet, i can fully see why there are 3 blocks on the track and 2 blocks on the boom to spread the load. These shockloads are at their worst in around 15 knots of wind and a big side swell. What happens is that the boat 'rolls in under the boom' causing the main sheets to go slack for a second. This slack is then taken up by a tremendous 'JERK'. This happens every 20 minutes, sometimes more often. I have tried preventers from all angles in conjunction with the main sheet cars in all positions (to create a good angle between preventer line and mainsheet). The tighter the preventer the slower we sail and the more I load up other areas of the mast, sail, leech, boom, blocks and rig, so i am leaving it off. A boom vang may have helped off course with keeping the boom from going up, but it would not have stopped the main problem which is the boom returning towards the center and then smashing outward again. I dont want to use the topping lift coupled with a preventer (almost creating a jury backstay with the boom 'in line') as it would put a lot of unwanted strain on the top section of the mast which is unstayed. So what i am trying to figure out is whether what i describe above is 'normal' for a catamaran in prolonged down wind sailing conditions? Another question: what is the maximum wind before my assymetrical spinnaker 'blows out'? Insert nervous giggle.
The sea is rough but the wind is good, the spirit on board is good, we have just finished a brunch pancake feast (Chef golla at his very best). Andy went for the double rolled up peanut butter option. He still slightly sick, not strong enough for a beer which is the true test for a 100% fine sailor! Our laundry is dry (on shimmi we will run out of fresh water and die of thirst before we all0w the dirty laundry to pile up.) Josh and Indie are glued to the dvd player, watching Diego save the prairie dogs from being chowed by the coyotes. (what the fuck are prairie dogs anyway?) I have no fishing lines in the water, its too rough to worry about fishing and the possible MOB scenario that it could cause.
Shimmi is basically on a sleigh ride right now, with the autopilot fighting to stop her from broaching as we occasionally surf down the faces of the following seas. One of us has to be near the auto pilot all time in case the wind gets too much on our stern causing an accidental gybe which right now wont be a pretty sight. Every now and then you feel the boat roll wildly followed by either a loud 'KASHUMP!!!' as a wave hits the underside of the bridge deck or a 'KeRAK' as the main sheets ruks tight. We've been doing this now for almost a week, amazing what the human body and mind can get used to. This crossing is without doubt the craziest thing we have done. We are still doing our watches with Golla in the morning til noon, Andy in the afternoon, Golla from 6pm til midnight then Andy from 12-4am followed by Chantal from 4am til 8am.
We are down to half a water tank so we need a nice rain squall soon. Our watermaker is down to a tiny dribble. Just enough to keep 5 throats from becoming parched. Plenty of beer though.
Ciao
Golla
ps To all of you following our blog, be aware that our sailmail is struggling to connect as we are getting further from the land stations... so sometime we may not be able to send. Also the sailmail might fail all together which means you will not hear from us anymore...
