Yacht Aditi
Aditi

Month: December 2013

Paul and Claire

Day 14; Abandoned Yacht

Cruising

It was a quiet night. The sea was calm and there was very little light. Dark but not a black night as it is sometimes. It started at 0030 hrs when suddenly the VHF crackled into life, A merchant vessel was calling for a named vessel which I thought to be unusual. There was no reply. About 20 minutes later the call went out into the night once again. No reply. This now had my full attention as any merchant vessel on a collision course would have resolved the issue by now so what was going on? Another 20 minutes

Paul and Claire

Day 14: Marigold squids rule!

Cruising

Every day I check on our progress and the answer for the last 4 days is an Est time to go of 12 days. Have been motoring since 1240 today in progressively declining 8 to 3kn ESE wind. Outlook for the crossing remains slow. Question is will the ARC reorganise the programme ashore in view of the poor conditions for the crossing? Fishing today. Decided the marigold lure needed a bit of help so first thing this morning I made a fish attractant out of an empty half squashed 330ml coke bottle and a cork. The two things rattle together

Paul and Claire

Day 13; Unexpected dinner guest

Cruising

After shaking out the reef at dawn we glided along all day on an 11-15kn Easterley with swell occasionally shaking the rig. It is the occasional shaking of the rig that causes problems as during the cycle back and forth there are moments of slack. That is when things come undone. And I found a vital bolt on the boom furling universal joint about 50% out of it’s thread. Lucky! Now secured with lots of threadlock; pity the manufacturer did not enable the bolts to be pinned or locked. Uneventful, hot and bright day. Came across a trawler, two ships

Paul and Claire

Day 12: Marigold Squid Production up 100%

Cruising

We motored last night to try and get back in touch with the rear of the fleet and I think it helped. Winds were mainly 5 to 8kn so sailing wasn’t possible during the first half of the night. About 7am we went under full main and deep reefed genoa running at 155 degs in 16 to 23kn ESE wind. Making 7 to 8.5kn as the wind cycles up and down within the range every 15 minutes. Why it’s not stable in the ocean is a mystery but maybe it’s surface friction over the swell. Wave shapes and sea state

Paul and Claire

Day 11: Unleashed from the dock

Cruising

Thursday about 8am we headed for the shop in Mindelo Marina to see if our welding boy had done his stuff and the exhaust elbow was back in one piece. We have made this trip many, many times before. Ah but there on the floor is a filthy black carbon covered bag. It is…it is…and the 30 minute repair weld is complete on Day 4 in Mindelo. We bolted up, we fuelled up, and by 11.30 we slipped our berth and passed the space to incoming Zenara. We are going….fast. We motored out of the bay and clear of the

Paul and Claire

Day 6 – 8

Cruising

On the night of Day 6 we should have been running in 14-17kn northerlies on our way south to Mindelo. But nobody felt like committing to the weather and going up to the bow in complete dark to hand crank the headsail and let out some canvas (or dacron). So we motored south in a following sea and wind to enter Mindelo from the East. Early morning, rounding the point Ponta Salinas on the Island of Santo Antaao whilst trying to get some offing against the east wind and swell to stay clear, I could smell exhaust gas. Shutting the

1 2