AZ(AB) 91 - With little to see but the sea

With little to see but the sea, it's hardly surprising that the log encouraged poetic entries.........."tonight is very unreal, a mist is hanging over the sea, and the boat's wake is painting a speckled luminescent trial, as we glide silently through little white flecks shimmering on the wavelets. It's difficult to see where the stars begin and the wavelets end."

With the wind dropping, this third night at sea was probably our worst yet, not because of the wind, which had vanished, but because of a swell and the noise of flapping sails, groaning rigging and no progress through the water. The only thing to cheer us up was that our cabin temperature had risen to 12 degrees Celsius which was much better than at home, where Radio 4 was recounting stories of snow and frost in Junel

I had been receiving weather fax pictures from Bracknell (UK), Offenbach (Germany), and now Rota (Spain), these had proved surprisingly clear and accurate.(Technical note: The kit consisted of a Sony SSB radio and a portable computer running off the ship's 12 volt supply. A very basic aerial was cobbled together using a bit of wire clipped to the chain plates, which in turn connected to the rigging this brought in some quite strong signals.( I have since added an ceramic insulator to the back stay to minimize the computer radiated radio interference and this has improved the fax quality considerably) . The only drawback with such a system is that you end up becoming a slave to the huge quantities of information at your disposal. Wave height predictions. Ice limits. Wind and pressure at various altitudes, the transmissions are continuous. There appeared to be a nasty collection of tightly packed isobars coming our way, we hoped that the depression would veer away, however one by one, the fax images confirmed our worst fears. This was reinforced by Radio France and the good old "Home Service", forecasting Finisterre Gale 8 or 9 later. When morning dawned it brought with it a welcome wind, albeit from the South West,which was very close to our Great Circle route! John and I were cheered by finally making some progress, but wary of the impending blow.