Decreasing wind and spectacular sighting of the Oosterschelde
We set the
mainsail again during the afternoon. The wind decreased somewhat in the morning
and kept decreasing during the day. Lucky for us there was some sun in between
as well, so all in all a very pleasant day.
At 00:00 we changed the mainsail from 2nd reef to 1st reef. At 3 in the morning we decided the wind had
decreased enough to change the jib. So with only the red watch on deck we
changed the #3 into the #1 jib. Now that our group has been on board for almost
4 weeks, it is getting more and more easy to plan sail handling with just a
small crew. The #1 jib, the big jib, is a wind puller and not easy to set with
waves and a shaking ship. But the four on the front deck handled it like a pro
crew and the jib change was done within 20 min. Picking up speed we are now back
on 6 knots at an east south east course. Our GPS shows us we have 834 miles to
go to Cape Horn and great circle sailing it we would have to keep a course of
098′. But the wind is from the west south west and we cannot do any better than
105′ over the ground.
The waves are still there, which makes this nice
breeze slightly uncomfortable as the sails do not stay full when the waves rock
us. And again staying on one spot in your bed is a challenge as well as juggling
plates, cubs and knives and forks during dinner time. Pots on the stove are
used at half capacity, otherwise the other halve would end up on the floor
anyway.
Today we spotted the Oosterschelde! What a sight! Incredible. Up
out of the haze of wind, rain and spray, the big masts of the Oosterschelde
appeared behind us. She rocked and rolled over the waves looking mystical and
crossed behind us on a slightly different course. When we saw her it was still a
near gale force wind and the waves swallowed us both, taking the masts out of
sight and letting them appear again in a different spot. Everybody that was
still awake came up on deck to have a look at this almost pirate like
sighting.
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