Minerva: Sun, Wind and Pizza

We’re in Shipping Forecast SOLE, now and heading towards the traffic separation zones so starting to see more traffic, if you call three boats in 24 hours one of which was Diana, more traffic.

The first one was last night and as we put a tack in to maintain separation things got a little excited when one of the sheets jumped across the companionway and got jammed in another winch. We had to make another tack to clear the sheet, and then tack back. Everyone was sweaty and tired once we’d finished.

The forecasted fall in wind strength did not materialise so the night sailing was as lively as any for the duration of the trip. Wind remains stronger than forecast and we continue to make good progress towards the channel in glorious sunshine.

We’re having pizza this afternoon but apparently Dominos refused to deliver so 1st mate Mark is currenty making the dough for it rather than his usual cake mix.

Melony says she’s missing her knight in shining armour.

All for now

Minerva

Minerva: Last night remained quiet

with a light breeze but as dawn broke the breeze picked up and we’ve been stonking along on a close reach in beautiful sunshine all day.

Spirits remain high and those crew with sextants have been getting excited that they have been able to take sights all day long. We’re currenly 250nm west south west of Brest stearing a course direct to The Needles.

Several messages arrived today and Denise sends thanks again to Mum & Dad for their latest message.

@markhendy has received a message from @racesail and wishes them well on the HOEOCA spring rally in and around the Solent during next few days.

Verena has a message for her Husband on his Birthday…bon anniversaire Loic je t`embrasse fort ici tout va tres bien bisou verena

Minerva: High Spirits and cake

All are well aboard Minerva and spirits are high among the crew.  Last night the wind died and as watch two came on deck at 9pm the visibility had deteriated to a point where a radar watch was neccesary.

Having seen only one other vessel other than Juno since The Azores expectation of an encounter was low but true to form, an hour into the watch we did spot another vessel and spoke with them on vhf radio  where we agreed to make a course alteration to make sure we both had lots of sea room.

We spent the night under engine until the wind filled early this aftenoon.  We’re now on a fine reach and expecting to pick up more wind and speed in the coming hours.

1st Mate Mark made another cake this morning and lunch today was pasta with chorizo which for the first time since we set off was a warm lunch. Tonight is watch 2′s turn to cook and we’re planning a beef stew.

All of the watches have now been named:

Watch 1 – The Purple Iguanas
Watch 2 – Trotters Independent Transatlantic Sailors
Watch 3 – The Rory Forties

Of course, some of the watches are being referred to by their acronyms

Last night’s No.2 watch was stunning

It was the 9pm to midnight watch so it was dark.  With no moon and a grey sky the sea was ink black except for the beautiful aquamarine phosphorcence dancing around the boat and off the stern wherever the water was disturbed.

Juno’s stern light was two miles dead ahead and we’d been hauling them in all day from 4 miles in the morning.  At about 10:30 Helmsman Hendy spotted a phosphorecent streak on the starboard beam and then a dolphin leap from the water.  Seconds later another dolphin joined and, following the earlier advice of the 1st Mate we started chatting with them.  Apparently, if you chat with them they stay longer according to him.  It worked! Within minutes we had we think seven dolphins darting around creating phosphorescent trails which demonstrated just how brilliantly quick, versatile, agile and elegant they are.  They stayed with us for over twenty minutes.

By the time the second watch handed over to watch 3 at midnight Juno had been reigned in by a further 0.7 miles and we retired to our bunks just 1.3 miles behind them.  There must have been a series of good watches through the night because when we went back on watch at 6am Juno was  just 0.3 miles off our port bow.  We re-trimed and the boat picked up speed.  As dawn broke we could see they were flying a no.1 foresail which meant we could sail closer to the wind than they which was the better course for home, so we gently peeled off forcing them to consider their options;  sail sightly faster than us but in the wrong direction or come up with another plan.  They made a quick descision, opting for a gybe to head north in search of more wind.  As our courses converged we were close enough to exchange pleasantries as they crossed our bow with just meters to spare but they declined our offer of bacon butties!  No mention was made of their comment yesterday of leaving us in the dust.  It’s not a race, but if it were; GAME ON!

One of the crew members on no.1 watch thought they saw a new species purple iguana in the sea, prompting widely held fears that the 1st mate had been putting something into the cake he’s been baking daily!  From today no1 watch are known as “The Purple Iguana’s”. We’re working on names for the other two watches but given no3 watch has a Roger the Dodger in their team, I’m betting on something comic based.

Come back tomorrow and we’ll tell you what we decided on.

HENDY

Minerva: Sunday morning started with a little excitement

Somewhere between midnight and 3am watch one went through an unitentional gybe when the wind increased and backed. The next ten minutes saw some intense activity as the watch brought the boat back through a controlled gybe and set about reefing the main.

The next watch was mine and I had the pleasure of saiing under a full moon reflecting off the boat’s wake, and a very pleasant nights sail after the reef was shaken out. We could just pick out a white light on the horizon of another boat off our starboard midships and as dawn broke the mainsail of Juno grew in our sights.

As my watch finished I had the privilege of watching the sun rise through a full pallet of oranges and reds.

During the day with the wind backing to the south and us setting up the boat for a broad reach we continued to trim and make progress on Juno.  The crew of Juno must have noticed because at their 12 o’clock radio checkin they casually mentioned that they were going to pack away the fishing gear, throw a smoke grenade off the stern and we’d never see her again until Portsmouth.  In response we packed away our jigsaws, checked our trim and, deciding it was still trimmed to perfection, sat and watched s Juno’s sail grow in our forward sights.

Denise says thanks again to Mum and Dad for the second and third messages

I can’t finish without a mention to Mrs H that today is our wedding aniversary and that I can’t believe she forgot it AGAIN!

Minerva: Our first blog

Friday departure was originally scheduled for beween 11-12 local time but becuse of concerns over the weather we delayed departure until about 1 o’clock.

With the wind on the nose skipper “pirate” Peter expertly used a spring to bring the nose through the wind and take us off the outer end of the raft of all four Ondeck boats with about 50 onlookers watching every move. I’m sure the applause would have lasted longer except for the yelling shoreside of one of our mate we’d left behind!

After a sucessful touch and go collection of said mate we motored to the edge of the marina and began to raise sail. A consise walk through of the man overboard procedures was followed by a couple of practice tacks to familiarise the crew with the working of the boat and we were on our way, though quite how we managed to be placed 4th having been the first boat to depart no one seems to be able to explain!

The crew settled in togther well, and the watch patterns were established as 3 hours on, 6 hour off. Mike the leader of 2 watch with Denise, Mark and Tim soon couldn’t stop singing Denie Denise, who by the way sends mum and dad a thank you for the message onboard.

We’ve seen several pods of Dolphins so far in addition to an assortment of jellyfish and a sea turtle swam past the side of the boat. It is rumored that there is a special cargo of aged rum aboard, but pirate Pete is refusing to acknowledge or disclose it’s loation. I feel a walking of the plank may be called for before the end of the journey.

We hae been getting winds of circa 20 knts from the stern so have been making around about 8.3 knts average nearly all in the right direction for our destination, the crew is happy and we’re all taking on water….drinking water!

Keep the messages coming we love to receive them

All for now

Minerva