We held an inter-watch Seamanship Derby this afternoon to test the skills and knowledge of the crew after several weeks at sea. Together we have almost completed our North Atlantic crossing under square sail – an extremely rare achievement these days, of which all should be proud.
All hands performed admirably, proving they know their lines, knots, points of the compass, and can turn a mess of lines into a set neat tidy coils in no time. Competition was fierce, but the 8-12 won it by a wafer-thin margin in the salt-water collecting tie-break competition. The judges were particularly impressed with the talent show portion of the event.
SHIP’S WORK: Second coat buff on jibboom, spot paint MONOMOY, reinstall Flemish horses, paint red on focslehead waterways, white on propane tanks. Prepare for Seamanship Derby.
TOWARDS: Essaouira, Morocco
TIME ZONE: GMT
NOON POSITION: 32°08.3’N /011°57.1’W
DAYS RUN: 69nm
PASSAGE LOG: 278nm
DISTANCE REMAINING: 115nm
COURSE AND SPEED: SExE (112°T)
WIND: Flat calm
WEATHER: 7/8 cloud cover (alto cumulus, alto stratus), air temp 68F (20°C), sea surface temp 69F (21°C) barometer reading 1028 millibars, visibility good
SWELL HEIGHT & DIRECTION: smaller than 1 foot, NE
SAILS SET: All sails stowed, steaming for a while to make tracks through the calm towards Essaouira.