While the wind was steady through the night allowing us to make some good progress it has been anything but steady today. Mid-morning it built to a SW Force 6 again prompting us to get in T’gallants, but soon after backed west to Force 5 and then some time after noon went away all together. When the wind dies out in these conditions we work quickly to take in all sail: with the seas still up from the earlier winds there is nothing to steady the ship and the sails can destroy themselves slating back and forth in the rig.
The calm didn’t last long though. In another hour the wind filled in again from the west and we made sail. Not to much longer though and we had it out of the west at Force 7, prompting yet another round of getting sail in and snugly stowed then hove to under Fore and Main Topmast Staysails.
This short gale of wind didn’t last long either though and as the light began to fade the wind did too, all the way to nothing. As there is a low pressure system forecast to come into this area in the middle of the week we fired up the big B&W Alpha and made some tracks to the west for the night.
SHIP’S WORK: Shift Foresail unbend ‘C’ and bend ‘E’; Re-stow lower hold; more caulking on the quarterdeck; sailmakers finish roping leeches on the new Upper Topsail.
FROM: La Rochelle, France
TOWARDS: Quebec, Canada
TIME ZONE: ZD +2
NOON POSITION: 37°38’N / 049°16’W
DAYS RUN: 99nm
PASSAGE LOG: 3197nm
DISTANCE REMAINING: 1192nm
COURSE AND SPEED: N, 4.1kts
WIND: W x N, Force 5
WEATHER: Rain and Squalls, air temp: 22°C, water temp: 24°C
SWELL HEIGHT & DIRECTION: SW’rly, 4 – 7ft
SAILS SET: Topsails, Courses, Main T’gallant, Inner & Outer Jibs, Fore & Main Topmast Staysails, Spanker