Tues 8th April Handsteering to Trinidad - hit by flying fish!
All going fine, although get very tired at times .. but getting into routine now - only problem is when not at helm very conscious not going anywhere very fast - altho' fore-reaching is usually in almost exactly the right direction at 1.5-2 knots - brilliant!
I'm trying not to get sun/wind-burnt- or not too much anyway - using lots of cream... that's partly why I heave-to for rest from midday on...
Midnight Monday before sleep - fancied a cup of soup - made it & it jumped up (with wave crashing into boat) on stove top & spilled all over ... grrr! Had to clean up, of course...
Later, I was woken up by violent banging & crashing noises, boat shaking like mad..... we were no longer hove-to but were sailing (south!!) in strong wind with foresails flapping ... Clearly, there had been a bigger wave which must have crashed into us & the wheel was no longer locked over but free to move.... so main had gybed over... (Have now firmly tied wheel down to make sure we stay hove-to for the present rest period!) Took me a time, in the dark, to figure out what was going on & what to do about it!
Got back to sleep & then up well before dawn on Tuesday - beautiful clear sky, lots of stars.. sunrise... clear blue sky with lined-up fluffy white clouds - finally had my 'Trade Winds sky' with good (~NE15kn) wind!
It's been cool enough, sitting out in the wind, to be wearing my warm layers & foul weather gear, especially overnight, & I was still wearing my jacket when the clouds, having gradually got bigger over the morning, gave quite a downpour - but not for long! The swell and lumpy seas are still washing the decks (& me!) quite often, but not as much as over the weekend.
Distance made good to Trinidad WP (24hr to noon today): 80ml (81 yesterday) Distance to go to WP: 564ml
Overnight Tuesday: Another lovely clear, starry night, thin crescent moon up above sunset earlier, excellent wind - and sailing fast at ~7.5kn, although foul current reduced SOG to 6.5kn - but still good.
Late to heave-to for sleep because ship 'Albutain Star' came close by on a parallel course - so waited until it passed before stopping. Shortly before, as I was sitting helming in the cockpit in the dark, "Clonk!" - I was hit on the sde of my forehead by something heavy and wet - a BIG flyinf fish...! It landed on the after-deck and soon managed to flop into the water leaving a distinctly fishy smell behind...!