by Rich Wilson | Nov 18, 2016 | Ship's Logs
Today we are on final approach for the equator, only 120 miles ahead. Last night we broke through the last line of big rain clouds – there was a very distinct line of them on the radar – and were then in a building southeasterly wind. Through the night, we sailed very...
by Rich Wilson | Nov 17, 2016 | Ship's Logs
Today and yesterday have blurred together in my mind. Partially this is inadequate sleep, and an inadequate routine. When one puts in a reef, or rolls out a reef, at 0300, it confuses the day and the distinction between work hours and non-work hours. On an Open 60...
by Rich Wilson | Nov 17, 2016 | Ship's Logs
Pirates aren’t usually a hazard for Vendée Globe skippers speeding along at 20-plus knots, hundreds and even thousands miles offshore. But on Monday, as we passed the Mauritania Exclusion Zone to our east, a curious thing happened. I checked navigation software for...
by Rich Wilson | Nov 16, 2016 | Ship's Logs
Last night I was back at it trying to understand our downwind sails. We have a truly enormous masthead gennaker, about 370 square meters (3700 square feet). Yet somehow it doesn’t seem always effective. Finally I came up with a theory as to why. The front 3 or 4...
by Rich Wilson | Nov 15, 2016 | Ship's Logs
In recording our data, I noticed that the hydrogenerators are starting to pull their weight, and also that there were not so many pedestal revolutions as previous days, and it might look as though the last 24 hours were easy – not so! There was a lot of work on the...
by Rich Wilson | Nov 14, 2016 | Ship's Logs
The good news today is that last night was quite stable, and I was able to add to my sleep. I had re-hoisted the mainsail from reef 2 to reef 1 (320 revolutions on the pedestal winch) at midnight, and the boat steered well and the wind stayed from the same direction...
