Western Tasman Sea, (Lat 39 43S, Lon 152 16E), Course 98 degrees (compass)
Tuesday 28 January 2020
Today was truly a dream sailing day. A 20-knot breeze off the starboard, stern quarter. A calm sea with minimal swell. Plus, a full main and poled-out jib off the port side, set solid as if in concrete.
There was the occasional roll, from side to side that had us reaching for loose objects in the galley, but nothing of significance.
What was truly astounding was Chimere’s speed. Through the night and in the early morning, with breezes light, we could make a comfortable 5-6 knots with the engine ticking over at low revs in the background. Then as the sun rose on the bow and the wind grew from behind, the speed climbed through 7 and 8 knots. It was then time to dispense with the engine altogether, as still our speed advanced … 9,10 and even 11 knots at times.
Consistently, we sat between 9 and 10 knots – for several hours – the stability of the ride making for an exhilarating time indeed. There was even speculation that we might break Chimere’s 24-hour record of around 200 miles; an 8 knot average.
With three day’s sailing and over 250 miles behind us, planning of the voyage ahead revealed that if we can average around 6 knots, then we should arrive in Picton six days ahead of schedule on 4 February – in 7 day’s time. The long range forecast gives us comfort that this is quite achievable, with winds predicted to remain between south west and North at around 10-30 knots. Otherwise known as a dream run!
After our, now-routine night watches, mid-morning saw Jodi and Jorge cutting up vegetables in the saloon in preparation for a delicious lunch.
Around this time Gee asked if I had a candle. Thinking it was my mis-hearing of the accent, I repeated … “you mean a candle, candle?” … “yes, I’ve cooked a cake and I need a candle” replied Gee. Still not quite sure where the conversation was leading, I enquired further, “what do you need a candle for?” … “It’s Jim’s birthday, and I need a candle to stick into the birthday cake” … “Oh!!!” say I, “I’ll have a look, we’ve got pretty much everything else on board, I’m sure we’ve got a candle”
Sure enough, I found a big candle and the presentation was duly made after lunch. “I thought everyone had forgotten” declared Jim, “So I wrote it in the Log, just in case!”
It was a great moment and full credit to Gee!
As each person took time through the afternoon to sleep, read, eat or just relax, a range of housekeeping tasks were attended aboard, including …
- pumping diesel up from one of the lower 4 tanks into the header tank,
- running the generator to heat water for showers while at the same time run the desalinator to top up the freshwater tanks (we can make around 3-4 litres a minute)
- Pumping out holding tank, and
- Obtaining the latest weather forecast via the satphone
Glancing up at our Australian and New Zealand flags in the rigging, John inquired, “Will we reverse the order and put the Kiwi flag above the Oz flag when we get half way?” … “That makes sense” I answered, “ but not many people can tell the difference”, I added … “I can” came John’s immediate response.
Although the bell wasn’t officially rung at 6:00pm tonight, it was clear that we’d drifted into “Sundowner Time” as we all sat in the cockpit sharing personal stories, relishing speeds of 8-11 knots over calm seas, beneath a warm sun and blue sky. Two episodes of Sailing Alone Around the World were played, stopped only by flat batteries in the mobile speaker box.
I assumed the role of chef this evening, knocking up my signature dish of Spag Bol, which was devoured in short time. “Red wine goes well with this dish” I announced, and pretty soon I was handing out long-stem glasses containing a naughty Aldi drop to all interested souls.
It was soon after this that we realised the movement of the boat was a little more pronounced than we’d at first though. Yes, it was calm enough to sit around the saloon table and comfortably eat dinner together, but the high centre of gravity of the wine glasses had two of them delivering their contents over those nearby in quick succession. The saving grace from this little episode was that the stylish wine “glasses” were actually made of plastic and there were lots of paper towels at hand.
Dinner behind us, Gee dived into doing the dishes, and soon after this we were all on deck watching a large and playful pod of dolphins dive and dart around us, as the evening sky astern of us grew redder and redder. It was a sublime moment
Jim finished his 6-9pm watch soon after the dolphins left us, with Gee then assuming control. John, Jorge and Jodi took their leave and retired to their cabins, with general agreement that we would mix up the watch times omorrow night; just for a change.
Smooth seas fair breeze and sailing on into the dark!
Rob Latimer
NZ2020 