Passage to Rio Grande
12/12/10 22:57 Filed in: On Passage
Throughout the night we had winds from SE through SW F2-4. The barometer dropped from 1002 to 1000. At 04:00 we were off Cabo Polonia and running under full yankee with one reef in the main.
By 0800 things had deteriorated a bit. I was experiencing my first full gale at sea on Kiriwina. The yankee was furled and we were flying along under the main with three reefs.
If anything we were going a bit too fast with speeds often in excess of 6 knots. The wind was SSE 35 knots and increasing. With the seas and swell building Kiriwina sometimes slid down a wave and on occasion a gust would cause her to lean over and dig her quarter in resulting in her shipping water in the cockpit. This water was slow to drain at times.
Basically we had too much sail up. At 10:45 with windspeed reaching 40 knots in gusts I decided to stow the main and lie ahull for a while. This involved climbing up onto the cabin, securing the sail while ensuring nothing got tangled or fouled. The helm was lashed to leeward.
With this Kiriwina settled down with the wind slightly forward of the beam at a speed of 0.2 to 0.3 knots through the water. Her speed over the ground speed was 2.5-3.0 knots.
It was a lot deeper than 9.8 metres.
Lying ahull in rough seas.
The helm lashed to leeward.
35 knots of wind and increasing.
Calming eddy created by Kiriwina's sideways motion through the water.
By 15:00 the seas were very rough with SSE winds between 35-40 knots. Kiriwina rode easily making good a course of 028º some 25 miles from the coast.
Still lying ahull with the helm lashed to leeward under a dark and gloomy sky.
Around 17:00 the wind eased slightly to between 30-35 knots. I decided to resume sailing and deployed half the staysail.
At 19:00 we were sailing comfortably under a clearing sky. Windspeed was dropping below 30 knots at times.
At 20:00 we were some 24 miles off Chuy on the Brazil/Uruguay border. By midnight the wind had eased to between 25-30 knots. Under half the staysail we were making just under 5 knots.
By 0800 things had deteriorated a bit. I was experiencing my first full gale at sea on Kiriwina. The yankee was furled and we were flying along under the main with three reefs.
If anything we were going a bit too fast with speeds often in excess of 6 knots. The wind was SSE 35 knots and increasing. With the seas and swell building Kiriwina sometimes slid down a wave and on occasion a gust would cause her to lean over and dig her quarter in resulting in her shipping water in the cockpit. This water was slow to drain at times.
Basically we had too much sail up. At 10:45 with windspeed reaching 40 knots in gusts I decided to stow the main and lie ahull for a while. This involved climbing up onto the cabin, securing the sail while ensuring nothing got tangled or fouled. The helm was lashed to leeward.
With this Kiriwina settled down with the wind slightly forward of the beam at a speed of 0.2 to 0.3 knots through the water. Her speed over the ground speed was 2.5-3.0 knots.
It was a lot deeper than 9.8 metres.
Lying ahull in rough seas.
The helm lashed to leeward.
35 knots of wind and increasing.
Calming eddy created by Kiriwina's sideways motion through the water.
By 15:00 the seas were very rough with SSE winds between 35-40 knots. Kiriwina rode easily making good a course of 028º some 25 miles from the coast.
Still lying ahull with the helm lashed to leeward under a dark and gloomy sky.
Around 17:00 the wind eased slightly to between 30-35 knots. I decided to resume sailing and deployed half the staysail.
At 19:00 we were sailing comfortably under a clearing sky. Windspeed was dropping below 30 knots at times.
At 20:00 we were some 24 miles off Chuy on the Brazil/Uruguay border. By midnight the wind had eased to between 25-30 knots. Under half the staysail we were making just under 5 knots.