Banque Populaire V

Banque Populaire V

Monday 24 January 2011

Day 2!


Out here we have been making astonishing progress, it’s taken just over 2 days to the Canaries, and its already getting hot. Boots are put away and thermals being stored ready to use again in the South.

The next few days won’t be as fast as we are entering a parallel universe with NW winds where the NE tradewinds should be.. The first night we had some big waves off Finisterre. Last night was great with 25-30 knots of wind and flatter seas and tonight the seas are going to be flatter again, though the winds will start to drop a little soon.

Driving this boat is a real privilege, like getting the keys to an F1 car, you have to be hyper alert to get the best speed within what is safe for the sea state. Today I touched 45 knots but that was not what I wanted to do, its all about the average speed round the track, not the top speed on the straight,

We are all settling into the watch system 4 hours on standby, 4 hours on watch, 4 hours off watch. I will break that down later. I have a great watch team of Yvon Ravussin, Pierre Yves Moreau and Thierry Chabigny et moi.

Not much wildlife – I have seen a flying fish, but not a single bird and Fred’s watch saw some dolphins, but not a great tally yet.

Excuse the spelling, I guess its still a little bumpy here at 35 knots, but so much better than before; when it was like a underground train going over a motocross course.

Hope all is good there
Brian
 

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the updates and don't stop. It's flipping cold here in the Central US and your reports help make the winter go bye just a little faster.

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