Der Weg zu den Azoren bleibt für Anna-Maria und Hannah etwas beschwerlich, wenn man rauschende Gennakertrips als Maßstab nimmt. Bald soll es Bilder von Bord geben. Hannahs Bericht:Day 4 - otherwise entitled "Would you like a squall with your tea madam?"
After a desperately frustrating day yesterday when the maximum wind speed reached 5 knots about once but generally lingered in the 0-2 range a slight hint of cabin fever was in the air. Despite 2 hoists of the gennaker to try and harness the few zephyrs that passed by, which was of course highly productive in training terms, boat speed was at an all time low. Although the nights require wet weather gear and fleeces the days are still roasting hot, so we sat baking in the sun getting hot and flustered. 'Will we have enough water to get to the Azores?' 'Why won't this bloody wind remain constant for even just 2 minutes?'...you get the score. So once the wind finallly filled in and we got moving again and a bit of sleep was had I decided to do the decent thing and wake Anna from her cockpit slumber with a nice cup of tea at sunrise. I had been so engrossed in taking pictures of a rather crazy looking sky - colourful rainbow set against angry, agresisve grey clouds I hadn't really realised what was creeping up on us on the port side. As the light took on the yellow tinge that suggests you might want some ballast and prepare for a reef, I realised that this rather splendid cup of tea in bed plan was going to have to be swiftly aborted and instead Anna was woken up with 'you might want to haul a**e down below and get that pump running, this one could be big!'. A poor slightly confused having just woken up Anna was dispatched down below as the heavens opened. It quickly became clear that this cloud was not just big but vast. Soon full main and solent became 2 reefs and trinquette and 40 Degrees was smiling again. I write as if it all went completely without hassle which if course it didn't. Class 40's don't like to be left unattended trying to steer close to the wind to let their co skippers wrestle a big heavy solent down. So as we battled the flailing beast up the front, 40 Degrees dug her rudders in and spun us into the wind where we stopped and stayed until we expressed our sincere apologies and promised never to leave her alone again and finally she agreed to bear away.
So after all that work and please bear in mind this is 7am on a Saturady morning, 2 soaked but happy girls sat down in the cockpit eating Jelly Babies and finally getting that cup of tea. Now that the inside of the boat sounds a little as if I am sitting inside a bongo drum, it suggests that all hints of nasty clouds have cleared and we will be at full sail again in the not too distant future.
POS 1420 UTC: 23 22N 05827.7W
Foto: Anna & Hannah
