Day 4 Sailing to Sri Lanka – 90 degrees east, three-quarters of our way around the world

2

Friday 26 February 2016

Keeping going!

Keeping going!

Writing a blog in a sea tugging Adina this way and that makes for fun as you sway backwards and forwards with the laptop and the coffee that took twenty minutes to make tastes that much better.

The weather forecast has been spot on; for most of the day the wind blew 17 to 20 knots, sometimes going up to 25 knots. Come nightfall winds were predicted to be around 20 knots but mainly sat in the 22 to 25 knot range peaking at 28 knots. At anything less than 21 knots the sea state is manageable, Adina sails quite nicely. Once it gets above 22 knots the sea gets rough and Adina is dragged around somewhat. We reef the sails trying to ensure the wind off the top of the waves don’t pull us up too violently. So far we’re really happy with our new North Sails sails. Susie put it aptly by saying somehow we just feel more balanced than before. The sails are a pleasure to handle going in and out easily. And of course they do look the part!

At some stage in the day when the sea is not too boisterous we walk around, checking everything, looking for any lines that have snagged or are chafing. As the day wore on the swells got bigger, they are now easily 2.5m and on top of them the wind creates more waves that we call wind waves. It’s a frothed up sea with swell after swell coming in. We know we’re truly in ocean territory now.

Down below sleeping became harder, sudden big waves wake you as your body rolls and you hear the sea crashing into the hull. We have always slept in our berth at the back when on passage but during the night we decided to try new sleeping positions. In the saloon we have a single bunk with a lee cloth that holds you in. Despite experiencing less roll here than in the back cabin with the sea motion pushing us into the lee cloth we were a little nervous it would hold. It held our friend Neil Meyrick for twenty odd days in the Atlantic Ocean, it should still hold fine, it’s mind over matter to sleep there. Then we tried the forward cabin packed with our provisions. It proved to be the most comfortable part of the boat with little roll and no need for a lee cloth on this tack, we can sleep better. It’s only taken us three whole years to work out the front cabin is the most comfortable place to sleep in big following seas!

On the positive side Adina is rattling on and we crammed in 168 nautical miles averaging 7 knots for the day. That’s good going for us weighing in at 20 tonnes. Our only company for the day was the Indian Coastguard calling up two ships, other than that nothing.

Knowing the passage could be a little boisterous, we pre-cooked eight meals. They go in the pressure cooker served with rice or pasta. Last night it was a Malaysian recipe we learnt when Tom’s father visited us in Kuala Lumpur. Tasty but needed a bit more tamarind! Must try harder.

In the early hours of the morning we passed 90 degrees east. That means we have now sailed three-quarters of the way around the world. It’s a good feeling – if the last quarter can deliver what the first three quarters did, we’re very much looking forward to it.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2 responses to “Day 4 Sailing to Sri Lanka – 90 degrees east, three-quarters of our way around the world

  1. Gareth says:

    I could have told you the forepeak was the comfiest berth at sea. :o)

  2. Sue from Haku II says:

    Wow! Three quarters round and heading for Galle with following breeze and modest sea. Best wishes for a continuing dream passage and happy, tamarind days. 🙂 Sue