No sleep 'till Rodney...

DAY 2 - 26th November 2007

Position: 26º 56' N 17º 49' W
Bearing: 260º
Distance to go: 2542 Nm

We feel like we're really on our way and making good progress. We had the 12.00 to 18.00 watch and luckily for us not too much to do. There was a noticeable difference in the sea state as it got a lot smoother at times making the helm easier. It takes practise to second guess the swells coming up behind you and steer gently down, great fun.

Jeremy was perking up and hopefully on the mend, at least able to join in the watch with us. It's always difficult to know what's best when someone is seasick, the most frustrating thing is that he's missing out on some good sailing. Dave, our watch leader, is the most experienced sailor and a definite racer, we have to keep correcting him and reminding him the ARC is a rally not a race...he is definitely our expert at sail setting.

Tiredness was starting to kick in and when we swapped watches I couldn't get to my bunk quick enough, incredible how a space 6ft by 2ft can be so cosy. It's even more incredible how quickly four hours can fly by and I can't really remember getting up again at 02.00 for our next watch. As the moon appears from behind a cloud it's just like turning a light on, although we got concerned with some ominous looking clouds from our stern and starboard quarter. Like coiled springs we were ready for 2 reefs to go straight in and of course it all came to nothing. We haven't experienced any squalls yet and hopefully the first one will come during the day so we can learn how to spot them.

Julian got news that Pindar, an open 60 has had to turn back with damage to either the boom or the vang. Once they fix it back at Las Palmas they'll head out again. So it could be that we beat one of the racing division boats and the only time I will ever be ahead of an Open 60.

The other watch are having all the luck when it comes to marine wildlife having seen flying fish, a turtle and some sparkling plankton. It could be that they are just far more awake.

Just 2 days in and the crew are all settling into boat rhythm but my requests for longer sleeps are falling on very deaf ears, perhaps we could all have a joker to play once during the trip.


You can track the progress of Northern Child, which is updated every hour, on their web site at: northernchild.com