La Vagabonde's crossing

[Patg]

A message from Elayna on instagram. Looks like morale is still good.

elayna.carausu
Verified
Day 6. last night we had a huge lightening storm and we turned off all electrics and put our sat phones in the oven. Lol. we had a gust to 40 - 50 knots (but the crew couldn’t tell exactly... because we turned all electrics off and we’re hand steering). it got seriously windy though. it’s a bit like a washing machine out here to tell you the truth but we’re hooning and La Vagabonde is loving it. we’re all really comfortable and feeling great. everything’s salty and wet and we can’t get our clothes dry.. the bananas have ripened so we are going bananas on the bananas and also the bread. it’s banana, peanut butter and cinnamon sandwiches for breakfast today! #sailinglavagabonde
7h

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by Budawang

Nikki Henderson has just updated FB saying they had 25 to 30 knots overnight gusting 40 before a sudden calm and heavy rain.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...14803459966090

That's regular weather no? I had similar between Maderia and Islas Desertas then out heading further south, but with the waves on the beam. In such situations I just ran my stay sail. Speed was 5-6knts. It might be a bit rolley and it's not my idea of run but it's not really a weather event surely not in a cat their size.

Also has someone told them that their oven with the big glass door is not a faraday cage. Now if they had a microwave, they could put a few items in there and just continue to run the rest of their equipment as normal. If they get hit or lightning lands close it's not going to make much of a difference if the devices were on or off.

[fivecapes]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

...If they get hit or lightning lands close it's not going to make much of a difference if the devices were on or off.

I believe anything connected to N2K is likely gone.

However, some devices with better components, might have better chance of survival on the periphery especially if helped by not being powered up eg capacitors.

Or you might be right and it's just a false sense of security.

[Terje Vigen]

Tropical storm SEBASTIEN is still not forecasted to develop into a hurricane. Max forecasted winds are now 55 knots.
But the forecasters in Miami points to "significant differences" in the various models as to how the system will move in the coming days:

The track guidance is in agreement on this overall scenario but there are some significant differences in how quickly Sebastien accelerates northeastward. The GFS, HWRF, and HMON show the storm recurving quickly ahead of the trough while the ECMWF is quite a bit slower. The NHC track is a little slower than the previous forecast, but remains close to the various consensus aids and the latest UKMET ensemble mean.

[Terje Vigen]

Nikki Henderson's latest update on Facebook.
They are preparing for some bad weather ahead.
She's been "popping up to the pointy stick" to check that everything is OK

Day 7

It’s 5pm and just finished our game of Yatzy that we started the other night. Suspiciously Greta and Svante won - I’d say they have had some practice!

We have had a good day - a long day too. (Riley and I have found our most productive time of day seems to be between 2 and 6am.) Activity was mainly themed around fixing the few niggly bits onboard that have needed some attention - furling line, wind instruments, steering gear - and preparing for the weather ahead over the next few days the phrase ‘batten down the hatches’ so to speak.

Riley just concluded the jobs list - isn't it just the BEST feeling to cross off the to-do list?! - popped up to the top of the pointy stick (mast) to double check the rigging is OK. This is good practice after a big blow, and before one - so two birds with one stone. I’m happy to report we were successful on all counts, and everything is in good working order. This boat is one steadfast beauty!

Now for our news hour of the day where we read each other the headlines from home and stay in touch with all of you.

[Budawang]

Originally Posted by Terje Vigen

Nikki Henderson's latest update on Facebook.
They are preparing for some bad weather ahead.
She's been "popping up to the pointy stick" to check that everything is OK

Going up the mast at sea takes some doing. Not sure I'd have the stomach to do it in all but an emergency situation. Seriously, how many people would do this between blows as a matter of course?

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Budawang

Going up the mast at sea takes some doing. Not sure I'd have the stomach to do it in all but an emergency situation. Seriously, how many people would do this between blows as a matter of course?

i think you need to look at the photo and see if anything jumps out at you

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

That's regular weather no? I had similar between Maderia and Islas Desertas then out heading further south, but with the waves on the beam. In such situations I just ran my stay sail. Speed was 5-6knts. It might be a bit rolley and it's not my idea of run but it's not really a weather event surely not in a cat their size.

Also has someone told them that their oven with the big glass door is not a faraday cage. Now if they had a microwave, they could put a few items in there and just continue to run the rest of their equipment as normal. If they get hit or lightning lands close it's not going to make much of a difference if the devices were on or off.

^^ all of this. +1

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Budawang

Going up the mast at sea takes some doing. Not sure I'd have the stomach to do it in all but an emergency situation. Seriously, how many people would do this between blows as a matter of course?

In that case you should be in awe of Ellen Macarthur who did it in the Southern Ocean not once but I believe nine times while racing solo around the world.
This woman is awesome, and that is not doing her justice.. Respect.

https://youtu.be/ooIxHVXgLbc

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

In that case you should be in awe of Ellen Macarthur who did it in the Southern Ocean not once but I believe nine times while racing solo around the world.
This woman is awesome, and that is not doing her justice.. Respect.

https://youtu.be/ooIxHVXgLbc

A serious sailor indeed, not a YouTube T&A show that just happens to be staged on a sailboat.

[fivecapes]

Originally Posted by boatman61

In that case you should be in awe of Ellen Macarthur who did it in the Southern Ocean not once but I believe nine times while racing solo around the world.
This woman is awesome, and that is not doing her justice.. Respect.

Dame Ellen MacArthur...much respect indeed.

[Patg]

Originally Posted by Budawang

Going up the mast at sea takes some doing. Not sure I'd have the stomach to do it in all but an emergency situation. Seriously, how many people would do this between blows as a matter of course?

Yes, even if the sea state and wind are relatively moderate it's really tough. Did it once on an atlantic crossing to fix a broken halyard and it was a exhausting job.
The higher you climb the more movement you get. Maybe it's a bit less on a catamaran, but the mast height on an Outremer 45 is 20m (66ft)....

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by fivecapes

Dame Ellen MacArthur...much respect indeed.

She is someone who has really earned her Knighthood (ok, Damehood).

France also recognised her achievements, appointing her a Knight (Chevalier) of the French Legion of Honour.

[Breaking Waves]

Ellen was truly awesome . . . . so was Isabelle . . . people who stretched and challenged themselves and grew to their full potential.

Also great for this crew to have checked their mast - it's not extraordinary for 'pro' level sailors, its just 'good seamanship', but it is challenging and stretching and growing for this crew, as this voyage is.

Back to routing . . .

On the model consistency . . . the bottom line atm is the differences will not significantly affect routing decisions. They are quite consistent enough for the next couple days, and then when they diverge they are far enough in front of the route to (hopefully) not affect the routing much.

picture . . . reasonable left/right consistency for first two rows (now and tomorrow) with significant divergence 3rd row (22nd mid-night)



We will see . . . . it is a chaos system

[Breaking Waves]

as expected, they have been driving due east at a bit less than 5 kts.

Looking at routing details just now. It is a bit more involved than the past few days because it is time to start looking beyond this front and getting positioned for the next challenge.