Alex sent in the text for today's blog. They're nearing the halfway mark and getting ready for tonight's bad weather.
Setting the storm jib. It's not something I've done often, in fact only a few times while practising. There was a lull in 18 knot winds and it's only going to get windier as the severe weather approaches. So now was the time to do it.
We've spent the last 2 days running as fast as we can to the safest place we can get to before the front arrives. Motor sailing and assistance from Bob McDavitt with routing to pick up currents of up to 1 knot has put us away from the worst of it. I expect we will be on the NW tip of the front, as I said, missing the worst of it, but still serious.
From now, mid-morning Monday, conditions will continue to build until the front arrives, around midnight tonight with a sudden backing of wind to produce cold strong southerlies. 24 hours later it should have passed. This gives us time to prepare for the next front on Friday. Mind you, this is only my amateur weather forecasting/guessing.
Yesterday the running back stays were set in preparation for the storm jib. Today the genoa was furled and its sheets tied down and out of the way of the storm jib. The storm jib sheets were run back and the storm jib was hoisted.
Bending on the storm jib (yes, I know it's white and not orange!)
Because we were a bit ahead of schedule, we took the time to practice crash stopping and hove to in these conditions.
The crew are all relaxed and fully know what to expect. The boat is secured. All we do now is continue on our planned course and handle the situation as it arises.
Statistics: 1200 NZ time 9 April
DMG (48 Hr) 195nm
Dist (48 Hr) 289nm
Dist(24 Hr) 139nm
