All is good at the moment. Ben, the skipper wanted to
pass Cape Hatteras before a low pressure system started to affect us in an
adverse way, I'm not sure how, but we have achieved that. We've been screaming along for the past 24 hours and
eating into the distance between us and the boats ahead. We're now only 14
miles behind DLL and closing. 48 hours ago, they were 50 miles ahead. We are
all pretty happy with the progress.
Yesterday afternoon I had half an hour on the helm in
each watch. It was really hard work and half an hour was enough. In these
conditions of upwind with between 20 and 30 knots of wind, it is all I can do
to control the wheel. I decided to have short spells so I can build up the
muscle strength for it. Nothing you do in the gym can replicate it, so it's
just a case of doing it on the job.
I also had to go up to the bow in the night to check the
sail trim and it struck me that 18 months ago, I would have been absolutely
terrified to do that in these conditions. Now, I may be on my hands and knees
to get there, but I am relaxed and confident I'll be fine.
Below deck moving about is difficult so everything seems
a great effort.
If we continue at this rate we'll be in to New Jersey
tomorrow evening. Meantime we'll continue to chase down the boats ahead.
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