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Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Celtic Sea, 61NM S of Roadstone Bay

In tidal areas there is almost always a schedule to follow, even when doing a multi-day passage. Stream charts showed that the current would be much stronger in St. George’s Channel than on the wider Celtic Sea, and so this meant an early morning start.

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We initially motored, and then sailed in the light winds towards the sea. During the first six hours of the trip, this was greatly aided by the two knot current. We passed an east cardinal buoy off Moneyweights Bank, marking a milestone: Lille Ø was now further south than it has ever been, as we crossed the latitude of Meierei in Potsdam.

Our timings worked out, and the tide turned just when we exited the channel. This means we still had current against us, but only half of what it would’ve been more to the north.

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The sea has been mostly empty, though we had to radio a cargo ship to clarify that they had actually seen us and were going to evade. Now we’re making dinner before turning into night watches. Appropriately, a few dolphins came to keep us company for a while.



From the logbook

Time Position Course Speed Log Weather Remarks
29.07. 14:50 Z 52°46'40"N 6°8'20"W 79° 0kt 5601.4NM wind 13.1kt 161° baro 1020 hPa Started watermaker, 186ppm
29.07. 18:34 Z 52°46'40"N 6°8'20"W 0kt 5601.4NM wind 9.3kt 182° baro 1018 hPa Stopped watermaker, 171ppm
30.07. 4:48 Z 52°46'39"N 6°8'20"W 337° 0kt 5601.4NM wind 7.3kt 322° baro 1019 hPa Started main engine
30.07. 4:57 Z 52°46'40"N 6°8'17"W 65° 2.9kt 5601.4NM wind 6.9kt 352° baro 1020 hPa Anchor up, motoring
30.07. 5:00 Z 52°46'43"N 6°8'4"W 71° 3.4kt 5601.6NM wind 8.7kt 343° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 5:14 Z 52°45'47"N 6°7'41"W 174° 2.7kt 5602.6NM wind 7.7kt 329° baro 1019 hPa Motor stopped, sailing with Main, Genoa 1
30.07. 5:20 Z 52°45'32"N 6°7'39"W 170° 3.3kt 5602.9NM wind 7.1kt 344° sea state 2/10 clouds 7/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1020 hPa Autopilot activated
30.07. 5:59 Z 52°43'22"N 6°7'36"W 180° 2.5kt 5605.1NM wind 4.5kt 354° baro 1020 hPa Motorsailing with the cone
30.07. 6:00 Z 52°43'20"N 6°7'37"W 183° 4kt 5605.1NM wind 4.2kt 39° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 6:25 Z 52°40'51"N 6°7'43"W 180° 3.4kt 5607.6NM wind 8.3kt 28° baro 1020 hPa Motor stopped, sailing with Main, Genoa 1
30.07. 7:00 Z 52°38'39"N 6°7'28"W 174° 5.1kt 5609.8NM wind 9.1kt 67° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 8:00 Z 52°33'10"N 6°7'52"W 184° 6.3kt 5615.3NM wind 12.7kt 41° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 8:18 Z 52°31'8"N 6°8'2"W 185° 6.9kt 5617.3NM wind 15.1kt 26° sea state 2/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1021 hPa Bergie on off watch, Suski on deck.
30.07. 8:33 Z 52°29'26"N 6°8'9"W 179° 6.5kt 5619NM wind 13kt 31° baro 1021 hPa Staysail prepared a secured on deck. Unlikely that we will need it on this passage, but better safe than sorry.
30.07. 9:00 Z 52°26'41"N 6°8'38"W 187° 5.7kt 5621.8NM wind 12.3kt 48° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 9:11 Z 52°25'41"N 6°8'49"W 187° 4.6kt 5622.8NM wind 9.5kt 41° sea state 2/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1021 hPa Passing the east marker and thusly being more south than ever on Lille Ø!
30.07. 10:00 Z 52°21'1"N 6°9'29"W 184° 5.6kt 5627.5NM wind 12kt 50° baro 1022 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 10:07 Z 52°20'25"N 6°9'38"W 192° 5.6kt 5628.1NM wind 12.7kt 51° baro 1022 hPa Changed to wing on wing
30.07. 10:15 Z 52°19'44"N 6°9'59"W 196° 5.4kt 5628.8NM wind 12kt 56° baro 1022 hPa Fishing with makrill lures, biggest weight, yoyo and 3.8 kn through water, 5.4 sog
30.07. 10:35 Z 52°18'2"N 6°10'54"W 196° 5.2kt 5630.6NM wind 12kt 56° baro 1022 hPa Added second heaviest weight at 4.1stw and 5.8 sog
30.07. 11:00 Z 52°15'42"N 6°12'15"W 203° 6.7kt 5633.1NM wind 15.6kt 42° baro 1022 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 11:10 Z 52°14'46"N 6°12'46"W 191° 6.5kt 5634.1NM wind 16kt 47° baro 1022 hPa 52 25,61n 004.44w 2 nm radius, firing live ammunition Aberport firing range.
30.07. 12:00 Z 52°10'30"N 6°15'32"W 190° 4.7kt 5638.7NM wind 12.3kt 59° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 12:10 Z 52°9'40"N 6°16'0"W 202° 5kt 5639.6NM wind 13.2kt 50° baro 1021 hPa First Falmouth CG on radio
30.07. 12:17 Z 52°9'7"N 6°16'17"W 198° 4kt 5640.1NM wind 13.5kt 62° sea state 3/10 clouds 6/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1021 hPa Tide just turned.
30.07. 12:44 Z 52°7'17"N 6°17'36"W 215° 3.8kt 5642.1NM wind 10.3kt 41° baro 1021 hPa Started watermaker
30.07. 13:00 Z 52°6'11"N 6°17'34"W 173° 4.9kt 5643.3NM wind 14.8kt 43° sea state 3/10 clouds 6/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1021 hPa Bergie on watch, Suski to bed
30.07. 13:03 Z 52°5'57"N 6°17'31"W 163° 4.2kt 5643.5NM wind 13.1kt 44° baro 1021 hPa Autopilot deactivated, windvane steering
30.07. 13:21 Z 52°4'46"N 6°17'19"W 170° 4kt 5644.7NM wind 9.5kt 64° baro 1021 hPa So far the catch of the day has been a chunk of seaweed
30.07. 14:00 Z 52°2'17"N 6°16'27"W 160° 3.5kt 5647.3NM wind 9.7kt 28° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 14:26 Z 52°0'53"N 6°15'47"W 154° 3.4kt 5648.7NM wind 10.8kt 21° baro 1021 hPa Catch and release: more seaweed
30.07. 14:40 Z 52°0'6"N 6°15'27"W 157° 3.2kt 5649.5NM wind 10.5kt 25° baro 1020 hPa Stopped watermaker, 176ppm
30.07. 14:59 Z 51°59'9"N 6°15'16"W 176° 2.7kt 5650.5NM wind 9.7kt 40° baro 1021 hPa Out of Irish waters. Current now around 1kt against
30.07. 15:00 Z 51°59'6"N 6°15'16"W 168° 3.3kt 5650.6NM wind 9.3kt 49° baro 1021 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 16:00 Z 51°55'51"N 6°14'16"W 190° 3.7kt 5653.9NM wind 12.5kt 47° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 16:50 Z 51°53'9"N 6°13'29"W 161° 3.4kt 5656.7NM wind 10.3kt 29° baro 1020 hPa Contacted Athena Seaways (head-on collision course) on VHF, they said they see us on radar and will avoid
30.07. 17:00 Z 51°52'38"N 6°13'24"W 164° 3.1kt 5657.2NM wind 11.3kt 20° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 18:00 Z 51°49'19"N 6°12'59"W 181° 3.6kt 5660.6NM wind 13kt 37° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 18:02 Z 51°49'12"N 6°12'57"W 175° 4kt 5660.7NM wind 11.9kt 45° baro 1020 hPa Dolphins!
30.07. 18:19 Z 51°48'3"N 6°12'54"W 169° 4.5kt 5661.8NM wind 14.3kt 41° sea state 3/10 clouds 4/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1020 hPa Tide is turning to favourable
30.07. 19:00 Z 51°44'59"N 6°12'35"W 172° 5.2kt 5664.9NM wind 15.5kt 15° baro 1020 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 20:00 Z 51°40'10"N 6°11'4"W 184° 5.4kt 5669.9NM wind 11.8kt 23° baro 1019 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 20:01 Z 51°40'5"N 6°11'5"W 205° 5kt 5670NM wind 13.3kt 39° sea state 3/10 clouds 4/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1019 hPa It is time to tik tok wing on wing.
30.07. 21:00 Z 51°34'21"N 6°11'34"W 177° 6.6kt 5675.7NM wind 17.7kt 13° baro 1019 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 21:29 Z 51°31'30"N 6°11'37"W 178° 5.9kt 5678.6NM wind 15.6kt 25° sea state 3/10 clouds 2/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1019 hPa Night time dolphins! You can hear them splash around and see the aftermath ot the splashes.
30.07. 22:00 Z 51°28'22"N 6°11'7"W 171° 5.5kt 5681.8NM wind 15.6kt 24° baro 1019 hPa Hourly position log
30.07. 23:00 Z 51°22'46"N 6°10'45"W 171° 5.4kt 5687.4NM wind 16.9kt 41° baro 1019 hPa Hourly position log