Noon Report July 9, 2007 Position 36-26.2 N 08-51.6 W as of 12:00 London time (GMT +1 hrs) Monday, July 9 Course 101 deg M Speed 6.7 kts @ 2000 RPM Distance to go: 175 NM to go to Gibraltar (15% of the way) Distance made good past 24 hours: 156 NM (6.5 kt average) Distance made good since Horta: 970 NM (85% of the way) Total fuel consumed: (145.8 engine hours) 720 gals (49%), average 4.9 GPH (incl. genset), fuel remaining 760 gal. (51%) Conditions: Wind N 28 kts, seas N 5-7 swells with 2-3 foot chop, clear, visibility excellent Barometer: 1022.7 and steady Sea water temp: 69 deg F, air temp 72 deg F. ETA Gibraltar: PM July 10 Just as the 18 NAR yachts got their butts kicked in the approach to Gibraltar, so it goes with our three Med Bound yachts. Bob Jones gave us the following heads-up early yesterday afternoon: "The latest observations indicate the winds are increasing from you area eastward toward 08W. A ship report at 1200GMT (a little over 2hrs ago) reported north winds 35kts. The ship was located abeam Cape Sao Vicente near 37N 09.5W. You should plan on increasing winds, even if they don't materialize, it is better to be prepared during this relatively short period of increasing northerly winds." The big winds and accompanying seas announced their arrival at mid-afternoon and built through the night. The anemometers on our three yachts differ, perhaps because the N55 sensors are mounted considerably higher than ours. Aboard Bluewater we saw overnight north winds mostly in the mid- and upper-twenties, frequently gusting to the mid-thirties. Moana Kuewa and Salty Dawg reported winds about 5 knots higher across the board, topping out with a 42.7-knot gust reported by Salty Dawg. Moana Kuewa reported winds to 39 knots and aboard Bluewater nobody remembers anything above 36. Swells built from mid-afternoon, reaching an estimated 4 to 6 feet from the N within a few hours, peaking at 5 to 7 or maybe 6 to 8 feet, possibly higher, with 2-3 foot of chop on top. They seemed huge and knocked our boats around like they were toys! It wasn't truly dangerous, but, yes, it was uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. Reports from all three Med Bound yachts indicated that everyone was having a problem overnight staying-put in bed. Perhaps not all of us slid or rolled out of bed but most of us did at least once. Even with the stabilizers (and, in Bluewater's case, paravanes) working, rolls were typically 15 to 20 degrees, occasionally over 30 degrees. Wind and seas were on our port quarter; as a big roller would approach, the port quarter would rise sometimes ten feet or more to meet it, then the wave would push the boat into a starboard roll; thanks to the stabilizers and paravanes, the boat would roll back. Again and again, thousands of times. Nobody got much sleep. Trying to sleep after my 2100-2400 watch, I finally found that putting a non-skid placemat on the sheet under my butt helped keep me from slipping around in the covers. By morning, Judy and George had their own placemats. Two placemats per person might have been better-one each beneath butt and shoulders! Someone on the radio today pointed out that it's not a question of whether a boat will leak in such conditions but when and where. Esther and Dennis have taken a sailboat across the Pacific, and they have a saying. "The water always wins!" Aboard Bluewater we took a little water through our big portside vent, with the water finding its way into the master stateroom overhead--first time ever! In spite of securely taping our lazarette, we discovered a small nuisance leak through the tape into the lazarette and cannot figure out how the water's getting in. Chris reports lazarette leaks over her inverter control panel; she was investigating that late last night when Moana Kuewa took a gusher-about five gallons came cascading down the engine room air intake. I asked Chris to compare last night's seas to what she experienced taking Moana Kuewa from the San Blas Islands to Aruba into the teeth of the winter trades. The Aruba wind and seas were worse by close to half again, she said: on the nose, 2-3 second period, lots of white water and occasional blue water over the bow, and white water over the flying bridge. As usual, the boats can take much more than the people can! In conditions like that, we all learn quickly to do what must to be done and not much more. We navigate the yachts, stay in touch by radio, track the positions of other nearby vessels, check the engine rooms for problems and deal with the urgent ones, prepare and eat simple food, and get as much rest as the conditions allow. Just holding on takes a lot of energy, and even reading can be a chore. As one becomes more fatigued from the continual motion, a sense of lethargy begins to take hold. Everything seems more difficult. Easy tasks become harder. Jobs requiring real effort get postponed. Radio calls are short and to the point. Tempers fray. No one is frightened and there is no real danger, but, rather, a sense of "Let's just get this over with." When I arose this morning for my 0600-0900 watch, it was still blowing a hooley: steady north winds in the high twenties gusting over 30 and big seas with a 7 to 8-second period. That continued until close to mid-day, but now we're in the lee of the mainland, some 42 miles off our port beam and we're seeing both wind and seas come down slowly. As always when the wind and seas are on their way down, the conditions seem positively benign now (at 1400 local time) that the wind is blowing a mere 20 knots and the seas are down to 4-6 with some chop on top. Our AIS is lighted up like a Christmas tree with data from dozens of ships bound to and from the strait. Bad weather be damned, our three Med Bound yachts are on course for the Strait of Gibraltar and we're still hoping to be there in time to ride the 1131 high tide to Marina Bay Marina for a mid-afternoon arrival. Bob promises us more of what we don't want: easterly winds-on the nose-as we pass through the strait. As I told Judy, the Atlantic absolutely insists on extracting the last pound of flesh as we say goodbye to Mother Ocean and hello to the Sunny Mediterranean! --Milt, Judy, George and Schipperke Katy -- Milt Baker Bluewater Nordhavn 47 #32 http://www.bluewaternav.com A compilation of reports from Med Bound 2007 may be viewed at <http://www.nordhavn.com>. Click on Med Bound 2007.