The ‘hotel room’ under the cockpit floor – home to Nick and Mohsin
About 200nm N of the equator, not long to go
Loik and Thierry at the chart table, looking at the forecast
Email from the boat to shore:
From: OmanTri <omantri@
To: update <updateoman@
Subject: a little video of last night
Date: 12/01/2009 06:47:16
short one today – it’s a bit bumpy here
last night was a windy 90 degree reach in up to 20 kts of wind.. not our
favorite angle
To: update <updateoman@
Subject: a little video of last night
Date: 12/01/2009 06:47:16
short one today – it’s a bit bumpy here
last night was a windy 90 degree reach in up to 20 kts of wind.. not our
favorite angle
Second email from the boat:
From: OmanTri <omantri@
To: update <updateoman@
Subject: Monday morning
Date: 12/01/2009 07:18:03
Hi Everyone,
we are reaching along at approx 90degrees to the direction of the wind –
which is fairly fast but also fairly bumpy – only 14kt of wind – but 1 reef,
and solent jib set to keep the boat speed sensible across these waves.
Quite and exciting night as we had a few squals come through reaching 20
kts of wind and giving us a lightening storm to look at…. eventually we
were slowing the boat down to less than 20kts by having 2 reefs, and the
small staysail set whcih is a good safe rig for us – it allows us to sail in
up to 30 kts of wind ( sometimes these squalls can give that much wind )
and keeps the boatspeed sensible. We really need to look after the boat in
these conditions as we are full of fuel and food for the round the world
distance we are quite heavy, it’s quite noticible, like a car full of people
compared to an empty one they handle differently. Out side of the squalls
there are beautiful blue skys and towering white clouds. Our first major
milestone is fast approaching ( sometime in the next 18-30 hours we hope)
THE EQUATOR, each mile stone is an important measure for us, and resets our
shorter term goals. The equator is going to be great to get across -much of
this trip will be spent in the southen hemisphere, so it’s great to arrive
there…… after that the big left turn heading east is next, followed by
getting south of Australia.
We are currently 1221nm from muscat, and around 280nm from the Equator –
we’ll come quite close to this point on our return leg, so it’s impossible
not to think about how great it will be crossing the equator again sometime
in March with around 1500 nm to Muscat…. excited – yes we will be – but
before that there’s a lot of sailing to do.
Life onboard continues pretty happily – eating, sleeping, sailing….
To: update <updateoman@
Subject: Monday morning
Date: 12/01/2009 07:18:03
Hi Everyone,
we are reaching along at approx 90degrees to the direction of the wind –
which is fairly fast but also fairly bumpy – only 14kt of wind – but 1 reef,
and solent jib set to keep the boat speed sensible across these waves.
Quite and exciting night as we had a few squals come through reaching 20
kts of wind and giving us a lightening storm to look at…. eventually we
were slowing the boat down to less than 20kts by having 2 reefs, and the
small staysail set whcih is a good safe rig for us – it allows us to sail in
up to 30 kts of wind ( sometimes these squalls can give that much wind )
and keeps the boatspeed sensible. We really need to look after the boat in
these conditions as we are full of fuel and food for the round the world
distance we are quite heavy, it’s quite noticible, like a car full of people
compared to an empty one they handle differently. Out side of the squalls
there are beautiful blue skys and towering white clouds. Our first major
milestone is fast approaching ( sometime in the next 18-30 hours we hope)
THE EQUATOR, each mile stone is an important measure for us, and resets our
shorter term goals. The equator is going to be great to get across -much of
this trip will be spent in the southen hemisphere, so it’s great to arrive
there…… after that the big left turn heading east is next, followed by
getting south of Australia.
We are currently 1221nm from muscat, and around 280nm from the Equator –
we’ll come quite close to this point on our return leg, so it’s impossible
not to think about how great it will be crossing the equator again sometime
in March with around 1500 nm to Muscat…. excited – yes we will be – but
before that there’s a lot of sailing to do.
Life onboard continues pretty happily – eating, sleeping, sailing….
Weather Router’s advice:
From: Commanders’ Weather <info@
To: Musandam <omantri@
Subject: Weather Mon 1-12
Date: 12/01/2009 13:32:36
To: Charles Darbyshire and crew of “Musandam”
From: Commanders Weather Corp
Event: sail around the world
Last Position: 3 17n/ 66 16e at 1200utc Mon, Jan 12, 2009
Prepared: 1330utc Mon, Jan 12, 2009
SummaryÖOne more day of decent sailing then Doldrums expected 2-9 S before
winds increase again further S.
1) Easterly trade winds look to diminish gradually S of the Equator.
2) By the time you reach 4s winds will be down to 10 kt or less and may get
to 5 kts or less by 12 utc
Wed.
a) Direction slowly backs to NE by 12 utc Tue and NNE by
12 utc Wed.
3) We need to be careful about getting much further E next few days as Model
guidance is showing
very little wind E of 67e midweek.
a) Not much better W of 67e but a few kts higher 3-6 kts.
4) So we have you heading with a lot of S this week.
5) When you get close to and south of 9-10s look for winds to back to NW-W
and begin to slowly
increase.
6) The good news today is that high pressure down around 30-31s seems to be
shifting far enough E
so you can go down the back side of it early next week with out too much
trouble.
a) Winds clock to N-NE and increase this weekend as you
begin to feel that high.
7) We just have to be careful about geting sucked into it ñ another reason
to be careful about getting
too far E too early.
8) Satellite pictures show a patch of squally showers to your SW which are
moving W away from you.
a) Not much activity nearby.
9) But when you get into the lighter air midweek there will be an increased
chance of scattered squally
showers with brief wind gusts to 30 kts possible ñ followed by lulls to
< 5 kts.
RoutingÖ Limit easting to avoid lightest air to the E of 67e midweek. Also
best to go thru the Doldrums
from N to S as much as possible. When we get into
increasing winds near and S of 10s we
can head more SE if necessary.
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is UTC
Mon, Jan 12
18: 080-100/13-17
WeatherÖFair to partly cloudy, scattered squally shower or 2 to the SW-W
Seas 3-6 ft ñ NE swell
Tue, Jan 13
00: 070-090/10-14
06: 060-080/12-16
12: 050-070/10-14 nr 2 20s/66 20e
18: 050-070/10-14
WeatherÖFair to partly cloudy, isolated squally shower possible
Seas 3-5 ft – NE swell
Wed, Jan 14 ñ winds stronger W and lighter to the E
00: 020-040/ 8-12
06: 020-040/ 5-10
12: 360-020/ 3-6 nr 6 20s/66 40e
18: 020-040/ 3-6
WeatherÖVariable cloudiness with scattered squally showers possible
Seas 3-5 ft – NE swell
Thurs, Jan 15
00: 340-360/ <5
06: 330-350/ 3-6 – Winds lighter E
12: 280-300/ 5-10 nr 9 s/67e Winds stronger to the S
18: 260-280/ 8-12
WeatherÖVariable cloudiness with scattered squally showers possible
Seas 2-4 ft
Fri, Jan 16
00: 260-280/ 6-10
06: 290-310/ 6-10
12: 290-310/ 5-9 nr 13s/67e
18: 360-020/ 10-14
WeatherÖPartly cloudy
SeasÖ 2-4 ft
\
Sat, Jan 17
00: 010-030/ 15-20
12: 040-060/ 17-22 nr 19s/ 69e
WeatherÖPartly cloudy
Seas increase to 3-6 ft
Best regards,
Tom Mattus
To: Musandam <omantri@
Subject: Weather Mon 1-12
Date: 12/01/2009 13:32:36
To: Charles Darbyshire and crew of “Musandam”
From: Commanders Weather Corp
Event: sail around the world
Last Position: 3 17n/ 66 16e at 1200utc Mon, Jan 12, 2009
Prepared: 1330utc Mon, Jan 12, 2009
SummaryÖOne more day of decent sailing then Doldrums expected 2-9 S before
winds increase again further S.
1) Easterly trade winds look to diminish gradually S of the Equator.
2) By the time you reach 4s winds will be down to 10 kt or less and may get
to 5 kts or less by 12 utc
Wed.
a) Direction slowly backs to NE by 12 utc Tue and NNE by
12 utc Wed.
3) We need to be careful about getting much further E next few days as Model
guidance is showing
very little wind E of 67e midweek.
a) Not much better W of 67e but a few kts higher 3-6 kts.
4) So we have you heading with a lot of S this week.
5) When you get close to and south of 9-10s look for winds to back to NW-W
and begin to slowly
increase.
6) The good news today is that high pressure down around 30-31s seems to be
shifting far enough E
so you can go down the back side of it early next week with out too much
trouble.
a) Winds clock to N-NE and increase this weekend as you
begin to feel that high.
7) We just have to be careful about geting sucked into it ñ another reason
to be careful about getting
too far E too early.
8) Satellite pictures show a patch of squally showers to your SW which are
moving W away from you.
a) Not much activity nearby.
9) But when you get into the lighter air midweek there will be an increased
chance of scattered squally
showers with brief wind gusts to 30 kts possible ñ followed by lulls to
< 5 kts.
RoutingÖ Limit easting to avoid lightest air to the E of 67e midweek. Also
best to go thru the Doldrums
from N to S as much as possible. When we get into
increasing winds near and S of 10s we
can head more SE if necessary.
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is UTC
Mon, Jan 12
18: 080-100/13-17
WeatherÖFair to partly cloudy, scattered squally shower or 2 to the SW-W
Seas 3-6 ft ñ NE swell
Tue, Jan 13
00: 070-090/10-14
06: 060-080/12-16
12: 050-070/10-14 nr 2 20s/66 20e
18: 050-070/10-14
WeatherÖFair to partly cloudy, isolated squally shower possible
Seas 3-5 ft – NE swell
Wed, Jan 14 ñ winds stronger W and lighter to the E
00: 020-040/ 8-12
06: 020-040/ 5-10
12: 360-020/ 3-6 nr 6 20s/66 40e
18: 020-040/ 3-6
WeatherÖVariable cloudiness with scattered squally showers possible
Seas 3-5 ft – NE swell
Thurs, Jan 15
00: 340-360/ <5
06: 330-350/ 3-6 – Winds lighter E
12: 280-300/ 5-10 nr 9 s/67e Winds stronger to the S
18: 260-280/ 8-12
WeatherÖVariable cloudiness with scattered squally showers possible
Seas 2-4 ft
Fri, Jan 16
00: 260-280/ 6-10
06: 290-310/ 6-10
12: 290-310/ 5-9 nr 13s/67e
18: 360-020/ 10-14
WeatherÖPartly cloudy
SeasÖ 2-4 ft
\
Sat, Jan 17
00: 010-030/ 15-20
12: 040-060/ 17-22 nr 19s/ 69e
WeatherÖPartly cloudy
Seas increase to 3-6 ft
Best regards,
Tom Mattus
A selection of pictures from today: