Thursday 19 July 2012

The first 3 days

Apologies for the delay in posting these blogs, but we are unable to get internet access on the Isle of Man.

Skipper Ian.

Monday 16th


We set off from Glasson early to a backdrop of bleak iron clouds. The rain didn’t help; soon we were soaked and cold. The seas were rough and unforgiving. Matt (the first mate) was the first victim and many a stomach soon followed. There was also very little wind which led to tedious sailing. The monotony and the long 60-mile journey to Douglas made a soporific combination so we slept a lot, even in the rain.

However all was not doom and gloom. Dinner comprised of a delicious pasta bolognaise, and a simple but tasty Angel Delight, which pushed Lewis’ culinary skills to the limit. At this point we had moored at the pontoon in Douglas and, after a bathroom trip into the town (costing 20p each!), we settled in for the night.

Tuesday 17th

Having awoken at a more savoury hour, we forayed into Douglas again in search of gas, oranges and chocolate. After restocking the pantry, we set sail for a shorter trip north to Ramsey. Unfortunately we had to motor for the first hour as the wind had died down. But afterwards the breeze picked up and we could get the sails out, with a top wind speed of 32 knots.

As we approached Ramsey the dinner team went down to prepare tonight’s meal: Lapskaus and Apple Strudel. Lapskaus is a Norwegian stew made from meat, onions and carrots. It was fantastic! We may have miscalculated the amount need though. Even after Kris had eaten 5 helpings we still had a LOT leftover and half an apple strudel went in the fridge.

We anchored at Ramsey for the night, and a very full crew went to bed.

Wednesday 18th

We didn’t have a destination in mind for today. Instead we concentrated on sailing and doing some more technical work. The wind was much better, and we also had the tide behind us so we had some excellent sailing. We got up to 8 knots boat speed which was pushed up to over 10 knots speed over ground by the tide! However we quickly realised the tide that was helping us sail north wouldn’t be helpful when we turned around to sail into the tide. True enough, our speed over ground was reduced dramatically, but the sailing was still a lot of fun. We managed to get in several tacks and by the end we were fairly confident to tack and trim the sails by ourselves.

At this point the weather forecast turned unusual and an unexpected north-easterly wind was forecast, so we had to moor at Douglas again to avoid a rough night. As we approached Douglas the swell of the sea also became unpredictable and it made steering the boat quite challenging.

Eventually we docked at the harbour and went below for dinner. Tonight was cottage pie and bread and butter pudding which was great. ‘Best so far’, said Matt (first mate). Stuffed once again, we hit the sack.

1 comment:

  1. Great work boys! Keep exploring the sea and your culinary skills.

    Mrs SK

    ReplyDelete