Sunday 2nd September

At Sea

20 47.716 S
170 45.86 W (at Midnight)

We furled the jib away as the winds increased to 30 knots and the swell got back up around the 12ft mark. We made sure that the preventer was in place, neither of us wanted to move away from the safety of the cockpit to do anything; it’s amazing how long you can put off going to the toilet when you are under pressure! We were glad when dawn came around even if it was still cold and overcast, at least it was a bit lighter and we could see the waves coming at us. We were all cold and tired so I thought that it would be a good idea to bake some fresh muffins – it was difficult but worth the effort as it brightened us all up and helped us get through the morning. In the afternoon the wind dropped to a steady 20 knots on the beam and we ran with just the main up until 17.0hrs when Gerry thought we should try flying the jib out on the pole for the night; out it went on the same side as the main ad we flew along for a while with it there. Dinner followed by the start of night watches ensued; not long after I went to bed for the first watch I heard the commotion that accompanies the pole breaking free from the jib, it was to remain just attached to the mast for the rest of the night as none of us was game to retrieve it in the dark, the jib flew without the pole just fine. During this time the auto pilot did a great job of keeping us on track but it was leaking hydraulic fluid at an alarming rate, we had to top it up every hour, but at least it was better than having to hand steer all the time. Of course it rained during the night and was freezing cold;
we ended up getting our wet weather gear out and were bundled up in the cockpit like Eskimos!