Although the days are very pleasant in these latitudes, with an "English sun" which warms one side of you but leaves the other side cold, the nights alternate between:-
Northerly winds - cold
Southerly winds - very cold
at least from the helmsman's point of view.
Sitting in the open cockpit for three hours during the night is quite an experience. For the first hour or so the body maintains its initial warmth - provided one is warm to start with and well wrapped up.
Sitting in the open cockpit for three hours during the night is quite an experience. For the first hour or so the body maintains its initial warmth -- provided one is warm to start with and well wrapped up. The second hour is a cooler process and eventually a kind of premature "rigor mortis" sets in during the third hour, after which much frictioning with a towel and a tot of whisky or rum is more than welcome, on turning in.
The skipper has a wonderful kapok-lined jacket, bought at Gieves, London which he kindly lends to Juan and me at nights. It is very cosy although we look like men from Mars, when wearing it.
Regarding "Penelope's" own clothes, her wardrobe is the following:
"PENELOPE'S" Alternative Sail Plans
1. Ordinary working rig: jib, staysail, mainsail and mizzen.
2. Light weather rig: Genoa jipb substituting working jib and mizzen staysail added.
3. Reduced canvas: staysail and main only. Cutter rig.
4. Alternative method of reducing canvas: jib and mainsail only. Cutter rig.
5. Still another alternative: jib and mizzen only.
6. Squaresail, for steady (and not so steady) following winds. Wind must be dead aft.
7. Storm sails: bikini jib, main trisails and reduced mizzen (with two sets of reef points)
8. "The twins" (orelhas de burro) for following winds. These are set on booms in the bows, and clipped to forestay. The sheets are led aft, through quarter blocks and lashed to the tiller (substituting the wheel). Self steering.
Rigs 1,2,3,4, and 5 have been used on the Rio/Cape Town run so far.
Main and mizzen only can also be used, winged out, with following. winds.
Altogether there are 20 sails on board "Penelope", including a brand new set of working sails which have not yet even been stretched. The set we are using is fairly old and it has been the skipper's hope that they will last until Cape Town, even though running repairs are carried out almost daily by Juan. These sails have not been changed during the shole voyage, so far from:-
Paris - sailed 16th June 1955
Le Havre
Falmough (10 days for stores)
Brest (1 month for engine repairs)
Ponta Delgada (6 weeks in the Azores Islands for filming whalefishing)
St. Vincent (Cape Verde Islands)
Brava Islands ( " " " )
St. Pauls Rocks
Fernando Noronha Island (3 days)
Recife (10 days)
Salvador (4 days)
Abrolhos Rocks (For Christmas dinner)
Rio de Janeiro (1 month)
Since a week out from Rio we have been flying the Rio Yacht Club flag at the main mast head, which has been a handsome and useful wind indicator.
The situation between Juan and the skipper has improved somewhat I am glad to say.
Juan has been teaching me some additions to my limited Spanish vocabulary:
Boom - bota vara
Halliard - Driza
Gaff - Pico
Shrouds - Obenque
Topping lift - Biento
Cleat - Corna-muça
Jib - Foque
Mainsail - Vela major
Patent log - carreteira
Cockpit - Chupeta
Mizzen - Mezena
etc.
His favourite expressive oaths are "Criminales de Guerra" and "caga mi suegra".
It took us some time to understand his frequent reference to "HIN-HAIR-NOOTS" - our predilection on the night watches (ginger nuts). He had read the green label on the package!!
At 14.30h today we caught our third tunny, about 50 lbs. We were hoping for something smaller, to vary our fish diet with another kind of fish.
During the afternoon the wind freshened at the sea got up so at night-fall we shortened canvas. Two reefs were taken on the main at 22.00h.
