London Departure
September 4, 2024, 14:20 UTC | Cruising out of Thames River
Everyone seemed to have a good time exploring London yesterday. We all gathered on the boat for a pre-dinner drink and then headed off to The Dickens Inn at St. Katharine Docks for our supper. We enjoyed the night and ended with a weather and route briefing from Captain Erik. Our next port of call will be Guernsey Island!
This morning we scrubbed the deck, did passage planning, refueled diesel, and then said goodbye to London. The mood onboard is good and watch systems are back on track as we motor along. The boat was kept in good shape and our watches worked great coming here. I think the sailors onboard are happy to keep up the good work when we sail into the English Channel.
Right now we are enjoying cinnamon buns bought from a Swedish bakery in London. We will most probably keep on sailing with the Yankee head-sail when we find some wind offshore. The wind will be on our beam at about 15 knots as we sail southwest. In the English Channel, the forecast promises following winds. We expect to make landfall in Guernsey in about two days from now.
Hold Fast!
- David the apprentice
59ºNorthApprentice
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Cast off the lines
When we awoke it was overcast but the Brazilian sun quickly burned the clouds away and we were left with blue skies. We reviewed some safety procedures, cleaned the boat and had an exciting Person Overboard (POB) recovery. Once we were underway spirits soared as we pointed the bow toward the Canary Islands. As I write this we are heading upwind and dealing with all that involves, and working into our first watches. It is hot, a bit bumpy but we are sailing!!
People Get Ready!
The last three days have been an intense (and intensely hot) period of discovery, practice, and planning. Because Adrienne II is not a 59N boat, there's been some extra setup and coordination needed including rigging all the sails that were out for repairs before we arrived. Its been a blast working alongside the 59N team getting to help them work things out on a less familiar boat in real time. Tomorrow morning we'll run through our Person Over Board training as the final pre-departure task, cast off and head out. Can't know all that it will be, but its going to be a great adventure out in the vast world with some pretty fantastic people.
Among the Channel Islands
In the wind shadow of SoCal we had a restful night with calm conditions ghosting through smooth seas. We’re getting ourselves in position for spicy weather tonight once we round Cape Conception, the seas build and the breeze freshens. It will be an upwind sail into an acceleration zone along a formable coast with few bailout points, Morro Bay being one. The crew is really gelling with lots of smiles and laughter on deck. Monterey is in our sights!