I think I can see the loom of the Dragon’s eyes just over the NW horizon – murky. baleful jade, this one. When he emerges, I think he’ll swish his tail and change the wind from SE to SW and breathe brimstone and stink at us. A gybeGybe - A sailing term for turning the boat so that the stern passes through the wind. Potentially dangerous if not controlled because the wind can fill an uncontrolled mainsail from the wrong side and crash it across the boat, possibly causing damage to the rig and anyone getting in the way. and perhaps 35 kts.
For the very first time since Sydney, we seem to have a freebie – some current behind us. Perhaps half a knot-- Speed: definition of speed at sea. One knot is one nautical mile per hour. The nautical mile is about 1.15 % longer than the "statute" mile used on land. A knot is about half a metre per second.
-- A knot is also the result of winding a rope around itself or another rope to make a join or a loop .
, and not to be sneezed at. We’re clocking 6+ over the ground – noiceAlexism for quite a lot of things which taste good or are going especially well!
Doug M – fascinating – I’d forgotten that Napoleon might have drowned on a Pacific reef-- As a verb – to shorten sail, to use reefing lines or other techniques to make the working part of a sail smaller and so reduce its power as the wind rises. --- As a noun, (1) the part of the sail that has been shortened, folded or rolled. May be referred to as a slab or a slab reef which is a particular way of forming a reef.
-- As a noun (2) – a bank of coral, rocks or other obstruction usually close to a shoreline and potentially dangerous to sailors.. And yet it has its own skein – because he didn’t, he married Josephine, who encouraged Baudin (interesting man, interesting story – imagine having to run a ship as a revolutionary committee!) – and established her botanical garden with the specimens he brought back.
Carla – thanks – separate email follows, once the dragon has farted. I will transcribe the ISSInternational Space Station possibilities into the diary I use as our minimalist log (just a series of noon positions and dmgDistance Made Good; More here
). This bit of silly bloggery is really the loggery.
So far travelled, so far yet to go. About 12 more days at this speed, but that’s hugely unlikely.