noon3710.10 17133.45 Fri 23/05/2008 04:45

This will probably morph into noon pos. (it did!) Now 0950. Berri is stomping along – hugely exhilarating, somewhat visceral, but a blast. Stbd tack, full main, right out till the head is touching the cap shroud, small furling jib, about half way between a #3 and #4 in old wardrobe terms, short steepish sea, 18 – 25 kts apparent over the stbd quarter, serial rain squalls and KevvoStainless steel self steering device, built by Kevin Fleming, used on Berrimilla and countless others in charge except when I was hand steering. Cracking 8’s and 9’s, occasional 10 off the waves, white surging water back past the cockpit – kevvoStainless steel self steering device, built by Kevin Fleming, used on Berrimilla and countless others a bit erratic because he is essentially reactive, so smoother to hand steer and probably at least 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 . faster. We’re tracking about 020M, the intention being to get as far north as possible while we can and worry about the east later. Due for more northerlies in a couple of days, some slack in between Just as I typed that, Mcq stuck her head around the rain screen and said it’s time for a 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., so we’ve just put one in and rolled in the heady for balance. Still cracking 7’s and 8,s but still bucking 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 . of current.
Now 1030. 3702.40 17128.02

Post noon 3721 17142 put in the second, third reefs and then dropped the main, all together. unrolled about a third of the heady in 32 kt and now breaking following sea. Still honking at 6.5.