3116.33 17021.17 About 0630 AEST In praise of flatulent dragons…

Noon pos 3143.07 17028.41 DTD1679 dmgDistance Made Good; More here 133

This one may develop as the day goes by… the dragon’s tail is a quivering – 25 kts, still from the SE, sea building, 3 reefs and the small heady. Berri, and KevvoStainless steel self steering device, built by Kevin Fleming, used on Berrimilla and countless others handling it fine. The dragon will fart sometime – there will be a front and about a 90 deg wind change to the SW and up to 35 kts. We’ll assess the stench, probably drop the main till it all dissipates a bit and keep on hooningAs far as I can gather, if Berri were a horse, she’d have the bit between her teeth to be hooning. Still got a bit of current under us and cracking 7’s. Small wooohoooa primitive, exultant, gibbon-like call given out by an old geezerDictionaries define a geezer as an old person, generally an eccentric old man. Its origin likely in the word masquerader (colloquially, guiser) from Middle English gysar. Go figure, as the Americans say.; many variations as listed, in order of emphasis: Woohoo Woooohooo WOOOHOOO WOOOHOOO! WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOa primitive, exultant, gibbon-like call given out by an old geezerDictionaries define a geezer as an old person, generally an eccentric old man. Its origin likely in the word masquerader (colloquially, guiser) from Middle English gysar. Go figure, as the Americans say.; many variations as listed, in order of emphasis: Woohoo Woooohooo WOOOHOOO WOOOHOOO! WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!! – exhilarating after all that headbanging but wont get us back much of the distance lost. And we still have to keep it all together for at least another 10 – 15 days.
Done some precautionary things around the boat – rigged a backstay tackle in case the ram goes – unlikely, but it’s been doing odd things. Filled the tank with diesel, sponged the bilge, did stocktake on the Medicinal Compound remaining. Would not do to arrive in a foreign port without my three Consultant Physicians in attendance. There will be enough if we keep hooningAs far as I can gather, if Berri were a horse, she’d have the bit between her teeth to be hooning and I maintain my self discipline. Made lots of water, but we have a full tank of Sydney water as well (with a bit of squeezed ocean added occasionally to keep it full).

More later.
An hour or so – smells a bit farty. Pulled in some heady, had a bit of a feel and decided to 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. – from about 040 to – as it turned out, about 355. Very careful 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., put the checkstay back on, eased it all, sorted the heady. 28 kts, seas still building and the wind now definitely SW. Have just taken photos of farty looking blast roiling up astern – white, fluffy, tightly rolled series of cloud lines, catching us fast.

More later. Will be several hours before I can send this, according to propagationIn the logs, this refers to the radiation of signal energy and is customarily qualified by the words abysmal, ratshit or lousy application. A coffee, I think.
And post caffeination – McQ came up for her watch just after we got our first cockpit full of water. Good practical lesson in why I’m so obsessed with keeping the drains clear of peanuts and other jetsam. We rolled the heady, dropped the main in 30 kts while KevvoStainless steel self steering device, built by Kevin Fleming, used on Berrimilla and countless others bare poledExplanation here, unrolled the heady again and back to 6’s and 7’s but with big breaking waves and dragon pong all around. And now it seems to be abating. Nice dragon – go somewhere else please! I wonder whether dragon spray would deter 92% of these guys.

But – heading North instead of about 030 and we’ve got current against us again. My befuddled brain just cant sort that one. Water temp 27 deg. Still at least 2 hours before I can send this, so watch this space, smell this pong.