Bob wrote: A quick update on plans for the next few days. Although the weather remains unsettled it looks like it might be possible to make the 24 hour passage to Milford Haven on Thursday after the current gale passes through and the others in Biscay and west of Ireland remain at bay. To that end our mate Alex is coming down to join us tomorrow night with a view to leaving for MH on Thursday morning. It'll be the longest passage we've ever done and sharing the watches and the responsibility with a more experienced sailor takes some of the pressure off. So, Bathonians if you're crossing the Severn Bridge at about 4am on Friday you might just see us sailing across the Bristol Channel! After recuperating in MH for a day we'll then make the 80 mile crossing to Arklow, which is where the Tyrrells originally come from ....... really. My great uncle actually designed Gipsy Moth III, which was the yacht before the one Sir Francis Chichester sailed around the world.
A couple of people have asked about our sails and how we've deployed them. We only have a main and a genoa. The main is in mast furling and to be honest it would have been a lot tougher and more dangerous for the two of us if we hadn't had it, we've had reefs in and out all the time, often sailing with 3 reefs in the main and a very small genoa, but we've been able to do pretty well all of it from the cockpit. Bella Rosa sails fantastically well into a F7 with minimal sail. Sadly we've had no down wind sailing to speak of, although we have enjoyed some beam reaches for short periods. Sue and Richard, you won't be disappointed with your Najad in mast main, you can take advantage of light winds and quickly get yourself upright and feel safe when the wind strengthens. There's probably some deterioration in performance but the trade off seems well worth it to us.
Here's a photo of Bella Rosa amongst the fishing boats in Newlyn.