Sailing to Byzantium - 6

Computer generated chart with weather overlay for 24th April

I was quite tired and still sleepy when woken for my watch at 0000 hours on Friday 24^th April. After having taken my time to get dressed and get on deck I quickly found my bearings. We were at 38 48.51’N 7 40.44’E motor sailing with the wind coming form directly astern. We were due to arrive off Cabos Teulada and Spartivento, the southern most points of Sardinia, within 5 hours but we would not be close enough to acquire any phone signal.

Yet again the night was quite dark but there was a loom of light to the north east as we closed in on Sardinia. The westerly wind had taken us further away from Sardinia on Starboard gybe as we were about to enter the Tyrrhenian Sea. The proximity of land and such an important turning point as southern Sardinia and the port of Cagliari meant there was a marked increase in shipping through the night giving us something to concentrate on as we continually assessed the acute converging angles involved.

Gradually the sea state altered as well as the sea floor rose form 2750 metres to 300 meters and the more pronounced swell made Fenix roll into the waves with a little more energy than before. By 4 00 a.m. we had crossed back into deep water and I returned to my bunk. The wind moderated soon after, and the wave length became shallower and longer giving me a good three hours of rest (albeit with the diesel engine running at 2000 r.p.m. in the background and generator on cooling the fridges).

Broad reaching under full main and asymmetric spinnaker

The situation was unchanged at 8 00 a.m. and instead of staying on deck I took the opportunity to make a bitter lemon tart. The smell of the lemon zest and juice cleansed the interior of Fenix. Steve wandered into the galley for a little chat, and after a while inquired if we had enough gas on board to keep this level of culinary activity going. I reassured him by saying we had enough gas to keep Marco Pierre White’s place open for a week and he left quite satisfied. For a number of reasons the lemon tart took a little longer than normal as I was forced to brace myself with a gradually building swell and by midday the tart was completed and we were cruising along under full main, staysail and asymmetric spinnaker in bright warm sunshine.

This was sailing at its best; running down our easting as fast as possible with our eyes firmly fixed on Messina. The sprint lasted until about 19 20 hours when I was about to cook the courgettes. Feeling they yacht roll awkwardly I knew there was not enough wind to carry the asymmetric spinnaker at the angle we needed to travel in. With the autopilot engaged Steve and I snuffed the asymmetric spinnaker, got it down, and bagged it before it was lowered through the fore hatch.

Friday's sunset

I returned to the hot pan and slowly turned the courgettes and prepared to serve up the roast chicken which had been cooking with fists of garlic and onions since a little before 18 00 hours. Conditions were quite calm by 19 30 hours, and we all sat down to dinner with hungry eyes silently tucking into the fare. I caught a glimpse of the last minutes of the colourful sunset while going on deck to maintain the watch and returned to serve the lemon tart which had made its way through the day unmolested and intact.