December 19, 1200 UTCDistance to go: 298nm
Wind and waves: NE 19-26kn, 3,5m (rough)
Sails: Reefed main and reefed genoa, wing and wing
Our first real squall hit us late this morning. We had seen the tell-tale signs on the horizon, black clouds and on the radar, streaks of green depicting raindrops falling on the ocean surface. After rolling away the genoa and cutter Seb took the helm and hand steered us through. The bright sun dimmed, the waves became choppier and we were suddenly in a downpour of rain. The winds picked up quickly to >30 knots. The squall had a calm and refreshing quality about it as the rain blocked out other noises and flattened the waves a little and gave us and the boat a good cleansing. Within 15 minutes the squall has passed and we sailed further in the brilliant sunshine. I hope that we are able to prepare as well for every squall we come across and that they all treat us so kindly.
The winds in general are higher at the moment and the waves are large and relatively short and confused giving us again a rather uncomfortable ride. Our speed through water ranges from 7-7,5 knots but for some reason we seem to still have 1,5 knots of current against us!!! Frustrating! If we continue at the our current pace, however, we do expect to arrive in Parimaribo sometime during the afternoon of Monday, December 21st!
Our fresh fruit stock is finally dwindling. Macsen ate an horribly black and mushy banana today, none of the rest of us were willing to touch and that is the last of our bananas. I have been amazed at how much fresh fruit and vegetables we have been eating and how well it has all kept. We have thrown little away and still have apples, oranges, cucumber, eggplant, carrots, tomatoes and kiwis.
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