The boats are closing in on Bermuda. The lead may be able to see the island. Slow going continues.
NOTES
6/8 0700 - Kiwi Spirit 2 emailed: Light breeze. Alls well.
Melantho emailed: All good. Just a bit slower than the first few days. Conditions: Wind SSW 5 kts Seas 1 - 2 ft Partly cloudy Looking forward to arrival.
Highlander emailed: Sailing last night was wonderful. Trucking right along. Caught up to Glory currently about 1.5 miles starboard beam. Had a short uneventful rain squall this morning. Wind dropped to zero. Have been visited by Bermuda Long tail birds this morning so first indicator of Bermuda approach. Saw a very large whale what I think was a sperm whale only 100 yards from the boat. Amazing to see. Till next time. Cheers Jon
Kiwi Spirit emailed: Trucking east. Alls well.
Adventure-us called: he had spoken with HIGHLANDER, who had been in touch with both GLORY and DAUNTLESS, who he could not hear as they were both well to the east of AVENTURE-US. He did not hear from RELENTLESS at this morning’s comm hour as he had tacked away last night and was now to the west of ADVENTURE-US. There were rain squalls earlier this morning, and after one of the squalls, HIGHLANDER reported seeing a sperm whale, which was quite close to him. Other than that, all is well with everyone mentioned here. While the weather has turned beautiful, the wind has unfortunately dropped considerably. At reporting, ADVENTURE-US had about 5.5 knots or wind, and remarked that, “seven knots of wind would be a gift right now!”
Relentless emailed: “Everything is excellent this morning!" He is experiencing, "a beautiful morning with beautiful seas." Partly cloudy with a nice breeze from 253 degrees, and he said he was currently making 6.5 knots of speed.
RELENTLESS had radio communications this morning with TOPAZ, who said that he had experienced radio issues, and therefore had not spoken with anyone for two days. But the radio issues seem to have been resolved, and everything OK aboard TOPAZ. RELENTLESS had no major issues to report, but hopes his course correction to the west would eventually pay off. He just wants to get to Bermuda before the high settles in… (Oops, its here!)
Dragon emailed: Does anyone else find it intriguing that the three boats in the lead of this leg are named after mythical creatures. Sure, Kiwis exist but they give off a mythical vibe. 25 miles to go with clear skies, 5 to 8 knots of (finally) a SE breeze. The SE was predicted way back in our pre-race prep and has always been part of the Dragon plan, setting us up a clean line into the finish. Taking the east side of this course is always tempting, particularly if the meander does lure you away. Doing the initial half of the course on a broad reach is a tempting way to build an early lead. But too often it sets you up for a slow uphill beat to the finish, giving up all your early gains and then some to boats coming in from the west side which is exactly what happened in the 2019 edition of this race. In 13 outbound legs to Bermuda, I went east one other time. This time, however, it all lined up. The broad reaching, advantageous current from multiple eddys, and a SE to finish in. I have had my doubts in the leg, all the way until this morning when the South Easterlies finally kicked in. A couple more hours will tell the tale, and answer Stanley Paris' question. Can Dragon's slay Kiwis and Gryphons?
Rocinante called: He started motoring at 2300 last night. At 0500 this morning he noticed he'd made little progress and that there's a heavy current against him. His usual 10 miles per gallon is down to 5 miles per gallon. At that rate there won't be enough fuel because he's still 148 miles out. So he's back to sailing now. Has unreefed his main while he's in light winds (when the unbalance problem shouldn't matter ) and is proceeding under the wind vane. He plans to sail till he's about 30 miles out, when there will be sufficient fuel to get in.
Without friends, none of this would be possible.