The world's youngest round the world yachtsman
Mike's Blog
Oh, What A Perfect Day - 03 07 09
I’d love to say that it's been one of those incredibly busy and exciting days where I’ve really been sailing on the edge – but it's been the complete opposite. For once I’ve had an incredibly easy and relaxing day where not much happened!
This is pretty perfect sailing, there’s hardly any pressure on Totallymoney.com in these conditions, and everything’s running smoothly, the kind of conditions sailors dream of - being able to lounge about and just take a back seat while the boat sails itself in glorious conditions. There’s seventeen knots on the beam, the genneker’s flying and Totallymoney.com is gracefully gliding over the water, cruising towards Panama at nine knots, even though there’s a two-knot current against us.
This evening I adopted an incredibly comfortable position on my beanbag in the cockpit and kept reading my book until it got too dark. As I put my book down, I slouched into the beanbag even more - a total couch potato type style of slouch and gazed up at the night sky and the moon directly above.
I love to gaze up into the night sky for hours and am always be captivated by it. There were quite a few wisps of low cloud this evening; they kept passing under the moonlight, which lit them up beautifully, only for them to be completely blacked out into nothing the moment they left the area of brightness. Stars appeared every now and again but their twinkling never lasted for long as yet another high cloud blocked the view from my front row seat.
Today welcomed yet another food bag, yum! I've already devoured half a Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar and this evening I think I'm going to have one of my favourite chicken curries, immediately followed by some other yummy treat. I have to say, the food on board might not be as good as say restaurant food or good home cooking, but it really isn't half bad and I really do like it. It's full of all the right stuff and keeps me healthy and full which is absolutely vital. Credit to everyone who helped put all my food bags together all that time ago back in November - Thanks guys!
©MikePerham2009
Buoy Ahoy - 02 07 09
After a fantastic day’s run, the wind began to drop off slightly this evening and I’ve now slowed down to 9knots. I'm still chuffed with my progress though as usually in this area by the doldrums the conditions are pretty variable.
At the moment, it looks like I could be In Panama for Monday morning, which would be a great result. I'm only 650miles off from Panama as the crow flies, but I think I'll be sailing around 750miles to get in there. Sailing straight isn’t the quickest way. I'm staying south for as long as I can before peeling off north, almost straight up to Panama. This way I stay in the good winds for longer and will be able to make the most of the current.
The sheer amount of random gear floating out on the ocean I've come across has been crazy. Today, as I came on deck this morning, I looked out to sea and 10ft away was a large fishing buoy with a flagpole attached. This is a typical marker for something like a lobster pot which would have been a short way offshore. It had obviously come away from whatever was tethering it before and had drifted all the way out here.
The moment I saw it I immediately thought that one of its trailing lines would wrap around Totallymoney.com’s, keel which is nothing less than a perfect hook – especially as we were sailing on the leeward side but, thank goodness, as we sailed straight past at 11knots, nothing got caught and it continued to bob away into the distance and out of sight.
The ocean really is full of junk in places. Apart from several mooring buoys I’ve also had a close encounter with a huge 10inch towing rope stretching further than I could see, in the middle of the Southern Ocean, thousands of miles from anywhere. I've seen countless random plastic bottles and small bits of rubbish just floating about in all sorts of places around the world.
It's the end of a food week today, so the choice is pretty poor for dinner - oh well, at least I’m going to have a fantastic selection tomorrow!
©MikePerham2009
Some Wind But No Chill - 01 07 09
Well, I'm pleased to report I’m really trucking along now. I’ve caught the edge of a very small tropical low that’s forming in the doldrums and it's giving me lovely 20knot reaching conditions.
Totallymoney.com has been powering along at a fantastic 12 and often 13knots all day. She loves these conditions and feels very solid as she trots along, punching through all the waves without slowing a fraction.
There’s no surfing going on, as in this area we don't get any swell really. It's just a 2metre chop, which barely affects Totallymoney.com. What is so good about having an Open 50 rather than a standard sailing boat is that when powered up with ballast, they really don't get moved around much at all – no rolling about. It's a very different feel to a normal sailing boat.
Today’s been a little cooler. The sun hasn't been out - a very welcome change. It's been just as humid as ever though, so it's still felling pretty hot. I love being able to laze about in just shorts all day and night, the downside is when, even with a breeze of 20knots in the middle of the night, it just never gets any cooler.
I think tomorrow I'm going to have a good clean up of Totallymoney.com so she looks good for her arrival into Panama. The inside is always nice and organized, just the small things here and there need tidying up. I never leave much lying about as it often can fall over and straight into the bilge, which isn't good. Plus, should I accidentally gybe she'd go flat over on her side and everything would go flying.
I'm looking forward to taking the Genoa down in Panama as it isn't the most cosmetically beautiful touch, I have to say. The little bits of sail cloth flapping about here and there really don’t advertise the cleanest bill of health for the sail! I'm expecting the shipping traffic to pick up sometime soon, so I'm keeping extra vigilant.
©MikePerham2009
Thoughts of Panama - 30 06 09
After my previous night’s excellent sleep, I wasn't feeling tired at all, so I had a pretty late night - I was still full of energy at 1am.
I'm going to be in Panama in less than a week’s time, which I'm really excited about. As I write this, I've got just under 1,200miles to sail, so that’s around six days sailing in these conditions. The next two days should be pretty darn quick, as I'm just catching the edge of a very small tropical depression currently forming in the doldrums, which is then going to scoot off NW up the coast. This will give me beautiful southerlies of up to 25knots, with a bit of luck.
Mike Broughton (my weather router) and I have been studying the last 400miles into Panama and it certainly looks like it’s going to be an interesting last two days. Panama is situated bang on the doldrums and the bay can be notoriously fickle with no wind at all at one moment and loads of squalls of up to 40knots the next - which I’d really make the most of, should the opportunity present itself.
Everything in Panama has now been arranged for my arrival and transit so it should be a pretty quick passage through, hopefully. We've taken on a really great agent to handle everything so it should all go pretty smoothly. I'm really looking forward to getting back into the familiar waters of the North Atlantic.
©MikePerham2009
Sunshine, Sleep and Everlasting Paint - 29 06 09
This morning was practically non-existent as I managed to sleep with in 40min bursts all the way up until 12.30pm! I'm not sure where the need came from to get a load of extra sleep, but hey, I didn't have much else scheduled for this morning, so why not? If the opportunity presents itself to grab a load more sleep, then I say grab it by the horns and make the most of it!
Thankfully, the current is beginning to drop slightly and this evening I've been making a fraction under 10knots. I'm looking forward to being able to stay up in double figures soon as the wind continues to veer round. Up until the final few hundred miles the wind is going to continue to veer round to the SW and I'll be in the nice reaching conditions, which I just love.
In this beautiful weather, I'm always out on deck. I usually keep an eye out for any sea life but I've really been surprised by the lack of it out here in the Pacific. In the Atlantic I’d see Dolphins pretty much every other day and always had birds following us, I've barely seen anything out here, and I have been looking! I'm looking forward to getting back into the North Atlantic though, there's always loads of dolphins and sea turtles in the Caribbean.
I remember sailing in the Grenadines last year when we stopped at for a couple of nights we were surrounded by sea turtles. It was great to jump in the water every morning for a swim and see loads of them swimming around and checking me out.
I should be arriving into Panama in about a week’s time depending on how the last 400miles fairs for Totallymoney.com and I. I'm pretty excited about it. This has certainly been a pretty long leg and it feels like I've been out here a good while now.
Totallymoney.com is looking absolutely great. She doesn't look like she’s just come from New Zealand, let alone the UK. The Blake’s Paint anti-foul is self-polishing and there isn’t a single mark on the whole underside of the boat. She’s totally jet black underneath and looks just as good as when she left the boat shed in France after being painted.
The one and only job I actually have on the list is to go up the rig and drop the Genoa, pack it up and store it in the sail locker until I get back to the UK.
Sailing in the tropics is certainly much, much easier on both boat and sailor and it really puts the Southern Ocean into perspective. As nice as this is in such beautiful conditions, I still would rather be down there soaking wet and surfing away in the cold and wild waves. Another time, I have to tell myself - another time...
©MikePerham2009
Going Yo-yo - 28 06 09
Today has been a weird day. I've never had one quite like it before on this trip. I actually sat on the chart table seat this morning and I thought, 'Oh, gee, what to do now...' I've never found myself thinking that before. There weren't any jobs to do on Totallymoney.com, no sails to change; there was simply nothing for me to do for the first time since leaving Portsmouth all that time back in November.
This didn’t last for long, however. I soon found myself greatly amused by a packet of four Yo-yo's, which I uncovered during some rummaging and tidying. The Yo-yo's did their job and travelled down to earth as the string played out behind them - the only trouble was getting them to travel back up the string again. That part doesn’t seem to work so well. Perhaps they're suffering from sea-sickness!
I was chatting to my Dad and Mum on the phone earlier and it was fun to hear that as well as having just been to a friends’ 25th anniversary BBQ in a thunderstorm (typical English summer!). They’d returned home to find themselves in the midst of a power cut and lit the house with candles.
I love hearing little bits of information from Home – after all I can hardly switch on the TV to get the days news or pick up a paper from the local newsagent. It's mainly just little snippets of what's been happening here and there that I like to hear about most. It's nice to be kept in the loop as it's very easy to feel a long way out of it when I’m in the middle of nowhere.
Over the last 24hours the wind has filled in more from the south and has remained fairly steady which I've been very happy about. It's nice to have a much more level Totallymoney.com once again. More than anything, I find it so much easier to sleep when we're flatter.
After the finding the Yo-yos I also stumbled across packet of ten party balloons! I blew up around half-a-dozen of them and had fun whacking them around the cabin - being careful not to let any get outside and fly away. Now the floor is littered with party balloons… but hey, who cares, ANY EXCUSE FOR A PARTY!
©MikePerham2009
I’ve Got Company - 27 06 09
Well the wind’s picked up a bit – but so has the current! I had a pretty slow night, but this morning the wind filled in and I'm really happy it's stayed with me all day. Please let it continue!
Totallymoney.com’s speed has picked up to a beautiful 10.5knots, as I’m slightly cracked off at an apparent wind angle of 55degrees. But what's interesting is the difference between the boat speed from the logs at the back of the boat and the speed over ground coming through from the GPS, which is also linked into the pilot. The boat speed is registered at 10.5 knots while ground speed is only reading at 8.3knots, so I've currently got a lovely 2.2 knots of equatorial current on my nose. But hey, that's okay. The current may be slowing us down now, but once on the other side of Panama and out of the Caribbean, I'll be able to hook up with the Gulf Stream and make the most of that to shoot me back home. Today I've been heading pretty much due east and sometimes slightly southeast, which has been good. I don't want to get any further north than where I am now until I'm much closer to Panama.
I was in the cockpit this afternoon, once again sprawled out on the beanbag in a very couch-potato-type way. I glanced at the horizon and noticed something small sticking up: a fishing boat’s mast. There is other life out here then!
I haven't seen a single boat of any description since leaving Auckland. I haven't even had one up on my AIS since then and that's got a serious range in these easy conditions. I've picked up ships over a 100miles away before.
Weirdly, the fishing boat was doing pretty much the same speed and heading in the same direction as me and for almost the whole afternoon they've been three miles off my port bow. This evening, however they've put on a little more speed and are heading east around 2.5knots faster than me. They're just leaving my Furuno radar screen now. Perhaps they got annoyed with this tall orange stick hanging around behind them. Totallymoney.com certainly stands out!
©MikePerham2009
Dodging the Doldrums - 26 06 09
It's been a little slower than usual today on board Totallymoney.com as the wind dropped down to around 9knots for most of the day and without my Genoa I haven't been able to sail as close and fast to the wind as I usually would. Also, the breeze has stubbornly remained ESE rather than veering round to the SE, which is what I've been hoping for. It will eventually, so I'm not too concerned. I just know that I'm sailing really rather close to the Doldrums now and I can't afford to get much more north otherwise I'll run out of wind completely! They mainly lie between 5 and 9 degrees north in this area of the Pacific. I have to admit, I'm dying to bung up the Genneker due to the vast increase in sail area it would provide, but I can only do that once we've cracked off very slightly.
This evening was simply beautiful. I was sitting outside with a tube of Pringles in hand, just watching the world go by really. I sat there for a good while because I watched the sun descend into a sunset, its glow disappear, the stars come out, and pitch blackness embrace me. The moon is not at its best tonight, so it's barely providing any light for me and Totallymoney.com.
The one great thing about sailing upwind at the moment is that the breeze over the deck is practically half as much again due to the added apparent wind. It's very cooling and refreshing, even if it does make reading a good book a little harder!
©MikePerham2009
Over the Equator - 25 06 09
I'm now back in the northern hemisphere – and it already feels a bit more like home turf too! I crossed the equator early this morning, whilst it was still dark – just like the last time.
I've been heading a little further north than I’d prefer over the last two days so the crossing came about half a day earlier than expected.
I toasted Neptune with a bottle of champagne and my gift to him was my day’s ration of chocolate - a whole packet of chocolate digestives, an Aero Bar and a Mars Bar. I also gave him some champagne provided by Pick & Pay in Cape Town, so a big thanks to them. Totallymoney.com also got some champers for being such a great boat and looking after me so well, and I had a little sip too. The next bottle is set aside for my arrival home!
My plan now is to skirt just south of the doldrums and use the south easterlies, which head into them, to propel us eastwards. At the moment it's looking good and I'm very impressed with Mike Broughton’s routing. I hadn't ever thought of this tactical option before and I imagined that I would be tacking along down at 10degrees south or so before coming up for the final miles into Panama which sits right at the edge of the Doldrums.
The last 400miles in are going to be very tricky but I'll see what happens when we get there. I had an idea today to create a more comfortable bed outside in the cockpit, where I'm spending most of my time now during the day as the temperature inside is becoming crazy.
I made my way into the forepeak and grabbed my spare beanbag. I carry loads of spares of everything and another. One thing I made sure that I had before I left was one of these as to lose my bean bag would be a real blow - I practically live on the thing! My beanbags aren't any old beanbags though. They're actually Pigbags! Look them up, www.pigbags.com. They're fine to get soaked as the water just passes through them.
And so after I grabbed my second beanbag I wedged it alongside the first and voila, I had myself a bed in the cockpit and a pretty darn comfortable one at that. I laid a towel on the top of the two, grabbed a cushion and got myself a nice bit of R and R with a book in hand in the shade of the mainsail.
©MikePerham2009
Sunshine and Salty Decks - 24 06 09
I managed to average a good nine and a half knots yesterday and overall things have been moving a bit more swiftly on board. Looking at the chart I've only got 2200miles to go which doesn't seem too far. I'm looking to arrive in Panama in a little under two weeks from now, hopefully, although the last few hundred miles can be very tricky - so I'll see how it goes!
This weak front is continuing to loiter over me still giving us easterlies instead of south easterlies and as it curves off NE I'm basically sailing along it's track at the moment. It’s looking like it should be clearing sometime soon though, fingers crossed.
I'm spending much more time outside than inside these days, as it's just getting so, so hot on board. Fortunately, at midday, my large mainsail puts the whole back end of Totallymoney.com in the shade.
In these hot conditions I've noticed that the skin on my hands is becoming a bit more worn and flaky, just like when you get out of a long shower or bath…it's only really started in the last couple of days. When everything was permanently damp in the Southern Ocean, the skin on my hands was always in pieces. Don McIntyre, who I stayed with in Hobart had exactly the same problem when he did the BOC a while back and it was fun to compare flakiness after I arrived!
The deck is building a layer of salt now, as it hasn't rained for a couple of days and it's impossible to touch anything which isn't totally covered with the stuff. It would actually be quite nice to find a rain cloud now to give Totallymoney.com a good wash as she needs - and deserves - it.
On my present course I'm only sixty miles from crossing the equator - back in the northern hemisphere. I’ll probably be heading over the line sometime in the early hours of the morning. I didn't expect to be crossing until later tomorrow but as I've headed more NE due to the easterly wind direction I've kind of cut the corner. It will be good to be back into the northern hemisphere as it's another very big box ticked!
©MikePerham2009
Pink Seas and Wet Books - 23 06 09
The wind has swung a little more round to the ESE but not as much as I'd hoped due to a small low pressure currently north of us which has a pretty weak front extending SW. Below the clouds the wind is much more east than the ESE that the wind models suggest. It just shows that you can't always rely on grib files as they can be pretty far off sometimes.
For my routing we work mainly with grib and Qscat models as well as using all the visual sat images. I've had pretty stable conditions today and although I’m beating into a few metres of sea, it's relatively comfortable on board as I’m ploughing through them with the forward ballast nicely pumped up rather than bouncing and slamming over every single wave. I love how I can alter the trim and stability of Totallymoney.com and how there are so many options. I can set her nicely up to punch through waves if we’re sailing upwind or I can set her up to skid on the back corner of the boat when we're surfing downwind.
This afternoon I was once again out on the beanbag in the cockpit reading a good Clive Cussler book that
I’d brought in Australia when Totallymoney.com punched her way through a wave in such a way that water came cascading across and over the coachroof straight into the cockpit - soaking me and the book!
I was rather annoyed at getting the book wet but not being one to miss a good opportunity and already being soaked I decided that I'd have a very spur-of-the-moment shower. I grabbed the bottle of salt water shampoo, showered off using a couple of buckets of sea water and then finished off with a litre of fresh water to get the salt off my body. I dried off by once again sitting on the beanbag in the cockpit in the beautiful sunshine.
I'm getting very close to the equator now; the sun’s been getting pretty powerful, so I'm being careful not to get heatstroke. I'm always drinking loads to keep up the fluids, normally around 4-5litres of water a day. It's surprising how quickly it goes. I should be crossing the equator in around 2days depending on the wind conditions.
This evening the sunset was pretty beautiful and one of the many I'll remember. It wasn't when the sun passed over the horizon that really grabbed me, it was about 5minutes later when the whole sky turned orange and pink. Both the water and Totallymoney.com turned light pink. It didn't last for long, but it was stunning to see. Totallymoney.com was gracefully heading along upwind at 9knots in a good 16knots breeze at the time so it was a pretty special moment.
©MikePerham2009
Pointing at Panama - 22 06 09
First of all, HAPPY FATHERS’ DAY DAD!! Now, those reading this are probably thinking 'But Fathers Day was yesterday', and yes it was – for you. But I’m eight hours behind, so it's still Fathers’ Day here, so Happy Fathers Day Dad! None of this would have been possible without your loving support that’s for sure. Now I would send a card, but first I'm wondering exactly where the local newsagents is and also where the nearest post box is…or perhaps I could use Airmail, a carrier pigeon, a paper aeroplane, a letter in a bottle...
Today started off with me waking up to see Totallymoney.com heading NW. 'What on earth' I thought to myself. Now logic says, I should be going NE so something’s clearly wrong here...
The wind had simply managed to swing round to the north, so I got everything ready for a tack which took some time as we were so stacked up and just as I was about to tack the boat round the wind dropped off to a mere 2knots. ‘Great,’ I thought to myself. This carried on for several of hours and I drifted round and round in circles until the wind finally settled on a nice SE direction and picked up to 17knots – causing me to grin hugely.
I cracked off the sheets to head off on 60degrees apparent wind angle and Totallymoney.com sped away at 10knots. I’m now north of the high pressure, so I’m starting to see the south-easterly winds come round, which is nice and is making sailing more comfortable. In a few days I’ll be in some reaching conditions and if the wind speed is right I’ll bung up the Genneker to help my progress. At least now I’m pointing in the direction of Panama, hurrah!
©MikePerham2009
A 200 Mile Run - 21 06 09
Even with yesterday’s back-tracking and the loss of a sail I still managed to pull off a fraction under 200miles as a daily run, which I'm pretty happy about!
Today the wind has slowly began veer round a bit more to the ESE and so I've been able to make much better progress NE instead of NNE. As we start to pass more over this high pressure the wind will hopefully go round to the SE and enable me to speed off a little more to Panama.
Losing the Genoa has only slowed me down by a fraction. I would have been using that sail right now but as I'm now using my smaller Solent, all I've done is emptied out a little ballast and now, without so much weight up on the rail I’m doing pretty much the same speed.
Last night I managed to catch up on some much-needed sleep and I felt much better this morning. I always leave the radar and AIS on during the night as well as my active echo and so if there's any other ships out there, I should be able to see them and they should be able to see me.
One of the great things about going to Panama is that because I've got half a round-the-world-trip worth of fuel on board I can be a bit generous with my power consumption and use all the things I normally wouldn't, such as the cabin lights, for example, to light everything up whilst I'm inside doing something or another. Usually I just make do with headtorches for everything as they don't draw much power at all.
My Solar Panels aren't putting out a huge amount at the moment and they worked much better in the Southern Ocean than up here in the tropics, which isn't all that surprising as I know they prefer to work in colder temperatures but that's fine as they're only there as a fail-safe should both my generator and engine pack up - which I hope would be pretty unlikely!
This evening I spent a little while with my head in the camera system’s electrical box as my radio mic wasn't recording. I've managed to find the gremlin – just a loose connection, thankfully.
Well overall today was pretty average really. A day that average Joe would have been proud of. Average Joe would have gotten an average amount of sleep. An average amount of food. Some average weather with good average wind speeds. And an average amount of time spent sitting on the bean bag outside. And also some average boat speeds. Yes, a very good average day for average Joe!
©MikePerham2009
What a Day! - 20 06 09
It was four in the morning and I was enjoying one of my naps when I was woken by the feel of Totallymoney.com not behaving as she should. I sleep like a dog - one ear always open – and so I'm really tuned into the boat, even the slightest change wakes me up. The first thing I noticed was that Totallymoney.com was more upright than she should have been. I then realised we were somehow in the process of tacking - how that came about is still beyond me.
I made for the helm to try and save her and bring her back again but I was too late and once again we were planted over on our side with the sails pinned right up against the rig and all three ballast tanks full on the wrong side, seriously weighing us down. I clambered into the obscenely-angled cockpit after clipping on and began my now well-practiced routine of easing off the sheets and adjusting the backstays until we came up to a slightly more sensible angle.
I managed to eventually bear her away off the wind and we started plodding along SW, on the wrong tack and not even sailing close to the wind. I tidied up a bit, made a few adjustments with the ballast and then gybed the boat back over onto a starboard tack as it would have been ugly to tack the boat round with the wind now blowing in at 26knots.
I decided that with the increased wind speed that the time had come to furl away the Genoa and replace it with the Solent as the forecast was for it to blow a little harder today. I bore away a little more as I always do when I furl in a sail as it takes some of the strain off.
I had gotten around four turns round the furler into the sail and that's when I noticed this tiny 2 inch little hole at around 2feet from the foot of the sail. I immediately bore away as I know only too well how such a little thing can sometimes cause lead to much bigger problems and I wanted to get the Genoa as sheltered as possible behind the main.
But then I heard a ripping noise - I looked up and in just two seconds the whole Genoa ripped up right from the foot almost all the way up to the head. My heart was in my mouth and I could barely utter the words "Oh bummer," as I saw this once beautiful sail, which has taken me so far, now in shreds and merrily flagging away.
My next thought was that there was a danger that the Genoa could rip completely off the head at any second and as that would cause the sail to drop in the water I didn't want to run the risk of getting it wrapped around my keel or rudders. I cut one of the sheets off with a safety knife I always leave strapped up against the mast and I made the other sheet ready to be released quickly. If it fell in the water I'd have to dump it...
However after a few moments and no change it looked as if it was going to stay attached at the top - this presented it's own whole array of problems. As I thought about my next move, I quickly grabbed the camera and snapped a quick photo for the collection.
I knew the sail was a write-off the moment the rip happened - now it was a matter or containing it and sorting it out in such a way that it would be safe. Easier said than done! At one point it became caught around the spreaders and I dread to think what would have happened if it had separated from the head of the sail, dragged in the water still attached to the spreaders - it could well have brought the rig down.
In the end, I managed to wrap the sail around the forestay using my spare spinnaker halyard to hold it in pretty tight. It doesn't look at all neat, quite the opposite, but it's now safe, and isn't flagging everywhere and causing a danger to the rig.
Once tidied up I got out the Solent, came up to wind and started to head eastwards. I lost 25 miles to the west during the excitement but hey, that's life.
So I'm now a sail down and I'm gutted to have lost it really. The tiny hole must have come from when I was pinned down against the water. It’s incredible that such a small thing has now totally written off the whole sail. When I arrive in Panama I'll drop it down fully and bundle it up in a sail bag for when I arrive home.
I felt pretty knackered this evening after only getting a couple of hours sleep during this busy day but I found time a little while earlier to get the bean bag, lie it out in the cockpit and just gaze up at the stars for an hour. Some relaxing music was on and I reflected on my morning. At the time it felt pretty darn bad and I was quite upset but now, looking back it's just another hurdle I've overcome.
So now with my favourite upwind sail for these conditions written off I'm now going to use a mixture of the Genneker and the Solent to get up to Panama. It will slow us down ever so slightly at times - but not too much. The great thing about Open 50's is that their sail wardrobe is large enough to provide plenty of choice.
©MikePerham2009
Strange Clouds and Smelly Food Bags - 19 06 09
Last night was fairly relaxed; I continued to make steady progress and managed to pack in a good chunk of sleep. At around midday, just after a squall passed over me, the wind went beserk and for the next half hour I was on the helm pretty much doing pirouettes with anything between zero and five knots of breeze. The wind did eventually fill in rather nicely and Totallymoney.com’s speed built back up to a nice 12knots.
As I was writing this it happened again and another squall has pushed the wind down to a feeble 3knots –
I’m struggling to get higher than 2knots as the swell is knocking the wind out of the sails. I'm sure it will be back in around by the time I’ve finished writing this though - and we'll have 20knots powering us along.
Today marked the 3-week mark since Hobart and it sure feels like time has gone pretty fast. I'm now nicely past the halfway mark overall and so am hoping to be in Panama in two-and-a-half weeks.
My plan is to head north of the Galapagos Islands. Sailing into the Panama bay can be tricky, with very little wind at times so I'm hoping that there will be a nice fresh breeze to safely help me in.
Today also marked the opening of a new food bag - the one I got out today had a little slit in the bottom and sea water had managed to get inside the dry bag. This isn't so bad as almost all of my food is in sealed bags but it was annoying as the bag had taken on this weird smell and now all my packets of food really smell a bit strange. I've cleaned out the bag with soap and lots of water but it's still got this odd aroma…
This evening I had a really strange set of clouds pass by. One had a base that was close to sea level but it’s peak was hundred’s of feet above me. I though one was about to form a water-spout – it had all the signs of doing so but didn’t in the end.
One even bore five separate rainbows. I'm constantly reading the sky and that often dictates how and where I sail. I know that with some clouds there will be no wind on the far side of them while with others I’m gonna get pummelled by 26knots right on the nose. I will deliberately avoid these ones if I can but more often than not I can't do much to get out the way - the weather is moving much faster than I am!
©MikePerham2009
Trucking Through the Trades - 18 06 09
I changed up from Solent to Genoa this morning, as the conditions were a little lighter. The great thing about being in the trades now is that everything is much more stable and the conditions don't change hugely apart from when the regular squalls hit.
I've been trucking along all day making a steady 8-9knots, which I'm happy about. It's been rather overcast today, the clouds have been very, very welcome onboard Totallymoney.com as they stop the sun from heating up my cabin to some stupid temperature. I know the sun will be out again soon though, so I've still got to be careful not to get heat stroke. It's dead easy to get dehydrated here so I make sure I'm always topped up. Currently, I'm drinking around 3litres of water a day, which keeps me going just nicely.
Talking about my water… I use a pretty powerful Sunshine Maritime Katadyn Desalinator to produce 10litres of drinking water everyday. I don't always need it all but it's good to run it everyday so it doesn't get a chance to clog up.
As part of my effort to save weight, I don't have a large water tank on board. All I have is my 20L day tank - basically a glorified Jerry can linked up to a few hoses and pipes. Should my water maker pack up, I have a spare survivor hand water maker in my grab bag as well as 60litres of emergency water kept in jerry tanks lashed up underneath the cockpit.
We've had a couple of weird cloud fronts, where on one side the wind will be from the NNE and the other side from the ESE, necessitating a big course change. At times I'm quite tempted to tack round when I’ve been forced to head north when I really want to go east but I’ve resisted because I knew the wind would back round again very soon. If I did tack then I’m sure Sod's Law would come into effect and the wind would change the minute I finish stacking everything and I'd have to repeat the half-hour process all over again!
©MikePerham2009
Mike takes a space walk. - 17 06 09
We’ve just managed to get hold of this fantastic footage of Mike. We think this must rank as the craziest bit of DIY ever attempted by a seventeen year old anywhere. It comes with a health warning; just looking at this will make you dizzy.
Sunsets, Stars and Squelching - 17 06 09
Hi all, well I've finally broken through into the trade winds, hurrah! My wriggle north has paid off big time and I've currently got a nice fresh breeze of around 16-18knots. It's bang on the nose but I’m still moving gracefully along at a fraction under 9knots.
Today was a drying day and I hung out quite a few odd and random bits of clothing on the boom to dry out. I manage to get so many clothes wet on Totallymoney.com it's a bit of a joke. I can't wear oilies in this weather as I'd melt, so it's a case of simply getting wet and then drying off again.
I was outside on the beanbag for a good chunk of time this evening, just enjoying this sailing lark really. I watched the sun disappear before the sky became darker and darker and as the brilliant stars stared twinkling away. I always love the time between sunset and the moment when the moon appears over the horizon as it's so dark and the stars are so bright. I'm always seeing shooting stars and it's lovely just to lie back on the beanbag watching out for them.
The sight of Totallymoney.com just purposely gliding over the water really grabs me too. There's no slamming, just this feel of real power as we move and plough through everything approaching us.
A little while ago I decided to change down from Genoa to Solent as the wind was picking up into the high teens and we were getting a little overpowered with the Genoa up. I put the Genoa away and whilst up on the bow a wave managed to leap straight into my boots! As I squelched my round Totallymoney.com, I thought of the times when I was a child and used to go wade through the biggest patch of mud or the biggest puddle I could find – squelch squelch, typical me - The marshes were the best, I have to say.
Normally I'd be pretty cheesed off if I got my boots wet whilst sailing but not now, give them a couple of hours in the sun tomorrow and they'll be totally dry. Not like in the Southern Ocean - I remember getting one of my pairs soaked a little while after leaving Cape Town and I didn't dry them out until I put them on a radiator in Hobart.
Having put the Solent up now it's typically actually gone back to the same wind strength as earlier, 13-16knots. What’s interesting though is that although I’m not quite as powered up, I’m more level and am managing to maintain the same boat speed even more comfortably.
Right, I'm starving so am going to cook myself up a nice big dinner, what will it be tonight?
©MikePerham2009
Slow Sailing - 16 06 09
The going was pretty slow last night and this morning I've been averaging only 4 or so knots. At times I've been totally stopped and becalmed for half an hour or so before another very light 2-3knot breeze gets me moving again. I always knew this leg up to Panama would be tough, with a lot of variable conditions and that there would be quite a few days of very slow sailing. The great thing about Totallymoney.com is that being so light, and having such a large sail area, I can generally sail as fast as the wind whilst sailing upwind in light conditions - i.e., if it's blowing 3knots, we'll sail at 3knots and if it's blowing 7knots then we'll sail at 7knots.
Usually cruising boats making this trip up from New Zealand or Australia would use their engine during these light conditions to make good progress - but due to the nature of my trip, which is to sail around the world, I haven't and I won't use the engine to push me even one nautical mile around the planet!
When I'm entering port I do use the engine for berthing, but I've always ensured that when I leave a port I sail back out of port and across my track to meet all the requirements of sailing around the world. After all, it's manpower and wind power alone - using my engine wouldn't be right or fair! For one to say that they've ‘sailed’ around the world, they can't have used their engine.
Regarding Panama, I'll be sailing into the bay on the southern side and then again on the northern side so that way I'll have covered the longitude solo. I'm currently peeling away NE as best I can to try and wriggle free of these incredibly variable conditions and into the easterly trades. Yes, that will mean that all my time will now be on windward until I reach Panama - but to try and head due east now is a bit stupid as there's sod all wind.
The Pacific high pressure to the east of us is just huge at the moment and should we continue heading due east, we'd really get parked. Usually one would head as far east as possible and then head north to get on a better angle with the wind but we're going to head north earlier to stay with the wind. I'm looking forward to finding some breeze in double figures so that I can really start ticking off the miles a bit more and put this last week of slow sailing behind me.
It's really starting to get hot, hot, hot now and I've begun my routine of a shower on the foredeck every morning and every evening. I was thinking earlier when I was standing by the black painted section of my foredeck, which was boiling hot and painful to stand on - Would it be possible to literally fry an egg on it? I'll have to try it when I reach Panama as it's certainly going to be roasting hot when I get there!
©MikePerham2009
An Unexpected Swim! - 15 06 09
I think I tempted fate after yesterday’s blog about settling into a routine! Today turned out to be one of the most action-packed I've had so far.
It started out dull enough - I was almost totally becalmed for most of today; it's been tough only doing one or two knots in the same amount of breeze. I've been flying the genneker recently and after yet the direction changed and the speed picked up ever so slightly, I banged in a gybe to help Totallymoney.com move that extra 0.1 of a knot.
I saw the clouds starting move away – good news – as a sign of increasing winds and sure enough it suddenly picked up to a beautiful 8knots, which was very welcome! But then my genneker sheet managed to wrap itself around one of my stern rudders! The steering suddenly became very sticky, and the pilot started to struggle.
I spent around 15minutes trying to hook the line off where it was caught under the rudder but it just wasn't budging so I had to cut the sheet at the clew of the sail and furl away the sail using the other sheet to keep the tension on. I couldn't have a flagging sail, as that's very unhealthy for both sail and rig.
As the newly-cut line fell into the water from the clew of the sail it floated under the boat and then got wrapped around my other rudder. Not fair! Luck really wasn't going my way. It should have just floated due aft and hung behind the boat making it easier to untangle from the one rudder but no, it decided to somehow drift off 20ft to the left and wrap itself around my port rudder as well as the starboard one it was already tangled round!
I tried every possible way I could think of to get this line off my rudders, which by now had started to make odd noises as the rope was pushed into the tight space where the rudder moves over continually. I tried using my deck brush to push the line down, sailing the boat backwards, using other lines to pull it from the bow, using a section of my anchor chain to try and get it to fall straight down with the added weight but none of these worked - much to my frustration!
If anything they probably made it worse. My steering was now pretty much totally jammed up and I had to head to wind in a kind of very slow upwind position. Thankfully it was blowing only about 9knots, nice and light and easy to handle.
The afternoon was getting late; I didn’t have much daylight left, so I decided the only thing I could do was to jump in and untangle it myself using my hands and if I needed to, cut it off totally.
I need my steering system to sail and it's something I really can't do without. I stripped down to just my boxers, put on a harness, got a good line set up, which I tied myself too and with one knife taped to my harness and another in hand I jumped in from the stern and set about sorting this mess. I'm a strong swimmer so I had no problem in keeping myself in a good position by the rudders.
As the pilot couldn't handle the steering, I was moving the rudders myself from under the water to keep me in a very slow upwind position doing around 1.5knots, which is nothing.
The sheet was jammed in much worse than I had imagined and it had managed to slot itself in past the gap between the skeg and rudder and was firmly set against the rudder and the external plates for the skeg. I could see it was being pinched by the rudder and so I wasn't surprised that my earlier attempts had been useless.
I took a few deep breaths before diving underneath Totallymoney.com. I spent about thirty seconds at a time trying to both cut the rope away and get it out of its pinched position.
I tried to put the unpleasant feeling of seawater on my eyes (which I hate) out of my mind and pressed on. After about 40minutes I thought: "Well this really is a pain in the arse, but hey, something good for the blog tonight!"
Finally the lines were free. My lovely nice sheet with it's special anti chafe cover was now in pieces and totally useless for genneker flying but hey, at last I had the steering back. The sun set just as I climbed out the water back onto the boat so if it had taken much longer it would have been dark - which doesn't bear thinking about!
Once out of the water, I checked myself over and could see quite a few bruises coming up, plus a few nicks on my hands from where the skeg knife caught me and also tonnes of black anti-foul all over my body. I was quite a mess!
Looking back, sure it was a pain to have to jump in and untangle the mess, but it was great to go for a swim. I didn't expect to be doing that in the middle of the Pacific. If only it could have been in better circumstances...
Since then I've warmed up, stuffed down a good freeze-dried meal and am working my way though a giant (and rather melted) Toblerone. The stars are out shining amazingly brightly and I've seen loads of shooting stars. Every cloud has a silver lining...
©MikePerham2009
A Day in the Life - 14 06 09
At the moment each day is pretty much like the last at the moment and the day ahead doesn't look like it's going to throw up too many surprises. As a good friend of mine once said: 'No day is harder than the next'.
At first light every morning I'm often changing up the sails to push a little harder during the day. This morning I bunged up the genneker and it was good to see her flying. After making sure I was totally happy with everything above decks I made my way inside again for a little more sleep before having a good chat with my Dad and a couple of close friends. Since Hobart, I've had my Iridium phone sponsored by Clearpoint Weather and that has been really good as I can now chat without thinking about the mounting bill and all the pound coins continuously falling through the hole in my pocket!
I then grab some breakfast, often some porridge with sultanas or strawberries or perhaps even some pancakes and probably put my feet up for a little while chilling out with breakfast in hand, drink on the side and book in front of me.
Next, I fill up my two buckets with sea water and have a nice shower which cools me off nicely. I always finish off by pouring a litre of fresh water over myself - otherwise the salt would start to aggravate my skin. The rest of the morning typically passes by filled with random events and the next thing I know it's time for lunch. After rummaging through all my different meals, I pick out the one I feel like most - chicken casserole today. I'll cook that up and usually eat it sitting outside enjoying the sunshine (hopefully!).
I wash out the pan using seawater and then bung that back inside. So, lunch has come and gone, hello mid afternoon. This is usually filled with odd jobs here and there, around and about and today one of mine was to tighten up my preventer/kicker line which has stretched a bit more since leaving Auckland. This line holds the boom tight down to the deck, which flattens the sail keeping it off the spreaders and therefore reducing chafe. Also should I accidentally gybe, it prevents the boom whipping across and slamming into my running backstay with a huge amount of force.
In the evening I usually answer a few emails, do my blog and settle down to a late dinner before retiring and grabbing some sleep caught in bursts of 40min or so. I have a few different alarms on board to make sure that I wake up, as the Totallymoney.com needs constant attention. At night I'm just as ready to bung a reef in as during the day and so, if it's a busy night with lots of sail changes, then that's just what happens and you have to deal with it and sleep more during the day.
Then dawn arrives and the routine starts all over again...
The front, which had finally moved on, has now slowed right down again and Totallymoney.com is moving faster than it – that’s the great thing about open 50's! I’ve caught it up again and have been sailing under it, experiencing some more squally conditions.
It's more stable than it was a few days ago but it's still a bit mucked up. It's hard to predict what's going to happen over the next couple of days with this front now but I’m going to continue making our best progress ENE to get into a good position for a high pressure system that we're approaching. I've now fully cleared the reefs and am definitely more relaxed. I passed quite close to a couple not so long ago and so I didn't get much sleep due to worrying about hitting them. If we're doing 11-12knots and a wind shift comes through and I'm sleeping I could hit one within an hour so it's definitely nice to be heading out into the open sea once again and put these islands behind me.
The sky was really grey today which reminded me loads of the South...but then I thought of the coming sunshine – perhaps I prefer that!
©MikePerham2009
Thanks from Mum and Dad - 14 06 09
Just want to say thank you for all the comments wishing us a happy 25th Wedding Anniversary. With a son like Mike and a daughter like Fiona, we can only wonder what the next 25 years will bring.
This voyage has certainly turned our lives up-side-down, but having support and encouragement from so many people is hugely uplifting.
We would also like to take this opportunity to clarify the record that Mike hopes to attain. So long as he continues to sail across every meridian of longitude, crosses the equator and return to his starting point, he should become the youngest person to sail around the world single-handed (assisted - because he has stopped and accepted help) and therefore, also the youngest circumnavigator.
Best wishes to everyone
Heather and Peter
Panama or Cape? - 13 06 09
The front that’s been messing me around has finally decided to move eastwards. I've now got some more steadier northwest conditions which are allowing me to make around 9knots in an east-north-east direction. There were a couple of gusts which came through into the low 30's and Totallymoney.com just accelerated out of them with the greatest of ease – she always seems to handle everything with a good solid stride.
Within 24hours I'll be clear of the reefs, which I'm looking forward to and I'll be able to relax a little more. I've got three more to pass, two of which look like I’m going to pass fairly close by, depending on the wind direction, so it's going to be an interesting night.
Well, I'm happy to say that I've decided to go for Panama Canal instead of Cape Horn. There’s quite a few reasons why I've made this decision and I'm happy that they're the right ones. First of all, there's no denying that it is now winter in the Southern Ocean and with the reduced daylight hours and fiercer storms it doesn't look sensible - yes the weather is more predictable but I've been watching the weather around the area and there's been a good few depressions which I'm glad I haven't had to sail through. Secondly, I’ve managed to come much further north than I originally expected, due to avoiding a large depression when I left New Zealand – so it now makes sense to continue on North and not drop all the way back down into the South.
A big part of me feels rather gutted that I won't be able to sail around Cape Horn, after all it is Cape Horn, The cape of capes! I dreamt about rounding it before I left and then coming onto the home stretch after that - but it’s not to be.
However, what I really dreamed about most was the Southern Ocean and the sheer force of it. The huge swells, the unrelenting winds, the storms, the challenges, the greyness and the isolation. No other ocean comes anywhere close to the challenge of the Southern and I'm proud to say that I've well and truly ticked that box.
I've been deep into the Southern ocean, crossed it on my own and experienced some incredible conditions, the kind you can only try to imagine. It's very hard to describe the feeling of surfing down 50ft plus swells and the drop of Totallymoney.com as she plummets down to the bottom, wondering what's going to happen when we get down there!
I loved the Southern Ocean - it was the toughest part of the trip but it's certainly been the best. I'll miss the albatrosses and the huge swells, that's for sure. I'll miss the feeling of Totallymoney.com priming herself for another of the countless crazy and yet perfectly safe fast surfs she does. For me, the Southern Ocean represents everything that this trip is about. It was very isolated but it's a beautiful place to me and one I'm sure I'll see it again.
Have I fallen in love with the South? Yes I think I have. I'll be back here that's for sure. There's unfinished business now...
©MikePerham2009
Food, Glorious Food Bag - 12 06 09
Today brought the start of a new food bag, which I've been looking forward to for the last couple of days. When I open a new food bag I always eat the best and most yummy stuff first and leave my least favourites until the end - so yesterday, at the end of the previous two-week food-bag, there wasn't much to choose from! It was great to have my all-time favourite meal on the boat for lunch – chicken in white sauce with pasta, and it really kicked the day off to a good start.
I've spent a fair bit of the afternoon filming and getting shots of this that and another for the Channel 4 documentary, which has kept me busy. The days are really flying past now, it seems like it was just yesterday that I left Auckland. Well you know what they say, "time flies when you're having fun" and I'm certainly enjoying myself out here.
This evening there was another amazing cloudless sunset. The whole sky turned orange, then pink and then red. I sat in the cockpit just taking this all in and thinking of how lucky I am to be here seeing these amazing sights. While there was still a little light left I picked up the book I'm reading and finished that off too, just struggling to read the last few pages as it was almost dark by then.
I'm now sailing very close to an area full of reefs, so I have to be pretty careful with my course. I'm juggling which route to take through this area, which is going to take two days to cross, and I'll make my decision based on the wind direction, which, as ever, is proving to be most unreliable – I’ve had everything from north-west to south-east winds, ranging from 0 to 25knots.
A big part of me would love to stop and explore this tropical area, which I'm now passing through. Not in Totallymoney.com though, as she's not the right boat for going near islands and reefs - perhaps in a cruising boat some day…
©MikePerham2009
The 100th Day - 11 06 09
Well we've finally hit the 100th day if I've got my maths right, it's great to tick off that big number! I'm now pretty much two thirds of the way around the world and that feels pretty good.
This morning gave me some hard conditions with only 2knots of breeze… at one point I was even sailing backwards! Yup, that's right, I woke up this morning to find Totallymoney’s bow was pointing the right way but with the wind so light and on the nose we were moving backwards at 0.7 knots.
I went outside and finished off what was becoming a bit of a three-point-turn. I started to make headway at around 1.5knots, which wasn't terribly spectacular, but was much better than going backwards! The wind slowly filled in and after a few squalls had been through it suddenly jumped round to the north which is what I've been hoping and waiting for to happen for the last couple of days. This meant I could crack off the sheets and speed away a bit more now making nine knots or so in the increasing wind.
Totallymoney.com’s movement became much more relaxed and to celebrate I decided to have a shower and put on a whole new set of clothes.
It's hard sailing when you have no idea what the next wind shift is going to be and what’s going to happen with the weather. I've spent a lot of time sky-reading as what’s going on up there affects me directly down here. After a squall passed close by earlier there was this really bright rainbow extremely close by, which was pretty impressive to say the least.
©MikePerham2009
Exclusive Interview with Mike - 10 06 09
This is a quick note from the SailMike team. We have recorded an exclusive interview with Mike, which we hope you will all be interested in. You can find it just below the satellite tracker and above the video blog.
Please feel free to leave any feedback below, as it encourages him as he pursues his journey. Mike finds the interaction invaluable, particularly during challenging times, and says that the supportive comments he receives often help him remain optimistic in the face of obstacles and difficulties.
Sleep at Last! - 10 06 09
Wow, what a good night’s sleep I managed to get last night! Much needed after the lack of sleep I’ve been having lately.
It was quite settled so I was able to sleep for 40minutes straight, wake up, check the boat and check for other shipping then jump back on my bunk for another 40minutes. This routine went right through from midnight until around 7am and I've felt much better today for it.
These crazy and strange conditions continue giving us weather which isn't anything like the weather models are suggesting. For example, the models currently suggest around 20knots from the northwest and some nice running conditions, but actually I've got 20knots from the ESE, which annoying as it’s exactly where I want to go! There’s a front which is mucking this all up but I'm hopefully going to be clear of most of its effects tomorrow and into some nice reaching conditions.
I've started using my mobile phone as my alarm clock since leaving Auckland as I've found it much more accurate than the boat alarm. The problem with my phone alarm is that it isn't quite as loud - so I've been known to sleep through it before. I've overcome this by coming up with a great solution, some duck tape! What I now do is set the alarm and duck tape my phone to the top of my shirt quite close to my ear so that I hear it nice and loud – the vibrate function helps as well!
I'm looking forward to some steadier conditions but for now this is okay as at least there’s some wind which I can use to make some decent progress. The worst thing is not having any wind at all!
It was my parents Silver wedding anniversary yesterday - Happy anniversary to you Mum and Dad. You're the best parents in the world!
©MikePerham2009
Falling Over - 09 06 09
After last night’s moonbow, I thought things were getting a bit more settled and so I decided to go grab half-an-hour’s kip. It was quite light and variable at the time and I had set the pilot to steer off the apparent wind angle so that Totallymoney.com would adjust herself with the wind if there were any changes whilst I slept.
I soon fell asleep. When I opened my eyes next the boat was leaning right over on it's side, pinned right down to the water. My first thought was that this really is an odd angle, one I've never quite experienced before - not for more than a few seconds anyway. The boat was literally right over on her side with the first set of spreaders about a foot off the water.
While I was sleeping the wind dropped off so much that the pilot couldn't cope and so it took us head on into the wind and then into a position where all the sails were backed up against the boat. This wouldn’t have been so bad but then a sudden squall decided to grace us with 25knots of wind - the combination of that, the ballast on the wrong side and the genneker and main pinned up against the rig put Totallymoney.com right on her side. The great thing about Open 50's is that they're just so light and so the water wasn't even anywhere near touching the cockpit, and I was pleased to see that only a small amount of water had gotten inside.
I quickly threw on my harness and made my way out into the completely wrong angled cockpit. Shame it was at night as it would have made a cracking photo! I stood on the edge of the cockpit and eased off the sheet of the genneker with the winch above my head and I slowly came a bit more upright into a slightly more sane position. After this I bunged on my running backstay, eased off the other one and eased the main out too and finally we reached a normal angle.
The sails were flogging and so I immediately furled the genneker in, bunged out my solent and with that I was able to catch the wind that took me round and off downwind.
In my rush to get the genneker away as quickly as possible to prevent it tearing in half and also damaging the rig I had managed to do a bit of a bodge job and it was threatening to half unfurl itself again at the top of the sail, which is a nightmare to deal with.
“Stuff it,” I thought, I couldn’t afford for it to unfurl in these conditions and wreck the sail and so I decided to blow the halyard and shove the furled sail down into the sail locker – albeit in a rather untidy way, I have to admit.
The sheets and furling line followed it not-so-gracefully but at least the big girl was down below in the locker where it couldn't cause any trouble, thankfully. I'll wait for a calmer day before I bring it out again and sort her properly. It's my favourite sail and I'm always using it when we're sailing downwind.
That squall proved to be the start of a chain of many more and I've spent all the time going from one to another. I put in a reef before I finished tidying up on deck for good measure and I started trucking along eastwards much to my relief. It was starting to get light before I got any more sleep and so I can say my grand total for the night came to little more than two hours.
This rainy area has continued and I've had really strong southerly winds for the whole day. This is a bit odd, as none of the weather models really show any 30knots southerly winds in this area. They all show around 10knots from the north. But hey I'm not gonna complain as I've made brilliant progress throughout the day. I'm kind of expecting the wind to swing right round to the north sometime soon so maybe it's going to be another busy night...
©MikePerham2009
