Knockdowns,wind,waves and no lunch..............!

It's been a few exciting days and the wind is finally softening a bit. Yesterday we had great sailing,sea snakes and a huge sunfish. Last night it was dolphins and large confused seas with 30kts of wind..if you are following the tracker you will see we have been flying surfing every few minutes and nearly hitting a 150 mile day...but it has been demanding on all of us as conditions were in the danger zone for a roll over and we had another knockdown and a few layovers with water coming into the boat over the rails...Chris and I slept in our safety harnesses as it was a night that anything could happen...

We knew it was building all night, with water all over the boat..it was a case of hang on for the ride and do not go over the side..did I ever tell you how hard it is to Pee of Talisker Bounty Boat..it is very hard...In the morning it was like being back in the Southern Ocean..steely gray with 4mtr seas breaking all over the place...as the afternoon progressed we had what we call 20 minute specials...6mtr walls of water at regular intervals, 3 or 4 one after the other that would send us off in a rush...fortunately only a couple broke to give us any concern but we swallowed hard often..we have great faith in Talisker Bounty Boat..and the conditions, while short and steep( because of the shallow water) are not good, they would normally be just challenging ...so so..but then when I remind myself that we are not self righting, and would float upside down, I focus clearly on the importance of proper helming...as we all do...everyone does a great job!.

Dave W was on the helm when we were knocked flat again..Chris ended up on top of me under the dodger and gear went every where..that was repeated a few times to a lesser extent during the day...Now..1800hr we are all thinking it will be an easier night with winds back to 15-20kts , Big swells but they do not appear to be breaking as often...

Of course we played up the fun side of all this speed!! While surfing we calculated that we could be in Kupang around the 14th as we have covered half the distance in just four days..CAN WE CATCH BLIGH???..he was ashore on the morning of the 15th??..I think now we will be there on the 16th?

I am trying for a noon sight every day now to make sure we hit Timor..yesterday was not good and put us about 20 miles north of the DR position and today I just gave up..bad horizon and too much sea..hopefully tomorrow will be better!!

Roger " Clouds" Badam has been our weather man on standby for late Cyclones or bad storms..we have not asked for daily forecasts as Bligh had none, but this afternoon we needed to calculate our ETA for all the media/friends heading to Kupang so we asked for the first time...Thanks for being there during this trip Roger..I am so glad we did not need you to track any Cyclones!!!..based on Rogers forecast I think it will be the afternoon on the 16th?? we shall see.

Dave W was just serving up dinner..Baked beans...he slid off the life raft and crashed into the electrical Box..something went crack...I asked he not do that again??..one minute later he slid off again with another wave..he was apologetic..I worried about the electrical....three minutes latter he did it a third time..this time loosing someones dinner in the bilge as another wave came into the cockpit...and then nearly a fourth time!! ..I am yet to check the electrical??

So ..LUNCH..when I mentioned canceling it for fun two days ago there was lots of laughs and comments like push me overboard..lost me marbles etc..when I told the crew yesterday it was for real there was silence...I know we are getting too much food as we are all being picky..Dave P is the only one who eats everything so he will miss lunch..but he had decided not to eat the tinned beef anymore as he can see Kupang in the distance...At last nights dinner the beef was opened and then Dave W said he will not eat it anymore either?? so Chris and I had to eat half a can each..which upset the equation a bit.and Dave W thought I was being a hypocrite for eating it and it should be thrown away if we want to starve ourselves...so as the Dave's are not eating beef..Chris and I will only get a can ever other day...all rather strange ...Now the Dave's are just eating 4 biscuits a day...in protest I think...and Dave P gets three dates for lunch as do Chris and I..but Dave W will not eat them either....it all got a little heated the discussion and it is yet to play out as food can be a touchy subject...but an interesting exercise by the time we get into Kupang..maybe the Hamburger will be eaten after all...

So now things are drying out a bit...yes the dodger leaked and we all got wet... we are hoping for a fast but quiet night....fingers crossed...Don..can we catch Bligh??..