Well, shortly after I had sent yesterdays blog the wind died again and we had to motor for a couple of hours before re meeting it, when it re arrrived it was quite strong so we went straight to one reef and put another in a bit later. We stayed on that tack all day and night making good speed to the se and tacked again this morning so now heading NE with the wind about East at 20 and a bit knots, its wet and bumpy but we are making good speed.
I was experimenting with the autopilot and things yesterday, i have put in a switch which is supposed to lock the steering and its quite easy, upwind, to just lock it and yemaya sails herself, but for some reason, slowly, the helm increases and we end up further off the wind. I could understand if it decreased, because the forces want it to decrease and the clutch locks it against the hydraulics which could slowly move , but for it to go the other way is a mystery. Hey ho, boats!
We did 112 miles yesterday ending up 71 closer to Ponce in Puerto Rico, and currently have 258 miles to run. A few days still!
Slainte Jock and Yemaya.
Is the windvane not the most ecenomic and best steering device especially upwind?