Day 2 Gloucester to Cape Upstart

Gloucester to Cape Upstart

Today was a 48 nautical mile sail from Gloucester to Cape Upstart with a secret time of between 3-4.00pm.  Anchor was up at 7.00pm as we motored out of the bay and hoisted the mainsail.  We had a good southerly breeze blowing so unfurled the Screecher and set sail.  It was a rather cool cloudy day with a decent breeze for most of the day between 12 to 15 knots so we were able to average around 7 to 8 knots.  It was obviously way too fast for any fish to hook onto the lures trolling off the back or Rhapsody.  Today was joke day and the crews were kept busy as the fleet radioed their jokes in to be judged at our sundowner later today.  Due to the favourable winds, everyone was way ahead of time, but no one was complaining.  We even managed to spot a pod of pilot whales passing our bow at Abbott Point.  By the time we were 4 nautical miles from the finish the breezed had died due to shelter from the cliffs and the fleet had pulled down sails and started engines to motor the final leg into Cape Upstart.

At 4.30 pm the fleet had made their way to the beach by dinghy for a sunset wine and cheese night.  We watched a spectacular sunset over the fleet anchored in the bay and the friendly rivalry created much quizzing and discussion as to who sailed the entire distance and who cheated along the way with a little engine assistance.

Tomorrow we are sailing to Cape Bowling Green approximately 35 nautical miles, let the tactics begin.