As recorded by her gallant Captain and crew.
Up the minute news and information on the Racing Yacht Coyote and her continuing journeys!
Coyote and crew #6 have not seen the sun since Saturday,it has been foggy and wet, especially at night. The stars came out 5 times last night, each time for a few minutes, then disappeared again! We crossed with another PacCup racer this morning at 6am as they came out of the fog. Perhaps it was Sapphire from RYC. Good winds 25-28 knots continue, as do the 9 foot seas, makes for fast sailing, but keeps the spinnaker in the bag. Boat is rolling like crazy making everything hard to do! (We found a few leaks, as the deals are wet all the time with lots of waves e landing on the boat.) We just cannot keep Coyote on her feet with the kite up, the gusts continue in the high 30’s and the confused seas. We were on a broad reach for the past 24 hours, our current sail configuration is an old 135% poled out. (Ripped our racing 135% this morning.) Some repairs are already needed when we arrive„,(From last night) Bent stanchion, broken jib halyard shackle, and torn sails. We were lucky to start with a good sail inventory. At our start on Tuesday, we had the Main and 135% jib up, then switched to the 150% light jib at Duxburry Reef, which really paid off. We kept the reaching configuration up until Friday. Friday morning we set our large spinnaker, then changed down to the shy kite in the evening as the winds continued to build, and boat control became an issue. Saturday we went to the 90% jib and main and reached all night. We posted 198 miles from 8am Friday to 8am Saturday. Sunday morning we went back to our 135% jib, looks like 199 miles during the 24 hour period with the 90% and 135%! One of these days we will break 200 miles… Food continues to be excellent…this morning we unloaded the 2nd Ice Chest of frozen food (Popsicles did not make it). This load includes BBQ Chicken, Steaks, Lasagna, Greek Chicken, and Pork Tenderloin. Some we will BBQ, some just oven heat. Looks like tomorrow morning around 4am will be our half way mark, so we will celebrate!! Crew work continues to impress me. No one has tons of experience, but everyone has key “gifts” they are contributing to the team effort all day and all night. With all the noise and movement of the boat, I have gotten very little sleep, until last night - when I finally broke down and put in ear plugs, slept like a baby from 4am until 6am, and 6am until 8am this morning! That’s all for now. Coyote
