The taste of sand

Emily Little reports from on board Compaq in the BT Global Challenge

5 June
We are about 90 miles off the coast of Mauritania (another African country I am ashamed to admit I didn't know existed). In case you are equally unfamiliar with this part of the world, Mauritania contains at least part of the Sahara Desert. And on board Compaq we know it contains the Sahara because for the last watch or two we've been able to smell the hot, dry sandy air coming off it and feel the sandy grit in our eyes. David, our onboard contact lens wearer, was struggling so badly on the last watch he resorted to the helming goggles that last got an outing on wet and wild days in the Southern Ocean.

We had been moving along nicely. The breeze was from a good direction. There was 10 to 15 knots of it and we were sailing good and fast. Will warned us to watch out for the breeze swinging right into the north and for it to die in strength. This would signify that we were on the edge of the Saharan heat low that had moved offshore slightly at night. During our last watch, the breeze hinted at going right a couple of times, it hinted at dying a couple of times but not enough to act upon. The plan was to tack out on that shift, avoid the decline in pressure and skirt round the edge of it.

Suddenly, we hit a brick wall of no wind. Wham. The breeze went from about 10 knots to 3 and the direction went from averaging in the 340s to 010. No warning. There it was. Serious UGH.

Will the others be in this? Will Logica? Will LG Flatron? Will they be in it for longer than us? How long is it going to last? This slapping of sails is such a kick in the teeth.

7 June

21N 17W
So, we finally got ourselves out of that little frustrating wind hole and into the NE Trades proper. The front of the fleet did get caught by the low allowing the back to catch up a bit. LG Flatronpulled through the fleet and is now sitting third to our second and Logica's first. We are bashing into the wind which is anything from 17 to 25 knots and right from the direction we are heading in. The last position report showed us holding our position.

The next bit of fun and games will be getting past the Canaries. This mountainous collection of islands can create wind shadows for a hundred miles or so downwind of them, so not getting caught out by that will be a good call!

Now we are beating into the wind again I can't believe we sailed through all the Southern Ocean, again, mostly heeled over on our ear. How quickly the mind and body forgets! How on earth did I do it? We are back to walking around the boat with all four limbs, to full foulies and lifejackets, to water over the deck and bouncing heads. Oh what fun!

8 June

We are now off Morocco. After a third consecutive night of keeping our eyes peeled for hostile fishing boats, we are happy to be moving well. Everyone makes jokes about pirates and things but in all honesty, these are not the friendliest waters to be sailing through especially when you are under sail and not motor. Many of the fishing boats don't display the correct navigation lights at night. The ships - of which there are many - are unwilling to give way to us though we have right of way. At least twice we've had precariously-lit boats come up very close to us and turn off at the last minute. There are many strange and not altogether friendly voices on the VHF. Often the only English we hear spoken on Channel 16 on the VHF (yes, that's the emergency channel) is not to be repeated.

Otherwise, still trucking along well, tacking up the coast and setting ourselves up for the Canaries.