Ella

Do dolphins like music? Yes, I believe they do. Often they visit the
boat at the end of the day. During diner I played some old recordings of
performances by Ella and this immediately attracked a group of dolphins.
They stayed longer then usual, obviously to listen to the music. After
they were gone a second group of black/white dolphins came alongside to
enjoy the music. Dolphins have sharp ears and apparently a good taste.
Would they like the military music Mervyn plays at redicoulous volumes
during the prestart of any race ? I learned from his wife that at home
he is not allowed to play any of that music, so that is probably why he
goes to sea. I can assure you that they like Ella Fidzgerald. Try it
for yourself. Just download the album Get Happy by Ella Fidzgerald on
iTunes, go to sea, play Yellow Basket and have your cameras ready.

What else ?

After my little beauty sleep this morning I see that the sun's come
through now. Only sevens and eights on the display. What else could a
single handed sailor wish for? Except of course for good company, a hot
shower, a cold beer .. eh.. let me stop here. Being on your own for a week
perfectly makes clear what is really important and what you can do
without.

BRRRR

Air temperature only 11 deg C .. That wasn't mentioned in the Notice of
Race! The notherly breeze brought us cold rainy weather. Last night we
had more wind then I expected with 20 kts. A very dark night, with no
moon or stars. You could hardly see the water or the horizon, so it felt
like the boat is floating on nothing. Short waves, unsettled, the
powering in 20kts of breeze. Like being in a simulator of the
IJsselmeer. I stayed inside for most of the night.
There are not so many tactical options left. The wind will stay NNW
according to the forecast. But you never know.

Gybed

It was a buzy night. After diner I changed from the small to the big
light gennaker. The Gribs forecasted Southerly 10-12 knots during the
night backing Westerly. We had for bundles of coulds coming over, some
with and some without wind in them. Very decent boatspeed and perhaps we
could overtake Ntumbi who is 10 miles ahead. And indeed, at 0200 I could
see a white light and at 0310 I had overtaken them. Just after
overtaking Ntumbi I started to prepare for the gybe. Gybing took an
hour! First the gennaker down. Then a stormround to avoid breaking
mainsail cars as I did in my last gybe. On port tack now I first had to
come around the stern of Ntumbi (so effectively I sailed around them,
sorry guys). Hoisted the gennaker but completely twisted. Took it
down again. Stowed it properly in a bag which gave a better result on
the second attempt to set the sail. After a small broach sudddenly in
18kts, things settled down and I could go in again.

HOME OF JAZZ - DINER

Happy hour with Borrelnootjes an original Dutch delight, much
appreciated by visiting sailors. Then a proper starter Veloutes de
Legumes, followed by Tartiflette Savoyarde (ou-la-la) and as desert
Creme Chocolade (comme l'amour c'est fantastique). All of this with a
magnificent Ocean View and a decent 8 knots under gennaker at 150 TWA.
Just great!

Learning to sail

High spirits on board Home of Jazz. I finally learned how to use the
heavy asymetric spinaker. This sail needs a spinnaker pole!!
During the Round Britain 2010 we (Harry Vogel and me) couldn't get the
new sail "in the groove". During AZAB I hoisted it several times
(halyard, sheet and tackline) only to take it down again after a short
while. Uncontrollable, not stable, small window to steer, and so on.
Really frustrating. The sail is intended for sailing at 150 degree True
Wind Angle. Now what a huge difference it is to hoist it with a spi-pole
about 1 meter to luff. Now very stable, boat well balanced, perfect! So
the sail has been up all day. The autopiot can deal with it easily. I
could catch up some sleep. Glorious sunshine, shirts and shorts, top
day!!

Emergency repair

When I want to put the kettle on the origo cooker appeared to be broken.
One of the hinches eat itself through the metal bracket. Lucky
that bicycle repair man bought himself a new drill to fix the problem.