0800 Tues 26th Day 7 N77 24 E064 33 Pressure 1004 Wind NE 20 knots cloud 8/8 full Genoa out, and one reef in main.
Choppy sea, taking four hour tacks. These sea conditions make it hard to sleep, cook or relax. We are considering many elements all the time. We are due new Russian Ice charts today.
We know the North west in pretty clear, but this year is a very unusual year in the north east passage. Normally the Laptev sea would be pretty open now as in previous years. It is not. This is also partly due to the wind blowing the pack ice down south and consolidating next to the land.
So, we need to get through the straight and through the Laptev sea. So where do we wait until we can do this ? We have deliberately taken our time to get to this point, and used the wind as much as we can to conserve fuel. Now the weather has changed, the wind direction has also changed. From the calm turquoise seas, to choppy short seas, wet, windy and cold.
So we took a long tack north, and then tacked east again. There is No hurry. We will slowly make our way east, and if we can find an island with no fast ice around, will look for a sheltered spot, until we get better ice conditions. The other options are to Heave to and wait, but this is a sailing Yacht, she needs to sail. And if we get a Southerly blow, it could change our chances very quickly to get around, so we need to be close to react.
So, another day at the office.
David