Day 26 – Trade winds, are we there yet?
We’re sure that we’re not about to jinx everything (but we’re crossing our fingers anyway) when we say that so far the crews have been relatively fortunate with the weather. Broadly speaking there hasn’t been extended periods when the crews have been stuck on the parachute anchor and been stuck for days on end with minimal progress. When the winds have been strong they haven’t caused the crew too much trouble and actually helped propel them towards Barbados. It’s also great to see the forecast suggesting extended periods of favourable weather.
Its this stability which is considered to be the trade winds we have previously spoken about. Nothing crazy just a “hopefully” reliable nudge in the right direction. We’re sure that the crews will still be wondering when the trade winds will arrive as the struggle of winds coming from a direction which is at 90 degrees to the ideal will be a fairly distant memory. There is no line to cross or point at which we can say to the crews, “You have reached the trade winds” but looking at the long range forecast for the crews’ expected route and having seen their stable progress it’s fair to say that they are (and have been) in the trade winds for a little while.
There’s limited news from the crews today as they continue to remain focussed on doing what they do best, heaving on the oars and making the mileage towards Barbados.
