Hi everyone,
Forgot to post our position
yesterday and had to do an emergency text to Kimberly late last night.
Current Position:
20:00 UTC / 4:00pm eastern
Daylight Savings Time36 58.408 N
41 37.206 W
Spd 8 kts Course 81 True
Motor sailing full sail in 20
kts of sea, charging batteries and putting some miles in the bank after a long
slow night.
Last evening we had a wind shift
that headed us south and the only way to hold our course was to sail directly
downwind. This is generally our weakest
point of sail with the sloop rig and because we blew out our new
reacher/downwind sail "Big Blue" we were fit to be tied. The best way to handle this point of sail is
with the whisker pole on the genoa set "wing and wing". Grandpa has a thing against the whisker pole
and the thought of running this rig at night wasn't what he signed up for. To add insult to the situation the air was
moist and foggy so visibility was terrible.
We set off on our course and the boat flopped and the sails flogged so
violently that it clearly wasn't going to work for us. So we tried a few different things, in the
end we went with the genoa alone with the whisker pole. We were only doing 2.5 kts but we had a
positive 1 kt current so we managed about 3.5 kts all night....it sucked.
Anyway with the morning light we
were able to set full sail wing and wing and watch it close to avoid accidental
jibes. Midwatch settled in and we did
6.5 kts for hours. Then a shower came
through and the wind clocked around to the starboard quarter just enough to
allow for a broad reach. We set off and
ran the motor to charge the batteries. I
am hopeful that this wind will get us most of the way to the Azores.
Of note: we saw a container ship
today and were visited in the morning by a pod of a dozen dolphins. The VHF radio has come to life again with
lots of chatter in what we think is Portuguese so it really feels like we are
getting somewhere.
Then the most amazing thing I
have ever seen happened. Grandpa
"cooked" lunch on the stove.
He did pretty good too. He
started to give me all kinds of s...t about how he would have cooked before if
he knew where stuff was and so on and so forth.
In any case I am proud of him for that moment.
We haven't taken many pictures
because it doesn't really look like much on film out here and we are getting
pretty shaggy to say the least. Grandpa
invested $16 in a bag that contained 4 pairs of cargo short type things made of
sweat pant material. He says he is just
going to throw them over the side when he is done. They are cut wide and square and though they
are technically shorts they reach to his ankles. They are the most god awful things you have
ever seen but he is extremely proud of his purchase. They also have numerous large pockets to
which he has been adding tools and headlamps and snacks and such. I think he is using the stuff as ballast as
the pockets are around his ankles. He
hasn't gotten his sea legs yet and I fear he won't before the trip is done so
maybe the pocket ballast idea isn't so bad after all. Maybe I will snap a picture when he isn't
looking.
On the boat repair front I have
been trying to find the source of all the little leaks we never knew we
had. My rudder bearing work is not
leaking but there are some small cracks in the fiberglass in that general area
that are. I don't think it is anything
serious but I will need to try and attend to it as soon as possible.
The radar wouldn't work last
night. It is my most loved and hated
piece of equipment.
Our propane sensor got doused in
bilge slop and is in continuous alarm mode.
I rinsed it in freshwater today and hope it dries out and works
again. We will see. Everyone's favorite topic the
"composting toilet", is performing admirably. We have had to keep the toilet ventilation
shut off most of the time but with just the two of us it doesn't seem to be a problem. It is entirely possible that the boat reeks
and we have no idea. We will see if the
customs officials in the Azores linger down below or not.
Our water tank still reads
full. We have been so conservative in
our water usage that we could probably do three loops around the entire
Atlantic on one fill up. Since we ran
the engine today giving us hot water I think we can declare a shower night
tonight.
The most difficult part of the
trip continues to be getting through the nights with so little sleep and
keeping our sorry selves fed. During the
day we seem busy and happy enough and don't nap when we should. There is more excitement building that the
Azores are within reach.
Today we opened the new book on
the Azores that Kim got us before we left.
On the third page was a map with the counter ocean currents that we have
been experiencing and text saying we should be further north. The problem has been there are storms further
north. I will take the counter currents
over the storms any day...and today we have a 1 kt positive current.
All for now,
Love Dad and Grandpa
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