There was no wind when we left and there is no wind now to speak of. It has tried to blow a couple of times and both times we stopped the ‘noisy beast’ and made sail all to no avail as it only lasts for about half an hour. We cannot run for much longer under engine as we shall have to conserve some fuel for emergencies and getting into harbour, so I guess we will soon be languishing waiting for the wind, I might have left a day or two to soon.
There have been big cumulus nimbus clouds around all night and this morning, with occasional lightning and plenty of rain under them, but we seem to have avoided them but there was one that gave me concern, I was tinkering with something and looked up to see a waterspout not too far away, so I grabbed the cameras and got some footage and stills, then I thought which way is it going as it was certainly getting closer to us and it was looking quite impressive, especially where it made contact with the water. After a bit of weaving I decided to stand on our course and we managed to skirt around it, even so it was a bit worrying, there was certainly wind under there but not the kind I wanted.
We are working 4 hours on and 4 off at the moment with two two hour dogwatches to break up the pattern and this seems to be good for us. The person off during the first dog does the dinner and the person off for the last dog does the washing up, so alls fair.
5/10/07 Friday
We spent Wednesday motoring through the day in no wind and by the evening we had put in the last can of diesel, we now had only the full tank to rely on, so the engine was stopped and we then languished and tried to sail the boat. On my four hour shift we travelled a whole two miles. This continued through the night and all day on Thursday and now into Friday evening with no real improvement when we do get a bit of breeze we can get up to a couple of knots sometimes but the wind, what there is is coming from our destination, has been very fickle. On the upside we had a couple of whales with us on Thursday afternoon for a couple of hours and they came right up beside the boat so hopefully I have got some good shots. We have looked in the collins gem dolphins and whales book and reckon they might have been ‘Trues beaked whales’ but some expert out there will no doubt tell us exactly what they were.
On Wednesday at 2300 we logged 1000 miles at sea.
The MP3 is getting a good listening too, I don’t often get the chance normally, and spent 18 months going through the whole play list from A-Z. now I’ve finished that I thought I may as well start again and see if I can do it a bit quicker, only 2655 tracks to go.
During the day it has been really warm so when off watch I have been taking a cushion up onto the foredeck and going to sleep up there in the sun, its much more peaceful up there anyway.
The food situation could get interesting soon, some of the fresh stuff we bought in Sines has gone or gone off so we’ll be into the tinned stores soon, at least it will be making the boat lighter. That’s one good thing about flat calms it is dead easy to rustle up some really fantastic meals, it’s the washing up that’s a pain, no dishwasher out here.
Saturday 6/10/07
We motored for five hours last evening until midnight, this charged the batteries and gained us another 25 miles, but since we stopped at midnight we have done just that, and stopped. From midnight up to 1600 and we have gone a whole 4 miles, ‘THRUST, THRUST WE NEED MORE THRUST! ! ! !’ this is now bordering on maddening.
I had a swim today as the conditions were perfect, the water was in fact very nice for swimming and as it is so hot it was really refreshing.
We are hoping we will finally get some breeze tonight, we have about another five hours of frivolous use from the diesel before we keep it for emergencies and entering harbour and I’m reluctant to use it too early as we may get wind and then stop again when we get close and that’s when we would want to motor, arrrgh what a dilemma. This is not the weather that had been predicted, we should have had a good northerly from Friday onwards but still we are bobbing around going nowhere.
On a lighter note I was on the 4 am to 8 this morning so I put on my MP3 to pass the time and boredom of not sailing and the first track up (now up to B's on the playlist) was Bohemian rhapsody which was ideal and put me into a much better frame of mind straight away, just what was needed, and yes I did the 'Wayne's world' bit of head shaking too.
We seem to have floated past (or they us) several dead turtles today, there was certainly no movement from them even when we passed close by.
Right time to put some dinner on, its getting difficult to concoct something good now as the fresh ingredients are dwindling away.
Sunday 07/10/07
Late last evening we started to feel a breeze and the boat started moving, albeit at between zero and one knot, when the log registered the movement at all. This morning we were going along at up to two knots, something we haven't done for a while, this seemed fast.
Now its evening and we have occasionally been over four knots but its usually a steady 3.5 ish. progress at last, with the promise of more wind to come, we may get there yet. Yippeee ! !
Now that we are moving again the towed generator is putting some power back into the starved batteries, and not before time. we had to turn off the fridge for a while, but there is hardly anything left in there now, mostly cheeses.
There is a lack of shipping in these parts, saw nothing for a complete 24 hour period and then only briefly. I don't mind that it makes the watches a lot easier.
Wednesday 10/10/07
The last few days at sea were quite fresh with big seas running, so we had gone from one extreme to the other. we feel as though we have had a thorough testing from her ladyship (mother nature), patience and resolve through the calms and stamina through the rough bit, but we have come through it now.
We arrived in Arrecife this afternoon, the holding is dire, it took us no end of attempts to get the anchor to hold. I think we have it snagged nicely in some old chain or rope on the bottom, the tripping line could come in useful to get it back up again.
Thursday 11/10/07
Chris has himself booked on a flight home this evening so he's hired a car for the day to go sightseeing, this was useful for going to get some more diesel for the boat. He wanted to stay a couple more days to see a bit of the place but it was a problem getting a flight, shame the weather is glorious.
For me its back to a bit of shopping for some fresh stores and a bit of boat cleaning and general domestic stuff, and I guess just enjoying a bit of peace and quiet for a few days.
Right time to go find a wifi connection.
Sunday 07/10/07
Late last evening we started to feel a breeze and the boat started moving, albeit at between zero and one knot, when the log registered the movement at all. This morning we were going along at up to two knots, something we haven't done for a while, this seemed fast.
Now its evening and we have occasionally been over four knots but its usually a steady 3.5 ish. progress at last, with the promise of more wind to come, we may get there yet. Yippeee ! !
Now that we are moving again the towed generator is putting some power back into the starved batteries, and not before time. we had to turn off the fridge for a while, but there is hardly anything left in there now, mostly cheeses.
There is a lack of shipping in these parts, saw nothing for a complete 24 hour period and then only briefly. I don't mind that it makes the watches a lot easier.
Wednesday 10/10/07
The last few days at sea were quite fresh with big seas running, so we had gone from one extreme to the other. we feel as though we have had a thorough testing from her ladyship (mother nature), patience and resolve through the calms and stamina through the rough bit, but we have come through it now.
We arrived in Arrecife this afternoon, the holding is dire, it took us no end of attempts to get the anchor to hold. I think we have it snagged nicely in some old chain or rope on the bottom, the tripping line could come in useful to get it back up again.
Thursday 11/10/07
Chris has himself booked on a flight home this evening so he's hired a car for the day to go sightseeing, this was useful for going to get some more diesel for the boat. He wanted to stay a couple more days to see a bit of the place but it was a problem getting a flight, shame the weather is glorious.
For me its back to a bit of shopping for some fresh stores and a bit of boat cleaning and general domestic stuff, and I guess just enjoying a bit of peace and quiet for a few days.
Right time to go find a wifi connection.
