Day 105, Year 6 Atlantic Passage, Day 2
Date: Sunday, February 6, 2011 (1730 UTC)
Weather: Mostly Sunny; Winds SE 14-18
Temperature: Water 74 degrees F; Air 78 degrees F
Latitude: 14 50.998 S
Longitude: 007 59.183 W
Miles Traveled: 150
Miles to Go: 3637
Location: Passage from St. Helena to Caribbean (Grenada)
The winds piped up a bit after sunset last night and stayed with us all night and through the day today. The winds are directly behind us which causes us to have to make constant adjustments to stay on course, but we have no complaints. At least we have wind. During the first watch last night when I was sleeping, we were on a broad reach and the sailing was smooth. Then when it was time for me to come on watch and Mark to sleep, we made a sail change to wing ‘n wing to get back on course. The seas were up a bit and it was a rolly night. Mark had a hard time sleeping and has been tired all day. I somehow seem to be able to sleep through almost anything, so I have a bit more energy. But it takes a couple of days to settle in to this passage life no matter what kind of weather. By tomorrow we should be more into the rhythm of things and Mark might have a chance to work on the water maker trying the suggestions from the manufacturer.
It is a big ocean out here and we have seen no signs of life since leaving St. Helena, save for a couple of masked boobies doing fly-bys. There were so many birds and so much sea life in James Bay that I thought it might continue as we left the island, but that was not the case. We watched a big pod of dolphins near the boat yesterday morning just before leaving and delighted in watching the long-tailed white tropic birds constantly soaring overhead. We’ve had the fishing line out and haven’t had a nibble. So I guess we really are all alone out here. We did have radio contact this morning with the group of boats that were behind us and are still about 300 miles from St. Helena. And we were also able to hear Graham on the Maritime Mobile Net. As soon as the signal is strong enough, we will switch to a Caribbean or US Net. But for now we will continue to try and check-in with Graham.
Note: I should mention here that if we get into an area so far from any of the HAM radio stations that we don’t have a signal for sending the log for a couple of days, don’t panic. If anything is really wrong, we would set off the EPIRB and our daughter Heather would get a phone call and our son Justin would post a message. That’s the worst case scenario. In the best case, we’ll have no issues with the radio. But if we do, the next best case is that no news is good news. Not hearing anything just means we are having “technical difficulties.” We’ll be back in touch as soon as radio propagation allows. Let’s just hope that this is a non-issue, but thought I should mention it just in case.
