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American Spirit II - Day 36; We Lose the Wind; Saturday, February 8, 2014



This morning the wind continues to build, eventually reaching a peak of 30 knots, with 7 foot breaking seas directly behind us. As the wind kept building, we kept putting reefs in the sails, both the main and jib. Eventually, we had 2 reefs in the main and one in the jib. We were surfing at up to 10.8 knots.

At 11:00 AM, 24 hours after leaving Las Perlas, we had covered 163 nautical miles at an average speed of 6.8 knots. Cool. However, the wind started dropping after lunch, and by 4:25 PM we were forced to put on the motor. The weather forecast had called for wind for the first 2 days. Almost. We motored with the main sail and then with that sail and the jib. Motor sailing. The wind was only 3 knots, increasing to 6 on the bow later.

For dinner we had Blue Fin Tuna and Potatoes. Nice sun set, but no Green Flash.

During the 9:00 PM to midnight watch, listened to music in the cockpit and read from the Kindle. Almost a full moon. The moon was bright enough to see the boat, waves and everything around you. Moon light at night is good when sailing. And like the sun, we get a moon rise and moon set. Both of these can be very dramatic.

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