Sorry we have been radio silent but there has been a lot going on. On
Monday , we sailed on day and all night, no major issues (that we knew
about). Tuesday was more interesting. The early morning shift (Gary
and Karen) had dolphins arrive first thing who played in the boats wake for 45
minutes. Later that afternoon, Paulo spotted a fin, not a dolphin but an
Orca who checked us out for about 10 minutes. The Orca was just a few feet
from our boat and although we did not manage to get a photograph, those that saw
it were astonished. Shortly after the Orca visited, we had more dolphins,
something I think will become very regular. On the fishing front, Nick has
tried each day without any success to date. Today, Wednesday, we have two
lines in hoping to increase our chances of a bite.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was a great day on the whole. We sailed with the
parasailor (large spinaker with vent for ocean sailing) for most of the
day. Paulo and Igor helmed for much of this getting a real feel for the
sail despite the light winds. About 1800 on Tuesday, Nick and Karen
discovered that the fridge was not working. This was quickly diagnosed as
a power issue and our battery bank had not been getting the charge that it
needed. Without getting too complex, the alternator was not putting charge
into the batteries and therefore after 2/3 days of no engine, the fridge and
freezer, iridium sat phone and other electrical stuff was simply drawing too
much for our small fuel cell to compensate for. Anyway, Nick and Gary got
to work to overcome the issue so that we could motor through the night and
recharge our batteries. Gary has this morning got the solar panel
operating properly so this should also help.
Morale is high, despite the distinct lack of fish. We are getting
through the oranges and appies that Karen bought at the start of the
adventure. Drew and Nick have one at the start of each midnight
watch. The watches are four hours in the day, an hour over the dinner
period and then three hours at night time. The watch pairs are Gary and
Karen, Igor ad Paulo and Drew and Nick. Sleeping is increasingly easy as
everyone getting used to the boat roll and pitch and the various noises that
living on board brings. Nick and Drew fought over one pillow one evening
and have now settled on swapping it each evening.
So in summary, everyone is well, we are eating properly with plenty f fruit
and vegetables. At present there will certainly be no vitamin c
deficiencies. Karen is still taking sea sickness tablets but this is more
precautionary. We are approx 400 nm off of Cape Verde Islands and shortly
before these, we will head west towards the Americas. As we write there is
little wind, plenty of sun so we are going to hoist the parasailor.
We all hope that everyone is well back home or from wherever you are
reading this and we will try to keep in touch as often as possible.
Finally, belated happy birthday wishes to Andrina for yesterday. Love to
all xxxxx