Day 3-Friday
During morning roll call there wasn't a readout of the weather however, WRI said we should all head for 300 nm south of Bermuda. Annabella once again relays weather information to us. It is nice to have someone looking out for you. No boats in sight, neither visually nor on radar. Bob mentioned on morning roll call that several boats reported equipment failure. These choppy seas are hard on the boats and people. It's almost safer in the cockpit than it is below deck. We are doing well despite the constant rolling back and forth of the boat. This is when you find out how well you have secured things below.
We started out with a golden rule of no salt down below except for in the salt room (aft berth/storage area) but, things are so bouncy that it doesn't make sense to take off the outer layer of clothes to move around the cabin. It is just not safe enough to stand in one place, hold on and do anything below. So, we go down below for a purpose, get everything we need, and get back out to the cockpit quickly. Unless we are sleeping of course…….then we sleep in the Starboard settee with a lee cloth to hold us in. Lunch today is oysters, crackers, tangelo and ginger ale for Bob and beef jerky, crackers, tangelo and water for me.
Bob caught a fish today (I think it was a Mahi Mahi but I cannot verify without the internet) he called from below saying he had a fish on and I saw the fish jump out of the water and break the hook loose. I would guess it was 3-4 feet. That would have been a perfect size. Ah well, he will try again. For now we concentrate on the weather and sea state.
Next Captain puts his repair hat on and works on connecting the Sat Phone up to the computer again so that we can get weather. Yay!!!!!! He is successful. It is warm enough for short sleeves and no long underwear. We get online to check the weather and WRI mentions they are watching a strong low that is supposed to develop over Turks/Caicos late on the 18th or early on the 19th. It would most likely move slowly W to NW'ward. Dinner is coney islands again for Bob and cheese and crackers for me. At 10PM, on my shift, I look out over the port side and see something flashing. I zoom in on the multi-functional display and sure enough, it is a flashing buoy. It was on the same latitude as Bermuda, so I assume that it is a navigational aid for that route. Not long after I see the flashing buoy, I see a freighter that will be crossing in front of us about 13 nm away.