Position 16.37.685N 036.32.231W
If you have been following our track you
will have seen it change overnight from tacing back and forth to straight line. We dropped our
mainsail and tied the genoa back wide open so we could get as much downwind
into it as we could. We also needed to recharge our 900-amp hour battery bank
so we also ran one engine at low revs and managed to keep to a fairly straight
track. We went more slowly but without the criss cross additional miles made good progress towards our goal.
The effect of going in a straight line
overnight can be seen from the greater miles towards St Lucia we clocked up and
the smaller differential with our total miles covered. There is something slightly odd
with the data however so an updated table will be posted tomorrow.
The night passed smoothly and uneventfully
with Aurora another yacht from the fleet just in front of us and another AIS
blip showing “Unknown Vessel” much of the night - both on our starboard side.
We hailed Aurora on the radio to chat with
them and see how they were doing. They are flying their spinnaker but are
worried as the winds today have picked up quite a bit and have been blowing at
over 20kts some of the time. They said they prefer around 17kts. We are going a
bit faster than them at the moment flying both our sails so we will hopefully
get a look at them later on as we cross overt the straight line they are
following on our tac.
We exchanged fishing stories and they like
us have been good at losing lures so far and not catching anything. There are
battalions of flying fish around and as if on a signal large number of them fly
out of the water in formation and set off across the surface. Some bounce
several times like a skimming stone and carry on for huge distances while
novices crash headfirst in the waves sometimes with a loud Plop. They are light
blue and easy to see skimming over the waves.
Aurora had however caught one fish – but
rather unconventionally – and not discovered for some little time – a flying
fish flew in through one of their portholes into a cabin and unhelpfully
thrashed about in there for a while before being discovered and put back into
the water. We are told the smell lingers and the mess is slimy to clear up!
“Unknown Vessel” from the night turned out
to be Huamana an 18m yacht and they too are now getting closer to us on our
starboard side so maybe we will see them later too. They are doing about 5.6kts we are doing nearly 9kts, they are now 1.1nm away.
The weather is good and it’s another warm sunny day. No dolphin or whale visitors today - yet. Everyone on board is feeling a bit better after our minor stomach bug upset, we hope the rest of the ARC+ fleet is too.