Air Power - Log day 5

Day 5-Nov 9th.
Yesterday, we did a little motor sailing in the afternoon. No more than a couple of hours. Then we were able to make progess, just using the wind and sails. Albeit, a little slow through the night. (around 4kts). That was just fine with us. Off watch, we slept well. One thing that makes sailing at night enjoyable, is having cooperative winds, and the light of the moon. We started the rally with a full moon that stayed up all night. It was almost like sailing at dusk. Now the moon is waning (getting smaller) and it comes out about an hour later each night. I think last night, it was close to 10:30 pm before the moon was up high enough to make a difference. Otherwise, it was pitch black. This is where having an operable radar adds a level of comfort. It served us well by allowing us to avoid passing under storm cells (squalls) a couple of evenings ago, and this time, I could catch up on my reading, while glancing at the screen every couple of minutes.

The fleet is starting to get stretched out on our passage. Each day we get an email with everyone's position, which we are able to plot on our paper chart. At the moment, Air Power's saloon table resembles a naval command center, as opposed to one from a western movie, with Doc Holiday dealing the cards. Luckily, we have only 2 catamarans in our group, because they are each the size of Rhode Island on our 1:10,000,000 N. Atlantic chart.

Besides the email, we have radio checkins, once each morning and evening. As the fleet stretches out, some boats in the middle need to relay for those furthest away. If it wasn't for this exercise, we never would have figured out what all those buttons on the SSB radio are for. (SSB which stands for Single Side Band, is a marine long range HF radio) The radio is also cable of sending emails. This is how this blog gets updated. We send an email from Air Power to Rally Control, and they post it for us. At least that is what I think happens.

One of the things that surprised us was, after crossing the Gulf Stream, we expected the air temp to drop back to the level of the coastal side. That didn't happen. So, if you are preparing your winter clothing for this coming season, I guess, we are putting ours away.

That is all news from Air Power for today.--Dave & Jill