Well, after an exciting squall , wind slowly died. We sailed until we no longer could. Do we motor, heave to or drop all sails and go to sleep? Hmm, letās motor sail for twenty minutes which is all it takes the alternator to fully charge my 3 x 160 v batteries. Btw this is the first time motor has been on since motoring out of Bahia los Frailles, 14 days ago. We motored for half an hour, shut down the motor, tied off the wheel and looked around. Lightening! Ok, I guess electronics needs to be off too! Leaving them on can cause major damage if hit by lightening, so they sayā¦ It is hard to imagine getting hit by lightening in the middle of the ocean, but a possibility, as we are the only mast out here for probably 200 milesā¦sleep tight!
šššSky is littered tonight. Stars are covering the sky while low-lying black clouds frame the outskirts. Water sparkles from bioluminescence while the sound of wind mixed with wave crashing around Sarantium. I must have just gazed for hours. Time stops, mind and heart is full of gratitude. How did I get here? Constellations Iāve never seen before. Things feel different! These images, sounds and feelings will be forever with me. ā¤ļøā¤ļøGoodnight Worldš§”
Iāve switched from good coffee to instant! Not happy, but less mess!
Itās a lovely morningšā¦ 12 kn of wind on broad reach, aiming for crossing the equator at 128 degrees west. Waves are diminishing and are rolling a bit less tall, not as steep and further apart! Temperature in the air is rising and water temperature is 28.9 Celsius.
We have a pot of tomato based lentil, cabbage and wild-rise āstewā on the stove! No bread!
Last night was interesting! We didnāt make a lot of distance last night but we had some good learning again. As we are approaching the ITCZone, squalls are beginning to show up around us. So far they have been mild and quite refreshingš. Adrian went to sleep at 20.00 and we were rolling along nicely making our way south west towards the equator. Around 2100 I checked the rador; clear! I checked again at 2200 and I noticed big clouds on the screen however 2 nmiles east of us. I returned into standby mode and kept my eye on the sky around me. All of a sudden rain started and I thought hear we go! The rain turned into terential rainfall and wind picked up! Our first squall at 8degrees North!! A milestone! I already had minimal sail up so I didnāt bother taking it down. The squall lasted 5-10 minutes and then NO wind. Sails started slapping and boom moving out of control as a result of large wave action and zero wind. I have a furling boom so itās quite heavy, and needs to be cinched down. I decided to take sails down as the banging and slapping was driving me crazy. With all the aggressive slapping of the main sail, the batten plastic track lead (?) must have broke off. Getting the main sail down was no problem but when trying to raise it, it wonāt feed into the track. Another thing to fix on a calm day. Whenever that may be??? The furling boom is wonderful 99% of the time. I do have to be super careful when raising and dropping it. Many people wouldnāt have one for offshore sailing and I understand why. The furling boom has advantages but can be a concern. They are easy to operate from the cockpit on your own. In the event sail gets stuck, one can pull it down fully by hand and tied off around the boom. Things to ponder for future boats!
I slept between 0300 and 0600!
For now, Iāll be using Genoa and 25% of the mainsail. Come to think of it, thatās mostly what I have been doing.
Sun is getting warmer, waves should be decreasing in size, and we are getting closer to equator!
I believe we are halfway to French Polynesia!
Loads of potatoes, lots of apples and 1 cabbage, three grapefruits, six rock hard oranges is left of our fresh fruit and veggie supply.
At 08.30: N 08* 45 W 126* 38
COG: 200T SOG: 6 kn
Approaching the conversion zone..
The blue area is the equator and weāre trying to follow Predict Winds suggestionsā¦
BIG monster waves this morning! But the friendly types! We are just rolling with them! Itās exciting as we are now approaching the lower latitudes of the northern hemisphere.
I keep an eye on Predict Winds calculations on where to drop into the ITCZone.
I believe we are keeping a good course of 220 degrees to drop in position but maybe do one more alteration west. I will wait and see as we may āget liftedā moreš¤š¼ā¦meaning the wind will increase and tweak the boat west without us altering anything!!
I have not seen a number, other than 0.0, for boat speed all day! The speed of current however, is showering numbers up to 6knots. Our Speed over ground is typically the same as current or slightly moreš³ā¦ I guess my speedometer (wheel) is spinning with the current??? Iāve restarted my system and no change. Please, enlighten me!
Since our coordinates are N10*53/W124*52 we are approaching squally area! Fellow sailors are reporting squalls around 7 degrees north, but also that they are fairly low wind of 25 knots. Iāve played around with my radar and set it up to pick up squalls at night. One cannot see squalls at night with just the eye, as they are dark! I do believe that one will have some warning though. From zero/low wind, winds will suddenly pick up, kind of zero to ten! I also think temps will drop quickly ahead of a squall. Iāve experienced squalls before however this was in BC and fairly tame. Iāve taken down a couple of panels on my Bimini to prevent it getting ripped out in the event of a squall. As a habit I run a very small main sail at night, as itās easier to deal with at night! My Genoa is typically furled in 30-40 percent!
Overall a quiet day; cribbage, reading, opened a watermelon, washed my hair on deck and hung out on the bowsprit with my pet bird! I really should be working on my French!
Stars are out and few clouds are present. Itās a sleigh ride and a bob sled experience! Goodnight world!
On Noforeignland, Sarantium is the most northern boat in the pod, aka the slowest! Most of them are catamarans and monohulls with long waterlines and fin keels so fast. Iām the slow, steady comfortable one!
I believe that the three-four most southern boats are already in the ITCZone and one is approaching the equator.
It got a bit gusty last night, so I added a reef to the Genoa, vertically running it as a large staysail.
My mind is just fixed on the sound of the waves, the wind, the splashing and sails luffing as we surf down the wave!
Current!!! I did not know that tide and current out here were this strong! Iām just happy that current is always going with us, or weād be standing still! Iāll pretend Iām in a river!
3.2 kn boat speed and 4.0 kn tideā¦4.0 is a lot! Between waves and current, are we even sailing?
Gybing was a good idea as we are surfing waves and wind is setting us up for speed and good direction! And this time Iām not going back to Canada! We are pointing inbetween Christmas Island and Marquesses. I believe we can stay on this tack for 3 days and then tack to go south. But small shifts in the wind always keeps it interesting!
Goodmorning Day Eleven!
My night watch, 01.00-06.30, went by relatively quickly. I slept three hours. I need more! Sun is trying to come out through the cumulus clouds! Itās a brighter day! Weāve had some items fall from the sky; a bolt, washer and some stainless steel kind of a guard/ guide. Someone is throwing me spare parts! I guess I should investigate!
Iāve been thinking about my year plan! The cyclone season in French Polynesia begins September/October so Iāll be looking for a boat yard I can haul out the boat for some tender love and care. But thatās after I fly on a vacation for three months. Iāll divide up my time between England, Sweden and Norway to see family and āoldā friends!! Rumour has it, there is a 40 year āclass reunionā brewing in early fall. Iāve missed all of the ones in the past and am hellbent on making this one! Itās time to actually have conversations face to face instead of messaging all these years! After my mini vacation Iāll fly back and tend to Sarantium and make connections in Tahiti! Cyclone season is over at the end April and Iād like to be back in the water to explore the beautiful island Iāve only ever seen in magazines!
Coffee is percolating. Tea water is hot. I need to feed the Scoby! I started growing it from a store bought Kombucha in San Diego and now it looks like I could open a brewery!
At 10.00: N12.*16.832 W122*19.424 COG: 241* SOG: 5.5kn
Not much to report after a regular uneventful night. We just gybed to get more west in order to set up for getting across the ITCZ.
At 09.25: N12*50 W120*105
COG: 250* SOG: 5.0 kn looks like we should shake out the Genoa with that slow speed. Out!
Todayā¦
ā¦. Iām tired. The wave action is a lot and itās difficult to be below deck. Yesterday I made a big pot of coconut lentil soup with cumin and new baked bread. Afterwords I was exhausted from trying not to fall while tending to simple kitchen duties. Itās also getting warm and muggy here as we are getting closer to the southern hemisphere. So when running the stove and oven, the sweat is dripping. I feel like Iām in a Bikrim yoga class.
Sailaway Sarantium 