Position 20:55.1N 033:20.1W
Mariposa Blanca Move
Skip- Andy Petty. Owner hard at work in office!
Sun 27 Jan 2013 18:35
Log 3762
Noon to noon 129nm (quite consistent at least)
Dist to BVI by GPS 1770nm
A fairly quiet night to report whilst heading west. Dawn occurred at 0800UT and sunrise 0834UT. Expected wind shift occurred around 1100 so we gybed back southwest and now expect the next 2 days on this course, aiming to go to 18N or lower to avoid losing the winds completely for a couple of days. We see sight of more strong ENE winds towards the end of the week, which will help us advance towards our destination and hopefully, avoid the light wind zones often found during the second part of this route.
Our wicked but as yet unseen, gremlin has chewed through the thread attaching the genoa UV strip to the sail at the foot and is the first sign of wear and tear on the boat due to the voyage. It will need a machine shop to reattach it in the BVI and I hope Tony when reading the blog can recommend a sail repairer in Road Town.
Heather suggests Mike uses my camera to photo me - great idea but sadly the battery was flat today so this may need to wait for another day. I used it up taking photos at sunup and 1 is attached with some glorious colours.
I understand there are high winds, rain and ice in Cornwall and high winds ice and no functioning heating system in Spain. To both wifes, we are grateful for your support for this venture and the regualr messages received and hope matters improve for you very soon.
Adrain still hasn't caught a fish and will welcome any advice offered (preferably of the polite type!).
Water temps have risen to 25 now but still unsettled weather here with little sun to be seen. As we are well inside the Tropic of Cancer, this is mildly disappointing. It doesn't help the solar panels either!
Andy has finally explored the whole boat and found to his surprise, that there is a left side after you descend the ladder- normally he makes straight to the chart table on the right. In this port side, there is actually a galley, pretty well equipped and a good feature of this yacht. To celebrate this new knowledge, he is going to prepare his favourite Italian dish of Spagetti Carbonara this evening. The crew are happy to take a break from slaving over the hot stove without realising that when I say my favourite menu, I mean "to eat" and although my wife makes the best version of this dish I have ever tasted, I have little idea of how she does it!! Supper may be interesting this evening! Up to now, the team have shared galley duties and prepared some fantastic food in very challenging conditions and I commend them for this. Sleep may not come too easily for us at times but our stomachs have certainy not suffered thanks to the sterling efforts of Mike and Adrian.
Only a few flying fish seen today. Very quiet all round. Sea, sea and more sea.
Have a good night.
The Mariposa Blanca delivery team
