Monday 15th February
Awelina of Sweden
James Collier
Mon 15 Feb 2016 19:19
Yesterday evening, on Eddy's advice, we tried hoisting the second jib on the second groove in the foil. Despite having practiced it off Falmouth with Peter and Plum aboard, it was much harder in mid ocean with the swell and we failed to get the halyard rigged to our satisfaction before night fell so we put it away. This sounds neat but it was anything but, being stuffed any old way into the fore-cabin as the new sailcloth is so stiff and springy and we just couldn't get it back into its bag.
More successful, if ugly, was building a frame for the towed generator as it was flapping around a bit and chewing up the teak toe-capping at the taffrail where it was mounted. Using a couple of lengths of 2" x 2" timber and some lashing it now has a frame holding it securely. Doubtless the design will be prettied up one day when I'm bored!
But after an uneventful night (no flying fish but one small squid in the scuppers at daybreak - presumably it was washed in by a sea rather than flying or jumping? - we had another go at hoisting the second jib this morning and all was straight forward. We now have a proper trade wind rig of dual headsails, one boomed out on the windward side and the leeward one flying free, and no mainsail. It has improved the directional stability so that the Hydrovane self-steering can now cope so the battery drain is down to a point where the towed generator mostly copes. The big loads are about equally divided between fridge, electric self-steering and everything else (instruments, radios, lights etc) and shedding the electric self-steering makes all the difference. This is especially the case as the fridge is working hard in the heat (29.8°C) in the cabin despite all blinds being drawn.
It's been a really lovely day although in the last hour or so the wind has dropped to about F3 which is more like what we expected at this latitude but as ever the sea goes down after the wind so we're still rolling and the sails have just started to slatt and bang around. We're doing only 4 knots as a result but hopefully the sea will decrease over the next few hours and we'll just pootle along. We're aiming to cross the doldrums at around 027° W, the doldrums extending from about 4°N to the equator. We have enough fuel to motor this distance if need-be.
Various little dodges to improve life aboard are beginning to emerge: the latest one is to make a big jug of coffee in the morning and fill the thermos mug which Katie gave me, out of which I can have a surprisingly warm cup in the small hours of the following night.
Fiona's making an apple crumble from the small wind-falls we bought on the island of Sao Antao as they've started to go brown, and we finished the lettuce today but otherwise the fruit and veg seems to be lasting ok. Yesterday we had the last of the oranges bought in Falmouth, but there is still a bag bought in Spain.