Wind!

Gudrun V
Axel Busch
Wed 2 May 2012 18:18
Day 18, Wednesday, 2012-05-02, 12:10 boat, 9:13S, 125:37W, COG 280, SOG 6kn,
Wind 10-15kn E, sunny

Yesterday afternoon we were lying unmoving (again), n 2kn of wind, but at
least with a little sun. The sea was a deep blue, not a fish or fin in
sight. I went into the water to have a look at rudder and keel, and see how
the anti-fouling is doing. Rudder and keel are still there, unchanged.
Antifouling is probably also there, but it's hard to say because the hull is
completely covered in growth, some kind of mollusc, an inch long. There's so
much I didn't even start scraping them off, it would take half a day, and
the boat was still moving and rolling.

Back on the boat I pulled the main-sail up to let it dry. Liz thought I had
turned on the hose, so much water came splashing out of it. And then ...
wind! 4kn. 6kn. We're moving! I quickly unfurled the genoa and we sailed for
a bit. And just as the mainsail was dry a raincloud came. So ... dry sail or
more speed? Stupid question. Half an hour later the wind was gone again, and
the sail wet again. Ah well, something to do.

Fortunately as night fell the wind came for real. A nice steady 10-15kn from
the east. We sailed through the night with the Genoa, and first light I
pulled up the Parasailor. Now we're moving ahead at 6kn, what a joy!

And just in time, too! Our friends Gisela and Uwe on SY Venus
(syvenus.wordpress.com), who left two days after us, had almost caught up
with us. At one point we were 500nm apart, yesterday only 90nm! The lucky
two had steady 20kn of wind all the way from the Galapagos, incredible. I'm
very happy for them, and it's a joy to read their happy emails. I hope the
wind stays with them (and us, too), the rest of the way. Only 790nm to go.