Smoother going

Gudrun V
Axel Busch
Sun 6 Feb 2011 18:34
Sunday, 06.02.2011, 18:00 UTC, 26:02.037N 016:39.9W

Today I slept until ten because I was so tired from yesterdays' weather and generally not being used to living on a moving boat anymore. Then I spent some more time on the wind-vane, and I hope it's repaired for good now. It's been doing a fantastic job since lunch. The autopilot worked through the night, but has it's glitches. I didn't get around to look into it because something else is keeping me busy: water. It seems something in the seacock for the toilet-intake gave yesterday, and the bowl is slowly filling up. "Slowly" depending on the heel of the boat. I reduced sail to go almost upright, and am now going at 6 to 7 kn. I could do more, but then I'd constantly be flushing the toilet. As it is now, with the boat rolling a little and a little heel towards the starboard side (where the toilet is unfortunately), I only have to do it once every hour. Not sure what to do about it. I think the best thing is to wait until I'm on another tack and then effect some emergency repair (e.g. stuff it). But I don't want to force it, since it could take a while to fix ... unfortunately I didn't bring anything suitable for the big vetus tube. Or stop over at the Cap Verdes and repair it for good? I'd prefer not to. Either way, I've decided to head pretty straight for the Cap Verdes for the moment, instead of keeping further west. See how it goes.

Weather-wise today was pretty good after lunch. The ugly waves are mostly gone, and the ride is considerably smoother. I even managed to cook, although only pasta ;-). At the moment the first freighter of the day passes me on port, as the sun begins to set starbord ahead of me. The wind is blowing with gentle 12 to 16kn from the east, and I begin to settle in.