North with the Humboldt

Caramor - sailing around the world
Franco Ferrero / Kath Mcnulty
Wed 21 Mar 2018 15:22
36:01.9s 73:52.7W
1200 Wednesday 21 March

After a boisterous day yesterday we are enjoying sailing in a light westerly breeze. The two of us trying to wrestle a large round of blue cheese out of the fridge, hold it on the kitchen surface, divide it, wrap it in foil, while holding on with your other hand and bracing with your feet and body in a rolling sea, was a real comedy sketch!

Last night we decided to avoid a sail change and keep on our north westerly course till dawn. When Kath woke me up for breakfast she told me that we no longer seemed to be getting any help from the current. Our speed over the ground, as given by the GPS, was no longer faster than our speed over the water, as given by our log. The ultimate proof was that the sea water for washing the dishes was warm. The Humboldt current flows from the Antarctic region all the way up the coasts of Chile and Peru to the Galapagos. The cold water and nutrients it brings are the reason that there are penguins at the equator in the Gallapagos.

Our plan is to follow the coast using the current and the prevailing southerly winds to about 20 degrees South, then curve around into the trade winds and west to the Marquesas.

Caramor was about 80NM offshore and it seemed that we had overshot. We gybed onto a north westerly course and a couple of hours later there was a distinct drop in the air temperature and a noticeable increase in our speed over the ground. We were back in the Humboldt.

We have covered 313NM since we set off. Our first noon to noon 24 hours covered 130NM the second, till noon today, 115NM.

Post by Franco