DAY 4 BECALMED IN THE SARGASSO SEA Monday 17-05-2010

Mollihawk's Atlantic Circumnavigation
eddie/david nicholson
Wed 19 May 2010 15:31
WE HIT THE 1/2 WAY MARK YESTERDAY.
 
Level with Florida.and the Oil slicks of The Gulf of Mexico below us to the South West!
 
The wind has dies completely and we have been motoring since midday yesterday a total of 24 hours.  
We are well on the way to arriving into Bermuda on schedule.Our ETA beingTues afternoon or  Wednesday morning.
If we miss the cut off point of 1700 on Tuesday we will have to stay off the Bermudan coast until first light as it is not recommended
to enter the harbour of St.Georges after dark.
 
Yesterday we entered the Sargasso Sea,an area with less wind , rain and clouds than the rest of the ocean. More than 2,000 miles long and 1,000 miles wide, and is bounded on all sides by currents (not raisins! Dermot's contribution) that cause it to rotate clockwise.It's name is derived from the Portuguese word for seaweed, Sargasso.
Once debris of any sort has drifted into the calm centre of the Sargasso Sea it remains there until it sinks , moving in enormous circles as a captive of the rotating pool.
Large amounts of floating seaweed gathers in this area and an ecosystem of small  fish, including a wide variety of flying fish, jelly fish and crabs live off the seaweed.
We have been motoring through this seaweed which is floating on the surface in largish clumps but easily avoidable.
 
Last night was a still and almost cloudless sky lit up by the stars and the water was flat like an oil slick., causing the clouds to be reflected in the water like black holes in the sea! this coupled with the phosphorescence from our bow wave made those two night watchmen quiver in their boots as we all slept soundly below. You can easily see how tales of the sea which were unexplained in past days grew legs. The seaweed which would normally signify land nearby was a cause of great concern to explorers as they feared but couldn't see this land as they lay becalmed in these waters.
 
All aboard are in great spirits and continue with our countless daily chores of cleaning up the boat after 5 messy men, where have I heard that before!
One lad from North Cork quipped that he wasn't as lucky as his wife as he had to do all the sweeping with a brush while his wife had the benefit of the latest model of Hoover!
 
Cheers for now more jobs to do.
 
Again last night a single ship passed us by which is surprising only in that we see none at all by day!
Sargasso Sea

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