Monday, 25th January, 2016

Luna Quest
W. Eric Faber
Mon 25 Jan 2016 14:37
Noon Position: 15.46S 12.47W

Daily run: 83 logged miles

Last night, while a large full and bright moon rose above the eastern horizon, a red ball of fire set on the western horizon. Slow progress continues in a westerly direction in very light winds. Schools of squid or flying fish skim the sea from time to time and sometimes just miss Luna Quest, thank goodness. Julia is making good progress with her Africa iBook, whilst I fret about the lack of wind and the best sail configuration. The sea is calm although a lazy swell from the Southeast is making sailing quite difficult. The mainsail is likely to bang from side to side and the parasailor will swing wildly from the top of the mast. The steadiest configuration is the two poled out foresails, but it is at the cost of speed. This morning it looked as though the wind had picked up to 8 knots from 6 knots and that the parasailor ought to replace the two poled-out foresails and the banging reefed mainsail (reefed to reduce the banging). It took us an hour and a half to achieve it making us feel thoroughly exhausted, but the parasailor stood and the time had come for a respite and lunch.

Eric