Ernest Hemingway - 25th April

Vega
Hugh and Annie
Wed 26 Apr 2017 16:31
After the hiccup with the MacBook we are more or less up and running again with communications through a combination of Annie's iPad for mail and a backup laptop for accessing Passageweather wind maps on the internet. What would Cook have done without Grib maps?

Our progress is more rapid than we had anticipated. We are covering 150 to 160 miles a day, way more than we are used to. This produces mixed feelings. At night we are travelling at up to 8kts in total darkness. It's like riding the "Black Hole" roller coaster at Alton Towers. We still have two reefs in both the genoa and mainsail and short of dropping the main or heaving to at night we rush on into oblivion. In the morning with a first cup of tea in hand it all looks rather different. The sea rushing by gives a wonderful feeling of fast passagemaking. The coordinates on the plotter move on so quickly that our recorded positions no longer exactly coincide by the time we have written each set of numbers down. It is thrilling to think of being in the Marquesas in perhaps just over two weeks and even more so to think that New Zealand is just a few months beyond!

The day passes quickly on board. By the time we have tidied up, cooked our meals, made bread or yoghurt, written our emails and blog, caught a fish, played scrabble, investigated mechanical problems or found out how bits of equipment work the day is gone! Annie is really into fishing now and is even measuring each Dorado. Trophy hunting that Hemingway would be proud of! You should have seen the one that got away - it took the lure fairly close to the boat and was much too big to pull straight in; when it ran Annie just had to hang on. When near the side it shook its head ferociously - and was gone.

We work loosely around a three hour watch system at night. If Annie is sleeping I stay on watch until she wakes. If she isn't then I may get an extended period in bed. Between us we are are just about getting enough sleep and Annie is even managing to catch up a bit during the day. There was no moon at all last night. It had been rising with Venus above, the crescent getting smaller each night and rising later - an hour or so before dawn. Venus is so bright it is like a small moon, shining it's reflected light across the water straight at our stern. Vega is also brightly shining in the sky to the north.

I think I know what is wrong with the watermaker, having read the manual, but will save this exciting news for tomorrow................