COG 325T

SOG 6kts

Wind F1-3 SE

A rather late post today. The wind slowly became lighter in the morning. We undertook our long awaited gybe and with the genoa poled out on the port side with the mainsail we were following the perfect course to the north west. As the wind continued to lighten we changed the pole over to the starboard side, gybed the genoa, sat back and the wind died completely. The purists would continue to sit tight, put the kettle on and wait for the wind to return. We put the engine on and are making a steady six knots on a direct line.

I think we are within the zone on either side of the Doldrums (or Inter Tropical Convergence Zone as they are now known - bring back the Doldrums and Greenwich Mean Time I say) that used to be called the Horse Latitudes but are now just the convection zones. Horse Latitudes because when the sailing ships were becalmed here they would lighten their load and save water by lobbing the horses over the side (or so the story goes). Fortunately we now just turn the engine on.

Other than the lack of wind the weather gribs have been reasonably accurate. We are due for some rain tonight and then tomorrow it clouds over completely with “occasional light thunder showers”. Des says this is nonsense and just means thunder and lightning. We will have the radar on.

It is now hot and humid. One of the consequences of this is sweaty fingers that are not good for typing on an iPad screen. Every other tap fails to activate the chosen letter. This is why the post is so late and is incredibly frustrating. That is partially true!