02.12S 93.35W
JENNY
Alan Franklin/ Lynne Gane
Sat 8 Mar 2008 09:27
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Hello Everybody
Its now 1.30am and I am on my 12 to 0300 watch.We
have now got into our sea going routine aboard the boat,this mainly revolves
around watches and meal times,yesterday was a chill out day where nothing was
done to the boat and everybody did there own thing,reading, sleeping,computer
etc.
Ellie seems to be integrating into boat life slowly
(we do have to remember that her first introduction to night sailing was the
1000nm trip of 7 days straight out from Las Perlas to Galapagos),on the morning
of the day we left she was hauled up the mast to re-align one of the wind
direction instruments which had been dislodged by a bird landing on it.She
volunteered for the job ,well sort of,she is the lightest and more than
capable of fixing the Windex (that's what the wind instrument is called ) as
the mast is some 20 meters high its not a job for those scared of heights
,especially as the boat tends to sway about and you are being hauled up on
a rope sitting in what is called a "Bosuns Chair" which in its simplest form is
like a children's swing seat with a belt around your waist to which the line is
attached,its a bit like sitting in a canvas seat really.
We have tried fishing and each time our lures have
been snapped off the first we think by a larger predator snapping up the fish we
had on our line , the second was weird as we had hooked this Tuna (cans
still taste better ) when the other Tuna in the shoal started to attack it ,so
we seemed to be pulling in several of them at the same time then just short
of the boat along comes a larger fish and snaps it off.It seems as though the
Tuna go cannibal when one of there own are injured.
On this voyage as with the Atlantic we have to
manage our resources of fuel,water,gas,electricity ,since setting sail on
Thursday we have been motoring in a South Westerly direction in order to try to
pick up (that is the right word) both the Easterly ocean current and the trade
winds.When the boat is travelling at 5knts boat speed a 1knt current going
with you increases your speed over the ground by 20% likewise if its against you
it degreases it by the same.
As we have an extra fuel tank we can motor further
than some of the other boats but we cannot afford at this stage of the voyage to
use more than a third of our capacity as we do not know what is ahead.So having
studied the weather charts (which are only really good for 3/4 days ) and
routing guides, we decide which course is likely to give us the best chance
of favourable winds.We are also receiving daily reports from other yachts on the
rally on our 10am net where we all report our positions to Net Control (our day
for net control is Thursdays )and our weather.But the name of the game is to
clear the land mass of the Galapagos as soon as possible and get into the ocean
weather patterns.
Some boats go South some have taken a more westerly
route and we are somewhere in the middle which is on a more direct line to
the Marqesas the direct route is referred to as the Rhumb Line,that's us.So far
we have picked up a 0.7knt of current and the wind seems to be picking up in the
right direction so far so good.but you can never take it for granted just make
the most of it while you can (bit like life really).Some of the boats are
expecting to take 28/30 days the larger yachts 21days of course its all weather
dependant,we will be somewhere in between hopefully.
One of the good things about being at sea is the
lack of mosquito's.
That's it for now
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