Libeccio Log: Dec 4th

Libeccio
Fri 5 Dec 2014 09:17
Today we discuss:  going through “the change”; half full or half empty?; speed partying; the great whale debate is finished;
 
Our position: 18 31.11n, 36 33.62w
 
 
Hi,
 
Hope you are well, have you got your coffee? tea? oh, go on, get a biscuit as well—we can wait.
 
Here goes,
 
We continue to make steady, if not spectacular, progress- Izzy continues to fly proudly at bow converting the steady trade winds (today between 8 and 15 knots per hour) into forward progress. While a big generalisation, we can convert roughly 50 – 60 % of the wind speed into boat speed when we are travelling with the wind directly behind us. And that is what we have been doing for the past day or two—until, the change. It was rather a highlight of today- we decided that we would not take the direct “great circle” route to St.Lucia, but, instead take a slightly southern route to avoid some expected poor weather next week. So, with all of us taking a braced position, we changed course from 263 degr to 253 degrees- the boat hardly moved. In fact, we barely had to adjust the sails. With good luck and not too many squalls to avoid, we should be on this same course for the next 823 nm (nautical miles, remember they are equivalent to 1.15 real miles) to a spot where we will then turn right, again. That means we will not change course for the next 5 – 6 days—pretty exciting! Kind of like the driving we did across Alberta and Saskatchewan a couple years ago- sometimes the road was a straight line as far as you could see.
 
Speaking of mileage, we were able to put on our glad rags, turn up the stereo and celebrate the half way point. Depending upon your disposition, it could be called half of the trip is gone or half is yet to come. Either way, we broke our dry boat policy and alcohol was served—oh, ahhhh. It was Mike who summed it up best, saying that he wasn’t sure that he really wanted to have his beer, but, after the first sip was quoted as saying “marvelous”. While the boys enjoyed their beer, Jane remained true to the preferences of her and her girl friends at home(you know who you are)—sipping a bit of bubbly. Bill provided the nibbles for the occasion and what followed was an accelerated night out: we drank the beer, discussed politics, religion, global conflict, gun control, why people don’t have passports, why it was great to have good friends, how every body was our friend, it ended in a group hug with “I love you brother” all around and then we all had a snooze and woke up with a headache... all in 30 minutes.
 
While that may have happened on previous occasions with perhaps one or two more drinks involved, tonight we spent a few minutes discussing the 10 days that have passed. We compared what surprised us the most during the trip so far, Jane was amazed how quickly each day passes; Bill was shocked to actually catch a fish and was also impressed by how close the whales had come to the boat, how inquisitive they were and that we saw so many; Mike hadn’t expected such a big variety of weather- yesterday being “brochure like” with mostly sunny skies and warmth when compared to a day like today which was overcast and cooler (although still over 25 degrees C we still had toasted sandwiches and soup!). As well, the sheer distances involved in the trip are incredible particularly when you are in a boat that travels less than 10 miles an hour!; The captain is just happy that we still have 4 crew and that most of the things we have broken so far have been fixable. As well, it is surprising the number of things that need to be addressed as the boat moves along. Collectively, we were surprised how quickly the time has gone. Lets hope this continues for the next 9 –10 days.
 
Christmas spirit on the high seas- we managed to include an advent calendar with us when we left Las Palmas. It was quite interesting to see Jane very quickly claim the 4th as the first one that she wanted to open. The rest of us went along with it and so we now have a 4 day rotation calendar for advent calendar opening. We did ask Jane why the fixation on the 4th and as many of our more astute readers will have already figured out- by taking the 4th, she ensures that she opens the one on the 24th. Having 3 other sisters, Jane had to wait for 4 years before she could open the 24th and so was happy to quickly grab (in her own words) this opportunity. Competitive Advent calendar opening—what next?
 
A fewer other bits, from our mail call today...
 
One of our dear readers has asked why the fixation on squalls? Simply because they are not very predictable and can have a devastating impact on your sails—that is, convert a very pretty looking sail into not very attractive shreds of fabric, with very little notice. We prefer to maintain our full suite of sails intact and so are somewhat focused on avoiding these types of speed bumps.
 
We are also happy to announce that there seems to be a consensus that the whales we have been encountering are Minke whales— thanks to Roger and Sean for their help.
 
The cutest email we have received so far was Bill’s niece and her children: from Colin – he wanted to know if he could go sailing with Uncle Bill and then went to the library to get a book on sailing; Matthew, asked about “ALL of the fishes that you are seeing” and Cassidy wants to know where Uncle Bill sleeps.  We all wanted to say hi to them and thanks for following along with us.
 
Culinary corner: this evenings delight was a reprise of a meal that Mike had presented previously—the Australians Women’s Weekly Mediterranean Chicken (as rebranded by Mike). Our fresh veg supply continues to do well, but, the cherry tomatoes in this recipe probably needed to be used soon.
 
Now that the meal is finished, dishes are done, Jane is going around the boat doing the safety check (because she was on the 15:00 to 19:00 watch), we have prepared for the evening by putting out the search light we use at the helm to look at the sail, put Man Over Board fobs on our life jackets, made sure the head torches work and have filled up the kettle so it can be boiled at some point for hot drinks. We seem to be surrounded by dark clouds and the (almost full) moon is still hiding behind them. So it will be a bit tricky siting the squall clouds, but, we do have radar and it is particularly useful for tracking them. Should be a fun one.
 
That’s it for now, best wishes to you all, hope you have a great rest of the day/evening,
 
 
 
The Crew of the Libeccio