Atlantic Crossing - Day 7

Malua
Harry Watson Smith
Tue 27 Nov 2012 16:33
Malua is at 19:31.2N 25:10.0W at 0600 on 26?11/2012
We have 2042 to go and have covered 806
Days run was 130 not be best because the wind is down.
Serious navigation and almost anything was put on hold today because we had a nasty cross sea with a bit of chop on top. Malua was slewing around and it was difficult to do anything even lie in your bunk.  So the day just passed.  I had been up since 5:00 so I was quite tired.  We needed to cook some beef pieces we obtained from the butcher so towards evening I set about making a stew.  The beef turned out to be taste and tender – I sampled a few pieces while I was browning it.  In with the meat went some carrots, onions and a large tin of mushrooms along with an able quantity od French Rose in one of the refillable glass bottles.  After 20 minutes in the pressure cooker it was time to eat a wonderful meal.  Unfortunately we sat in the cockpit with the non slip bowls in our hands rather than trust then to the table.  Tinned apricots and cream followed then off to bead to try to sleep.  Not easy so by my watch at 23:00  I was still very tired.
I tuned into the Westward net at 08:30 to listen to the boats moving towards the Caribbean and found that right across the ocean people have been affected by a large swell so we are not alone.  The Southern Cross a cat are 1000nm ahead of us and also had a bad night.  WE are all looking forward to some smoother water.
I have changed the power sources because of the generators unreliable water system and now battery bank two has the solar panel, wind generator feeding into it.  With the chart plotter turned down and the auto helm off with George doing the work we are self sufficient in power.  The fridge still draws a lot but all the vacuum bagged meat is still frozen solid and the fridge is quite cold.  The drinking water tanks seems to have lost more water than I expected so we may have to reroute the other tank through the charcoal filter.
A magical moment on Malua