Day 32 - Passage to the Caribbean
Misterx
Sat 3 May 2025 01:01
02/05/25
8:30 pm
Day 32
North Atlantic Ocean
DTD to Trinidad: 418 NM (105NM)
We are experiencing a noticeable downturn in the wind since yesterday. Good job we switched to the lightweight genoa, we really need it now. We were very slow all night which made for a lovely resting pace, we slept like babies, but not so good to eat up the miles. Below 4 knots will not do! So by morning we were ready for some action to improve our boat speed despite the wind still going down. We got used to our 5/5.5 knots of boat sped with the occasional 6 and we've got to get back to that, if at all possible.
More sails... that what we need!! Let's throw more sails up... the working jib is still tied up to the guard wire, since yesterday. We didn't put it away, thinking that we might need it to make our makeshift wings. The wind was supposed to get even further behind us and having wings in that point of sail is just the perfect sail combination. So we hoisted up the working jib on the opposite side of the big genoa and it worked a treat... and despite the wind going down to 8 knots, we have been able to hold our own with speed up to 5 and 5.5 knot... but no 6 today... Still we are moving and in the right direction. And we have a little bit of current with us too which is helping. Lovely sunshiny day with interesting clouds around an very flat sea.
We started seeing a bit more traffic... we saw 2 ships on our horizon within 3 miles of us and 2 more on the AIS system, too far for us to see for real. Ian had is little usual chats with them. It is noticeable how the protocols of talking on the VHF radio have now loosen up. It is something when the professionals are not adhering to the code but we are... We had to go on a course to be able to get our VHF license, so we use the right terms and sequences, like repeating the name of your vessel 3 times for example, or saying "over" at the end of the communication. It might just be that the ships don't bother because it is us, sailing boat talking to them and they up their game when they talking to their own kind, the big boys... no way of telling...
Sponge Bob Square Pants is still doing a sterling job every 4 hours, we are still taking on the same amount of water in the bilge...
The Sargasso are still a major issue, with more big patches to go through all day, and needing to clear the wind vane rudder far too often.
Watching the miles go down... we're nearly there!
M