Fourth day at sea
The ODA diary
Erik L. Roede
Mon 25 Nov 2013 16:05
We have been three days at sea and are almost exactly a quarter of the way across. All is well on board, we are eating well, showering in salt water (27,4C) on the foredeck, sleeping relatively well, and having fun. ODA, too, is holding up, although we have to be on constant watch for chafe on the many halyards and sheets. No major damage so far.
Last night it was all hands on deck at about 4 am when a squall appeared on the horizon, headed right for us. Squalls generally bring strong winds and heavy rain, and only last a short while. But in that short while they can do a lot of damage to sails that have been left up. Although this squall turned out to be rather light, it was nonetheless a good practice drill to see that we could get sails down fast in the dark. The weather this afternoon looks more unsettled, and we expect more squalls tonight. Nights are beautiful with a bright moon which is waning, but will last a few more days.
We are sailing with a bit of a south-westerly course, headed more towards Guyana in S. America, but believe we will find more wind down here. The plan will be to veer north towards the West Indies in a few days. Hopefully it is a smart strategy -- as of now we are in sixth place in our class of 17 boats.
There is little life to see in the sea around us, other than the countless flying fish. Every day we pick up dead flying fish from our deck that have landed there during the night.