Back up north

Pearl of Persia
Andrew Lock
Sun 2 Mar 2014 16:46
Lat 00:55.9N Long 039:34.5W
At 9 o'clock last night we crossed the equator and passed back into the
northern hemisphere, almost a year to the day when we crossed it in the
other direction en route to Galapagos. The weather was similar, hot humid
and not much. Yesterday, with the engine off and the boat almost becalmed,
we took the chance to cool off with a swim. It does feel a little weird
jumping into the ocean, 4000 meters of blue ocean below and then looking up
at the boat, so tiny and insignificant in the vast ocean.
We had been flying the big colourful cruising chute for most of the day, and
when we came to drop it down, we got a line tangled around the radar scanner
half way up the mast. We tried flicking it out for half an hour but
eventually a trip up the mast was needed. I volunteered Oliver for the job,
so as the boat rolled and rocked in the swell, we brought out the 'bosuns
chair', tied on a halyard line and away we winched. Higher you go up the
mast greater the roll so by the time he got to the scanner he was swaying in
big lurching arcs, but managed to un-hitch the trapped line and we lowered
him back down to deck, none the worse.
By 10 that evening, the winds started to pick up as we moved out of the
doldrums so out came our two sails, the boat heeled as the sails filled and
we were on our way again towards Grenada.