24 53.35N 019 58.74W At Sea - all is well 11:38 Z
Pipedream
Fri 27 Jan 2012 10:51
Things that go bang in the night... Matt relieved me at about 3:00 AM. We
were expecting to pick up the beginning of the trade winds after crossing
the 25th parallel. I had just settled into a real sound sleep when I heard
a loud pop and the boat learched. Then I heard Matt yell "help me!". I
grabbed my harness and was relieved to see Matt still harnessed in the
cockpit holding the flash light on what was left of our Gennicer streaming
in the water beside the boat. Matt turned to me and said I guess we found
the wind. There must have been a flaw in the sail as it was only blowing 10
to 15 kts. It had torn right down the luff. John came up fully dressed and
I went below for a few minutes to get some clothes on. We lashed the thing
down on deck and finished bagging it this morning.
We have another spinnaker that I have never had up. If the wind drops again
it may be time to try it. With the pickup in wind speed also comes a lot
more rocking and rolling. The skis are looking a little overcast with maybe
50% sun and pleasant temperatures.
We spotted a huge pod of dolphins swimming along with Pipedream. They are
smaller here than in Florida. John put the fishing lures in the water
again... those dolphins were feeding on something. We are also starting to
see phosphorescence in the water again although not a vivid as before.
Stars are awesome, no lights out here and just a sliver of a moon. I've
seen two shooting stars so far. all for now.