12:07.42N 39:11.12W
Rehua’s blog: route and anchorage stops
Fri 9 Jan 2015 13:35
Day 6 and we are getting close to the 1000 NM mark! Woohoo! It's still blowing 20 to 25 knots and the waves are still pretty big but according to the weather forecast it should calm down after today. We're getting some nice speeds with just the genoa up. We could go faster if we put more sails up but we think it's more important to be safe and comfortable! It's not a race after all and we are enjoying ever minute of it. Finally there's some sunshine and the clouds are disappearing. Lots of flying fish around, still lots of seaweed floating on the water too. Our friends from Taff Tumas are about 50 NM north of us, still too far for VHF chats but we keep track of each other with daily text messages over the sat phone. The last time we saw another boat was two nights ago when a big cargo ship appeared on the AIS a few miles north of us and we could just see its lights in the distance. It's been great having a full moon every night making the nights not so dark, in fact, it is almost as if it is daylight with such a bright lit moon in the sky. It's a weird feeling being in the middle of the Atlantic, kind of magical and surreal and very enjoyable. I do hope the next days will be a bit calmer though as cooking and other tasks require minor acrobatic skills at the moment! The kids don't seem bothered by the waves and the movement at all, they just get on playing with their toys, reading their books and asking for snacks between meals. We still have plenty of food but most of our fresh fruit and veg is perishing fast so we'll be tucking into the tins next! xx
Skip's day, included battery levels, oil levels, cleaning the dust and salt off the solar panels which at the moment haven't proved their worth as we haven't had the sun, lets see what happens today? Every rope and line on the boat is orange so I am systematically stripping them out nod giving them an Atlantic scrub, it's working a treat as long as I sacrifice a tub of fresh for the rinse cycle! The swell changes direction with every current movement or wind change so one minute you are barrelling along everything tickety boo the next you are being hammered sideways by a huge northerly wave that skews us 45 degrees off course.
Another 100 nm and we have passed the point of no return always a good feeling, days like today I don't mind how long it takes!
There's slightly less weed in the water so the fishing line are back out, Tyrii is hoping for the shark we saw, Yep, that will be fun!