Two winds

Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Sun 9 Oct 2011 08:53
Sunday 9th October 0809 UTC 0909 BST
 
14:57.32N 019:57.47W
 
Wind: NE 12 knots, COG 014 Deg Trus, SOG 9.1 Knots   
 
Have you ever drunk flavoured water? Have you ever drunk deisel flavoured water though?
 
As we had spent some tim in Africa in marinas, both our tanks were full of water from the shore. Now from South Africa that water would probably be fine to drink but normally we are only drinking directly from the tank when it water we have produced ourselves which is as pure and freshh as can be.
 
So aboard we normally keep good stocks of bottled water. We also keep a decent quantity of bottled water in a locker on the side deck along with a spare life raft additional deisel in gerry cans and generally stuff that may be needed in an emergency situation.
 
So I have been running down the water in one of my tanks, now that I know I have enough to last me at least another month in the other tank (which of course would probably be fine for drinking anyway) so I have been using up all the bottled water aboard and in the side locker as it has been there for a long time. I will fill additional 5L containers from my tanks to do as emergency supplies in the meantime.
 
Somehow the water in the side locker has become infused ever so slightly with the taste of deisel. It is new, shrunk wrapped, lids are sealed and additionally the lids have a sort of shrink polythene seal over them too.
 
Anyway as I drink it I am getting a taste of deisel. This is all very amusing for you at home but the strange think is that after drinking a long swig of it in the haet and humidity of these past days it always causes me to burp - and when I do that it seems to be pure deisel that comes back up the way. While the water on the way down is tolerable the deisel fumes it induces wind, though not the kind I have been looking for and on the way back up is disgusting! It must not be the lean burn stuff! Hope you have a little sympathy for me as you tuck into your deisel less unleaded orange juice this morning.
 
Now a bit about the kind of wind I have been looking for. After three days of mostly engine I was starting to wish I had gone up through the western side of the Cape Verdes and took the beating that would be required to head for Gran Canaria. On the way south two years ago I often noticed that there were coastal influences at play with the gradient wind down the NW coast of Africa. I had also been checking the forecast over the past two weeks in the area north of Cape Verde and the Canaries and regularly the forecast showed the wind from the land and the east. So I thought my strategy was good. By yesterday I could see that the void in the trade winds at the ITCZ had opened up more than expected and the easterly winds further north mostly were forecast to back round to NNE. At times I was doubting my plan and wondering whether the route through the Cape Verdes would be better. It still remains to be seen, but right now I am charging north on the breeze which has filled the void and trying to get used to life and an angle again.
 
In the lighter airs of the past few days, though on the wind, it was not generally enough to induce significant heel and not being pressed, gentle pitching was the prder of the day. So I now have 825 miles to go upwind to LAs Palmas where I left just over two years ago. 
 
Last night and the past couple of days it has been hard to get much sleep at all what with the constant VHF chatter, radar alarms, and "wind" shifts and consequent sail changes which have been required to keep northwards motion.
 
But its strange in life - you don't care how hard you have to work as long as you are making progress to your destination ..........
 
These past number of days I have seen a lot more life around. A couple of nights ago we seemed to have swarm of greenfly aboard, then I have had a large moth take up residence. The baby squid are starting again to make crash landings at night on the deck of Rhiann Marie. It is only one or two at a time however and not enough to make a lunch. I wish there were they are delicious. Flying fish have been high and dry aboard now for a week or more. Yesterday morning one just missed the hatch to my cabin................ it's getting smelly in there but a rotten flying fish would be just too overpowering. We have eaten flyiong fish off the deck befor ebut the ones now are relatively small and agin though I see a constant dash of thousands off them away from the bow wave only one or two care to join me of an evening.
 
Song of the day: Against the Wind by Bob Seger.
 
(In this number the singer says "moving 8 miles a minute for most of the time......." on Rhiann Marie it has been "moving 8 miles an hour for most of the time ..... " which on a powerful cruising yacht feels just as fast.)