Day 6 at Sea
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Mon 13 Jul 2015 00:55
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It is now 17.00 on day 6 and we have covered 857 miles,
covering 202 miles and & 195 miles over the past 2
days.
The Trade Winds have now kicked in and the average wind speed is now between 18 - 25 knots from the East, ie directly behind us (or up the chuff to use a more descriptive sailing term)which is ideal downwind sailing conditions. During the day, we are sailing with the full main sail on the port side and
a slightly reefed genoa poled out on the starboard side. However, the winds tend
to increase during the evening, bringing bigger waves, so we are reefing both
sails overnight, partly for safety reasons, but also to make it more comfortable
for those sleeping, off watch. today we have seen gusts of 30 - 35 knots
and have regularly been sailing at 10+ knots. At one point we hit 13.2
knots surfing down a wave
The nighttime display of stars continue to fascinate,
particularly as there is practically no moon so it is pitch black on deck.
It is absolutely stunning to see.
Yesterday we put out the fishing line again and, after a
couple of hours, caught a skipjack tuna. Sushi, to start, then teriyaki
tune and flash fried tuna with rice for dinner. Today, tuna risotto
& 2 kilos in the freezer!! We have stopped fishing for now, too
much of a good thing......
You may be surprised to hear that there is very little
boat traffic once you get away from the land. We see on average a couple
of boats a day on radar and maybe 1 actually by sight. However, today, we
had an hour when it was like Piccadilly Circus, 5 large tankers all passing
within a couple of miles of us.
Anyway, I am off to cook dinner, crocodile sausages,
mashed potatoes, carrots and gravy - not a bit of tuna to be
seen!!!
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