11/12/07

2PM

It’s a seriously hot and sunny afternoon.  I am dripping all over the chart table as I write this.  The wind still vacillates from SE to SSE force 4/5.  This is going to last (allegedly) a few more days but we may not have so easy time as we approach Rio.

The ETA still hovers around the  17^th or 18^th which would be fantastic but again anything could happen between here and there, even strong Southerlies.

Nik has overdone his long hours of studying in the sun and is now peeling, but he is on his third economics text book. Mind you they’re quite slim.

A large cargo ship heading for Recife on track to cross our bows kindly alters his course a few degrees to pass well aft of us rather  than through us. We will be level with Recife in a few hours about 90 miles offshore.

Boat speed has dropped a bit so we put out a fishing line.  We’ve been going too fast the last few days to bother trying.

I finish the last of the grapes and what little fresh fruit there is left is getting pretty tired.  I think Sotiris still has one or two small loaves of bread.  Soon we’ll have to dust off the breadmaker.

Nik and I are discussing if Chile or Argentina will be more expensive and I go below to get the appropriate “Lonely Planet” Guides.  These guides are all stored in Sotiris’ cabin on a bookshelf under a cupboard.  I discover that Chile, The Falklands and Antarctica are soaking wet and have to be dried out page by page to save them. Argentina is only a bit damp. This is a mystery as there is no sign of a leak anywhere and the other surrounding books are dry.  When they dry out they are going into my cabin.

Steve has commandeered Nik as his Sou Chef.  They are cooking a recipe: “Pasta with Tuna, Capers and Anchovies” except without the capers and anchovies but with the olives. Very few 4 letter words from the galley. Eat your heart out Gorden Ramsey.

12/12/07 8AM

Very Squally night.   Lots of rain and wind.  Good for boat speed and at least some of the salt whch is everywhere has been rinsed away.  The wind has stayed mostly ESE and sometimes even East. When it gets stong it tends to go slightly East which is great for us.

The grey water tank pump which had been doing extra duty by emptying the fridge water coolant every few minutes gave up last night.  Steve has re-connected the fridge outflow to the skinfitting.  We’ll have to wait a to see if the fridge is working.

With the gray water pump out of action we can’t really use the  Galley sink or my aft head sink and shower.  I slop a bit of water in my coffee cup and empty it in the head.  I have a vested interest in not putting anything into the grey water tank becaue the way the plumbing is run, any overage winds up in my shower tray.  This tank is not really a tank but a small collection chamber. There is a separate system for the front of the boat.

Steve is stripping out the pump to see what’s wrong. There is a plastic disc with gear teeth which has been damaged.  We don’t yet know why and its unlikely the spares kit we carry will have this part.  We decide to let the shower and sink water empty directly into the bilge and be taken care of by the main bilge pump. The fridge is sort of working but not very efficiently.

Noon