ARC Day 5
Starcross Fair Log
Ross Wilson
Thu 25 Nov 2010 20:55
Thursday 25/11/10
Midday position 20:33.7N 19:21.6W
Noon - noon run: 131 NM
Plan + 24Hrs: to head for north of Cape Verde
Islands, 340 NM Now that we have let the African coast behind, the
AIS transmitter has been switched back on. However, to reduce power
consumption at slow speed, we have turned off many systems. This also
provides the copious power required to allow Ross to continue as unexpected
anchor man for the ARC Group A HF radio net. We have continued on a fetch
with a COG of 250M, the apparent wind of 6 - 10 knots being sufficient to
keep Starcross moving. A couple of periods of light wind slowed our
pace a bit, as we have a self-enforced target of no motoring for
the ARC, but other things kept us entertained during the quieter
bits.
Having lost our first (unnamed) fishing lure
to a denizen of the deep, we deployed the trusty 'Pulpo' (Spanish for squid
we think) with great expectations. Alas, he shall not be
forgotten. Paul spent much of his mother watch painstakingly crafting 'Ham-ish'
from an empty ham packet. He is still with us, but as yet no fish
have graced our decks. Score so far, Fish 2 Starcross nil, ARC competition
-40.
As well as some great dolphin sightings today, we
passed a pod of twenty-odd whales, and later a shark drifted by and eyed us up
(no swimming today!).
Today was Thanksgiving for all the Americans out
there, but as we have none aboard, we fnished the day with a more
suitable national meal. Ross cooked up a storm in the galley and produced
an epic feast for the crew -haggis and mash, carrots and cauliflower cheese
.
We are into our night watches now. Moonrise
is getting later, and with the moon waning, we hope for some good stars later
on.
All the best from Starcross and crew in our
second day in the tropics (we crossed the Tropic of Cancer yesterday), looking
for the Trade Winds.
Ross, Al, Al, Paul, Will
|