29th November 12th Day at sea
Enterprise
Russ Altendorff
Sun 29 Nov 2015 12:45
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21.10.95N 037.39.93W 12:00 - 29 Nov 2015 Distance run today: 169 miles Total distance run: 1558 miles Distance to go : 1387 miles The sea has been slight; the sky is blue; the winds light and the temperature today has climbed to a scorching 31 Deg C. Accordingly, and with consummate logic, 1st Mate decided we should put the bimini down so "we could see the stars". Pointing out that it was day time and that stars come out at night did not deter 1st Mate. Further appeals to sanity by pointing to the one gigantic star that will fry your whatever off and which happens to be shining right now also had no impact. The bimini is down and now I am down below. Its too hot to go in the cockpit ! Except for 1st Mate who is stubbornly refusing to admit any error and looks like a sweating marshmallow with factor 50 daubed all over his face. Yesterday was a disaster in the fishing department. Following 1st Mate's deliberate sabotage by sailing the boat over my 40lb tuna line; and using the rudder as a boat hook. I had to cut away 500 ft of precious line and lure - all gone to the bottom of the ocean. I then used my handy fishing rod - set up with a variety of lures and purchased in that well known sports fishing outlet - Liddle. The lures then procceded to spin around each other forming a tennis ball sized blob of nylon line and hooks. It would make a talking point for a tuna with an artistic bent - certainly as interesting as an unmade bed - but for inciting a tuna to have lunch - perhaps not. Our pre-occupation on the technical front is power or lack of. We should have about 220A per day to use to power things like auto-helms, chartplotter and so on. But instead we have 36A. This means running the generator and using diesel, more often each day than I anticipated. The increase in temperature would account for some of the increased inefficiency of the battery bank but not all. We have no solutions as yet. Having past the half way point at 0330 last night, I have been promised a celebration meal - which does not include the word curry. I had to stop the chef raidning the wine cellar and tipping a bottle of Grand vin de Bordeaux into the stew - he says I am a "rosbeef" and don't understand Provencal cuisine. Menu del dia: Lamb Cooked in Rose Wine with Herbs Provencal. |