Day 3 - In Search of Wind

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Wed 12 Mar 2008 19:00
04:30.560S  96:31.181W
 
The wind left the scene last night around 8pm and we have been motoring ever since.  The good news is that this bout of motoring does not qualify for motorslog status because we have a favorable current of about a half knot, and we do occasionally have enough wind to motorsail.
 
The other good news is that Don's makeshift transmission shift lever shaft seal is working just fine and we have no leakage to report.  We will continue to check it every three hours and keep our fingers crossed.
 
We are expecting the wind to reappear within the next 24 hours as we get south of 5 degrees latitude where the southeast trade winds should be building.
 
Marquesas Semi-Useless Factoid #2:
The Marquesas island group is part of French Polynesia, an overseas 'collectivity' of France.
I'm embarrassed to say that until a few days ago, we thought the Marquesas island group was an independent nation and did not realize that it is actually part of French Polynesia.  Oops.  You would think we'd have a better handle on these sorts of things by now.  I guess we were too busy swimming with sea lions to think seriously about researching the Marquesas.  Besides, we've got at least seventeen more days to learn about the Marquesas before we actually arrive there.  This is the advantage of traveling by sailboat - nice and slow, leaving plenty of time for previously neglected research.
 
Anne