Walvis Bay, Namibia to St. Helena - Day 6
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Fri 4 Jan 2013 11:15
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17:55.250S 02:29.543W
January 4, 2013
The wind that was.
This is not really a fair title since technically we
still have 10-20 knots of wind from the southeast. It's just that now it's
more 10ish and before it was more 15-20ish. One can get used to flying
along smoothly at 7+ knots, so when suddenly faced with a rolling 4.5 knots,
grumpiness can easily set in. This is especially true when approaching the
end of a voyage and the difference between 7 and 4.5 knots means the difference
between a daylight and nighttime arrival. The good news is if we sail even
more slowly, Sunday morning will dawn and we'll get our wished-for daylight
arrival after all. So, here's wishing we either go faster or slower.
(Not that arrival in St. Helena is difficult, just that it's easier on tired
sailors to arrive with daylight on their side.)
Other news to report?
Zero drunken dead flying fish last night, which confirms our
too-much-New-Year's-partying hypothesis beyond a doubt.
Less than satisfactory back-up freezer performance. The
pounds of hamburger are slowly thawing, leaving us to wonder just how much
red meat humans can safely consume in the space of five days. Also
leaving us to wonder what exactly we will eat over the course of our remaining
3-week passage across the Atlantic? Fresh caught fish is the most likely
answer. The captain/chief mechanic/head fisherman is gearing up for his
first fishing expedition to take place soon after our departure from St. Helena
- assuming no miracle cure for our ailing freezer and back-up fridge/freezer is
found during our planned 5-day stay there.
Ok, enough griping (or as the Aussies would say, whingeing
- we are still in the southern hemisphere, so whingeing is probably the
more appropriate word). Throughout the day yesterday and all of last
night, we had a glorious downwind sail. The sun made a rare
appearance for a few hours in the afternoon, and the sky cleared for a few
hours last night before the moon rose, giving us a most spectacular view of the
stars. This morning it rained not once, but twice, washing away much of
Cape Town, Namibia, the sea, and drunken dead flying fish remnants.
Hey, the wind just picked up to 20 knots and we are cruising
along at 8.2 knots. Sweet.
225 miles to go.
Anne
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