Sri Lanka to Chagos - Day 2
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sun 25 Mar 2012 07:58
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3:22.044N 77:08.145E
March 25, 2012
Our placid passage continues.
We were able to sail in very light NW wind yesterday afternoon
and evening, which provided excellent ambiance for dinner (no sailor likes
to eat to the tune of a droning engine). By 10pm we were motoring again
and did so throughout the night and this morning. Last night was
uneventful - a few fishing boats, no ships, the tiniest sliver of a moon for the
first half hour, then clear skies and glorious stars the whole night
through. We love it when we are positioned this close to the equator where
both the southern cross and big dipper are clearly visible - one
pointing the way south, the other north. They've become like old friends
to us. Seeing them together again is a bit like returning
home.
Day 1 brought us 130 miles closer to our destination, and Day
2, 120 miles. Nothing to write home about (yet, here I am writing home
about it), but hey progress is progress - especially when trying to conserve
fuel.
Big Events:
Around noon today, when the sea was particularly flat with a
satin finish and positively no wind ripples, Don shut down the engine and jumped
overboard to inspect the prop and bottom. After all that time in slimy
Galle harbor, we were concerned about growth on the prop and the bottom in
general, and since we are trying to eke out every mile we can in light wind, a
barnacle-free bottom and prop are essential. It's about 4,000 meters
deep here (~12,000 ft), so the water is a deep sapphire blue and completely
translucent - at least near the surface. Don reported the water is
blissfully cool a few feet down, but swimming back up to the surface felt like
swimming through a heat bath. The equator looms near at only 200 miles to
the south, so a layer of hot water is understandable. Anyway, all was
fine after Don chipped away some barnacle growth on the prop, and we fired up
the engine and moved on. At the moment we are sailing slowly again, so
lunch will be a quiet affair with only the sound of the head sail rippling when
the wind gets too light, and the constant click, click, click of the autopilot
as it diligently does its job.
More tomorrow -
Anne
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