St. Helena to the Caribbean - Day 3
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Tue 15 Jan 2013 12:49
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12:09.633S 12:08.964W
January 15, 2013
Slow, but sure.
The southeast wind has wound down to the bottom end of the
10-20 knot range, and is predicted to stay that way for a few days.
As a result, our progress has slowed, but continues in the 5-6 knot range, which
is still respectable. The trouble is, the slower speed means Harmonie is
pushed around by the moderate swell and wind waves more, so our ride is not
quite as gloriously smooth as it was. All thoughts of needlepoint have
been replaced by a concerted effort to ignore the sometimes awkward rolling
and loud banging of rigging and sails while doing our best to sleep
during our allotted three-hour time slots. So far, so
good.
We had a freezer scare last night when my daily forage for
the following day's dinner revealed a meat pile in various stages of
thaw. Oh nooooooooo! I woke up to a working freezer this morning
after Don spent the better part of one night and one morning watch lying on his
stomach on top of the freezer, with head and shoulders positioned over the
compressor trying this and that until success was finally declared.
Throughout the night and morning, in between the initial discovery and final
declaration of success, we transferred the meat pile and various and sundry
other semi-frozen stuff from freezer to fridge to freezer no less than four
times. It all went into the fridge when our hopes of success were low,
then back to the freezer when things were looking good, then into the fridge
again when hope was lost a second time, then this morning, triumphantly back
into the freezer. Who says a large range of storage temperatures over time
doesn't improve the flavor of meats, cheeses and prepared meals? Assuming
this is true, we should find our meals to be extremely tasty over the next
three weeks. Although feeling triumphant this morning, we still
harbor the slightest tinge of doubt, so won't report what we think is/was wrong
with the freezer until it proves itself over the long
haul.
Ok, enough freezer talk, the topic is making us
weary.
The sun is out, the sea our favorite blue, the cabin
temperature up into the 80's, the clouds friendly and puffy, and the wind and
our speed up high enough (14 knots and 6 knots) to keep the worst of the
rolling and banging at bay. Don is starting book 3, I'm starting book 2,
and we've taken up cards at tea time as our favorite form of
entertainment. Life is good in the middle of the South
Atlantic.
3 days down, 20-ish days to go.
Anne
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