St. Helena to the Caribbean - Day 11
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Wed 23 Jan 2013 14:01
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00:45.691S 29:44.630W
January 23, 2013
Waiting for the wind.
We are just 42 miles south of the equator, and still waiting
for the southeast wind to turn east. As well as the southeast wind has
served us over the past eleven days, it's time now to say good-bye so we can
point more to the west and less to the north. The wind forecast
is obviously confused because it indicated the east wind would arrive 36
hours ago. It's late. We don't mind sailing slowly with what's left
of the southeast wind, but its southerly tendency is causing us to point 20
degrees further to the north than we'd like to. It's like wanting to go to
Buffalo from Syracuse, but ending up in Watertown instead - both routes will get
you to Canada, but you'll end up at the wrong end of the lake. How's that
for an analogy upstate New Yorkers can relate to? Anyway, yesterday
afternoon, we broke down and turned on the engine for the first time since
leaving St. Helena. Motorsailing allowed us to point directly
toward our destination, and make good headway overnight.
Today we are back sailing again with the downwind rig, but once again pointing
20 degrees further to the north than we'd like. We could take down the
downwind rig, point directly toward our destination, and sail with the wind
150 degrees off the bow, but we'd go mighty slowly in this light wind, and our
progress would be slower than it is now. Ah well, the wind will
turn. It will. We just have to cross the equator and get beyond this
slightly doldrum-y area to where the more boisterous northeast trade winds are
sure to be waiting for us.
We hear it's slightly chilly at home. This would
certainly be the place to come for a quick warm-up. The sweaty gray clouds
are back and we are experiencing the typically unsettled weather often found
around the equator. It's very, very mild compared to the ITCZ mess we
experienced in the Indian Ocean around the equator last year though. There
has been a little rain, but no big wind and no lightning. There's enough
heat and humidity to remind us the equator is very near. It's nice to know
all of this will subside in a few days when we reach the upper half of the world
and start moving away from the center.
Tomorrow will be a big day for us - our fourth equator
crossing and passing the half-way point of this passage. We
are working on celebration plans. At the moment, we are celebrating a
working freezer (Don has been busy). We don't have high hopes for a full
recovery, but a blast of cold air on what's left of the thawed meat pile won't
hurt.
Hey - the bank of clouds behind us just brought a blast of
higher wind from the east! Aha! Maybe the wait is over?
11 days down, 12-ish to go.
Anne
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