Day 5

The doldrums continue! Had been on starboard tack all night doing around 3 kts.  We had made a bit of progress south but were also slanting east towards the coast of Ecuador so decided to tack on to port to make some long needed westing. – But with the light winds and a bit of adverse current our tacking angle was abysmal, and ended up almost heading back the way we had come!  Very frustrating!  There was hardly any wind so we decided to put the engine on for a while and motor in the direction we wanted to go as well as charge batteries etc!  Mostly overcast again but we did get a few glimpses of the sun.  Did our daily chores and bit of yoga.  Got our January blog for the website finished and ready to upload when we get to an internet café. Put a small patch on the genoa as it had a small tear on the luff where it rubs on the edge of the foil feeder. 

Just before lunch we put the engine off and were able to sail on port tack albeit very slowly – only making 2 to 3 knots – but how peaceful it was just watching the huge swell rolling along – no wind chop on the sea so very, very pleasant.  No need to rush in these conditions and we know we’re not going to starve (and we might well be out here another 5 days at this speed!) Saw a fishing boat mid afternoon – that’s the first vessel we’ve seen since the first day.  No cetaceans and just one long-tailed tropic bird.  Spent a goodly amount of time cutting up our plastic waste – Matt reckons it’s like being on Blue Peter.  All food waste goes to feed the fish.  The empty glass bottles and cans we fill with sea water then condemn them to the deep.  But absolutely no plastic goes overboard.  I rinse everything with sea water then cut it up small – it’s amazing how many milk/juice cartons you can get into a small bag!  Days distance: 103 miles