Friday 24th November 2023
The Adventures of Tin Man
Andy Topp & Steve Arnold
Fri 24 Nov 2023 21:21
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18:48.27N
023:11.53W
What three words :
skipper.predictable.gird The sun has set spectacularly on another day in the
Atlantic. Our round-the-clock watches and unobstructed view of the horizon
gives us a perfect vantage point to see the sun rise, move around the sky, set,
and then reappear again a few hours later. With the moon, planets and
stars all doing the same, you can actually watch the Earth
rotating.
Speaking of stars, last night was a great one for
stargazing, once the unnaturally bright moon had set. We learned a few new
constellations: Perseus, Taurus, Auriga, Vela. There are many more still to
discover, but on our present course the sails hide them. After our next
course change we should be able to see a few more. One celestial
spectacular we did see last night was a very bright shooting star complete with
fiery tail that seemed to barely clear the top of the mast. Not long
before that we were treated to a pod of dolphins jumping in and out of the sea
in the middle of a patch of reflected moonlight. It was as though they
were posing for us. Although at a glance it seems like it's just miles and
miles of nothingness out here, nature is constantly throwing us unexpected
surprises.
The sailing today continues to be fantastic, with
moderately strong winds pushing us along at over six knots. The swell has
built up, though nothing too intimidating, and Tin Man is riding each wave
forward beautifully. It feels like proper ocean sailing now.
Yesterday evening saw the 'big turn' which put us on a
more westerly track towards St Lucia, after several days of travelling
southwards to find the trade winds. The result of the turn was that the
wind moved from the port side of the boat to starboard; a simple change but it
took us more than an hour to re-rig all the sails, lines and poles from one side
to the other. It's not a race (but we still want to win!).
We're seeing flying fish all around the boat now, often
in large shoals (should that be flocks?). Sometimes they appear in
unexpected places, such as the one we found below deck on the cabin floor this
morning. It presumably flew onto the boat during the night and then fell
through an open hatch. I'm glad I wasn't sleeping on the sofa underneath!
Needless to say we didn't eat that one.
We've had a bit of mild anxiety today after a series of
battery warning messages during the night. Although Tin Man can sail
perfectly well without electricity, we do rely on it to power the fridge and
freezer, water maker, autopilot, lights and navigation instruments. It
would be a much more austere experience if the batteries were to fail. Our
suspicion is that they are fine but we've just been using power far more quickly
than the solar panels can generate it. Despite the good winds, we've had
the engine running for more than twelve hours today to top the batteries back up
to full again (a throwback to the trip from the UK to Gran Canaria, when it felt
like the engine was running continuously). We're confident the problem is
solved, but we'll be a bit more judicious with our use of power from now
on.
In better news, Steve managed to fix the petulant screw
from the toilet flusher, so we are back to full lavatorial capacity again.
Tin Man's oven has been busy, with Will baking a loaf and some naan breads to go
with our curry, and Steve celebrating fixing the loo by baking cookies (he
washed his hands first ;-)
See you in another 150 nautical miles.
Sam
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