Settling into Ocean life - Mindelo to Grenada Day2
Walkabout has gone Sailing
Andrew and Traci Roantree
Sun 21 Nov 2021 10:07
After our frenetic day of sail changes on Day 1, Day 2 was a more relaxed affair. We sailed with full main and G1 for 24 hours, with the Hydrovane steering. The forecast showed that the wind was going to drop, and we have continued to try to sail a route that would minimise the period of time in low winds. Sure enough, the wind slowly declined, until we had only 4 or 5 knots of wind. So we decided to motor for a while. The engine was on from 1815 for 7.5 hours.
After a very relaxed day, the night was less so. We both had our sleep broken by the need to make sail changes, and earlier the noise from the engine didn’t help our sleep. At 0145 we had enough wind to sail, so I woke Traci up to get the main and G1 flying. Then at 0500 Traci got me up as the wind had shifted and built to a point where the G1 is overpowered. So we did a foresail change in the dark - down with the G1 and up with the Blue Water Runner, then shift to dead down wind and drop the main. Then finally, at 0800, we put the main back up and are now flying the BWR in Code Zero mode. A busy night!
But here is the really good news…. For the first time we are actually pointing towards Grenada!!! (Roughly). And it feels good. I think all our shenanigens over the last 2 days won’t have done our position much good, but we have to conserve diesel, as we don’t carry that much. Some boats don’t have that concern, and will just motor through the wind holes.
The weather is steamy! Everything is quite damp. Overnight it was very misty. This morning there is complete cloud cover (not good for solar).
No fishing action so far. We may wait until we have eaten some more of our prepared meals. A very optimistic perspective - implies that we think we may actually catch something. We heard from the Zelda crew (who gave us one of their lures) that they caught a 5.5 kg tuna just 3 hours after the start!
For dinner last night we enjoyed a curry of chicken Jalfrezi with potatoes and green beans and for breakfast we are about to tuck into homemade bircher with yogurt and Papya topped with honey!
What lies ahead for us today? A relaxed day catching up on sleep, may even dip into the baking cupboard and make some fresh bread!
The ARC starts today, leaving Las Palmas to St Lucia about lunch time with many good friends of ours and we wish them all a safe and fun passage with fair winds. Be sure to follow Casamara, Susie and John and two uni students who have joined them for the passage.
Until tomorrow…
Love A&Tx