Blasting down to the Canaries

X86
Rich Carey
Sat 7 Oct 2017 12:15
In fact, not! Bugger all wind, old chap. So it's going to be a longish one, but only 5 days and 4 nights, unless we run out of fuel, which is not a stretch of the imagination. Alternating the engines (running only one), we should have a 4 day range, motoring full time day and night. Ahh! But, all is not lost if 5 turns out to be the case (as looks likely in all forecasts), as we have another two days stashed in bottles in a forward locker. The issue is that even in calm weather, it's really hard man-handling 30L diesel containers around the deck, and upending them to get the fuel in the tanks. So we hope it won't come to that.

Heavy fog on my watch (22:00 - 01:00). So thick, it was like being in a weird cocoon, feeling like your bolting headlong down a blacked out featureless tunnel with just your arms outstretched. Therein, one trusts to Radar. Mine is the new Raymarine Quantum, Color, Chirp, Wifi, Makes good Tea. While the AIS tells you you where boats are, it's only from those that are transmitting where they are. He who no transmit, is unseen, unless you have a great Tea Maker.

It's so comfortable out here with no wind, no waves, no swell. Lovely. Boring! At least we are playing with all the toys. Aqua generator in use for the first time; set the Hydrovane up (just need a spot of wind to actually use it); testing the watermaker (which I'm trying to recover after not mothballing it properly before prolonged no use); experimenting with wash-down system for Bosun - no, not to wash him down silly, but to wash 'that' down ...

Caught three tuna, threw three tuna back - girth issue.

All goes well.

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