DAY 4 BECALMED IN THE SARGASSO SEA Monday 17-05-2010
Mollihawk's Atlantic Circumnavigation
eddie/david nicholson
Wed 19 May 2010 15:31
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WE HIT THE 1/2 WAY MARK YESTERDAY.
Level with Florida.and the Oil slicks of The Gulf
of Mexico below us to the South West!
The wind has dies completely and we have been
motoring since midday yesterday a total of 24
hours.
We are well on the way to arriving into Bermuda on
schedule.Our ETA beingTues afternoon or Wednesday morning.
If we miss the cut off point of 1700 on Tuesday we
will have to stay off the Bermudan coast until first light as it is not
recommended
to enter the harbour of St.Georges after
dark.
Yesterday we entered the Sargasso Sea,an area with
less wind , rain and clouds than the rest of the ocean. More than 2,000 miles
long and 1,000 miles wide, and is bounded on all sides by currents (not raisins!
Dermot's contribution) that cause it to rotate clockwise.It's name is derived
from the Portuguese word for seaweed, Sargasso.
Once debris of any sort has drifted into the calm
centre of the Sargasso Sea it remains there until it sinks , moving in enormous
circles as a captive of the rotating pool.
Large amounts of floating seaweed gathers in this
area and an ecosystem of small fish, including a wide variety of flying
fish, jelly fish and crabs live off the seaweed.
We have been motoring through this seaweed which is
floating on the surface in largish clumps but easily avoidable.
Last night was a still and almost cloudless sky
lit up by the stars and the water was flat like an oil slick., causing
the clouds to be reflected in the water like black holes in the sea! this
coupled with the phosphorescence from our bow wave made those two night watchmen
quiver in their boots as we all slept soundly below. You can easily see how
tales of the sea which were unexplained in past days grew legs. The seaweed
which would normally signify land nearby was a cause of great concern to
explorers as they feared but couldn't see this land as they lay becalmed in
these waters.
All aboard are in great spirits and continue with
our countless daily chores of cleaning up the boat after 5 messy men, where have
I heard that before!
One lad from North Cork quipped that he wasn't as
lucky as his wife as he had to do all the sweeping with a brush while his
wife had the benefit of the latest model of Hoover!
Cheers for now more jobs to do.
Again last night a single ship passed us by which
is surprising only in that we see none at all by day!
Sargasso
Sea |
