No wind

Elemiah's Atlantic Adventure
Ian Cole and Rosemary Bointon
Sun 13 Jul 2008 01:14
We are back on the ocean but so far have done little sailing and a lot of motoring. There is no wind at all. The sails flop from one side to the other, slatting and banging. Each swell that rises under us spills what little wind there is from the sails and we go nowhere. So we take in the sails and put the motor on. We motor through the night and the next day, when a little breeze springs up, we hopefully hoist the sails and make a little progress under sail. Then it dies and once more we are back to the motor.

No wind brings its own set of noises. With the sails up, the booms creak, the sheets snap and the shackles jump and rattle over each wave. A set of noises that has everyone on edge. The noise of the engine is something you notice and don't notice. It sort of blanks out everything else but the vibration creates a wealth of new noises within the boat. Mainly the stove and the crockery vibrate, a constant background rattle punctuated by miscellaneous clinking noises. The boat itself acquires a new set of creaks. After a while, we all become accustomed to these new noises and then if there is something a little different we are alert to the change. What is it? What does it mean? We bounce out of bed to investigate any strange noise.

We are monitoring our fuel consumption but so far, we seem to be doing quite well. One tank is still half full and the other three quarters full and we have motored for two days solidly - three nights in fact.

The forecast is for some wind once we approach the Portuguese coast. We hope we get some wind before that, but we are being very careful what we wish for.

Rosemary and Ian

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