FINNROSE 15:12.67N 40:50.00W

Finnrose
Sun 9 Dec 2012 14:47
Day 12 at sea completed. It was a scorching hot day, sadly with very little wind. On the boat there is no escape from the heat. Whilst there is a breeze the edge is taken off the sweltering heat but when we are becalmed it is horrid. Makes you want to jump into the sea. Both the fridge and the freezer are struggling to keep up (well, they aren't struggling, they are failing); fridge temperature has risen off the scale and the freezer, instead of -18, is now at -12. And, the chocolate in the Advent calendars has melted! Still, mustn't complain. I'm sure this is better than freezing back at home!

We were pretty much becalmed for a couple of days. But, even so, Finnrose needs very little breeze to move along; even with practically no discernible wind and with the Equatorial current (which is moving in our direction) we were making between 2 and 3 knots. Last night, in anticipation of a forecast breeze from the east, we set the cruising chute. The breeze, although later and weaker than forecast, did arrive and we made good ground overnight. Today we have supplemented the cruising chute with a poled-out genoa on the port side, ie. as much sail area before the wind as we can muster. We are hoping the breeze holds out!

Otherwise not much to report, but, all the same, the days go by amazingly quickly.

Yesterday our ovine visitor left us (maybe he is hitching a ride on a quicker boat), and we let 3 fishes escape our clutches. Well, we didn't let them escape; they got free whilst we were trying to land them. It's a learning game yet. It seems catching them is not particularly difficult, but we are still learning how best to get 5lb (maybe!) of struggling, writhing, slippery, and very angry fish aboard.
Richard baked fresh bread and very good it was too - the first time we have baked bread aboard.

Despite the doldrums, we made 104 miles yesterday, making a total sailed of 1702. Now got 1173 miles to go.