FINNROSE 13.00 039:02:69N 049:51:46W FRI 05/07/13

Finnrose
Fri 5 Jul 2013 20:58
As the evening drew in, the winds became lighter, and so at 6 p.m. the engine was started again; the mainsail was set with two reefs in preparation for the night ahead. Supper was Madras curry for the male crew, whilst Liz ( not a fan of curry) had seafood spaghetti. Sadly, the dessert of choice, ice cream with cookies and chocolate, had all been eaten, so yoghurt with apricots was substituted. Advice on the generator had been received from the suppliers, confirming the diagnosis of a faulty fuel filter, so once again the evening was conducted in dim light, keeping a watchful eye to check that the battery levels were increasing under the engine charge until it was switched off at 10 p.m.. We have been warned not to keep trying to run the generator as it may damage the fuel pump diaphragm, so until we get a spare in the Azores, dim evenings it's going to be....

We sailed through the night on the two-reefed mail and genoa until 5 a.m. when the wind dropped and the engine was switched on. The wind veered from NW around to E by 8 a.m. which means it was blowing exactly from the Azores. Mark has been tacking to try to take advantage of this less than favourable wind, and avoid putting the engine on, since 8 a.m. It was noticeably colder during the night and this morning ( 27 degrees outside) due to the fresh breeze rising from 6 a.m. The mizzen was set by Ken W at 10 a.m. which helped hold the front of the boat into the wind a little more. We had another companion ship late morning, the K DAPHNE, a cargo ship bound for KWANGYANG, KOREA - an enormous vessel - you just wouldn't want to get into an argument with her.

For lunch, in the light of reduced temperatures, it was decided to have soup and cheese on toast. Going through the larder, Liz was tempted by an expensive tin of chicken broth, bought in Bermuda, imported from America. This showed a lovely picture of a steaming bowl of chicken soup with vegetables on the front. Just like Baxter's chicken and vegetable soup in England, or so we thought. Imagine the dismay when only clear broth came out. What a swizz. Obviously trade descriptions don't feature highly in the USA. Luckily we have loads of onions, and still some fairly respectable carrots and celery in the fridge, so a pan of real home-made soup materialised about half an hour later.

A quiet afternoon, alternatively dull and cloudy with the occasional spell of sunshine. Liz wore a fleece on the boat for the first time since leaving Portugal last year. Speed has reduced, so Ken M has taken a reef out of the mainsail. 841 nm done, 858 to go... nearly half-way!

ps an apology from Liz to her friends- forgot to copy email addresses before setting off and can't access my hotmail account to get them - please could you drop a line to yacht {DOT} finnrose {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com so that I can add them to our contacts list. Please only send text emails as we are sending and receiving via the satellite phone whilst at sea.

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