Day 146 - Caribbean Passage - Day 20
Midnight we had made it
as far as 16:41.53N 46:43.54W – Monday 15th of December, 2008. Engine Time – 8.6
Hours Well I could not believe
it, it was about 6AM and the wind had dropped off to a light breeze of about 9
Knot’s, I do not know what it is but each morning the wind drops off to
almost nothing. This is a real pain not only because we do not go anywhere but
I tow the generator over night to keep the batteries topped up and in light
winds it stopps being effective. It also slows us down by about 0.5 Knot so it
sucks a little. Anyhow we are supposed to be out here in the trade wind belt I
get a little disheartened and very very confused. All I can tell you is there
are no such winds out where we have sailed. The trade winds are supposed to
blow consistently from the North East however all we have been getting are
squalls, storms and South East winds which are either to strong or to light. I
am pretty sure the whole reason Fi and I decided not to sail into the med was
because of the light and unreliable wind. Well so far not much different out
here. Christmas on the water seems to becoming reality. Up went the kite which
always makes me happy and off we went at a steady 4Knot’s only to be
totally becalmed around 10:30 when I had no other choice but to run the engine
just to tick us over and keep the boat relatively steady in the water. That was
pretty much it for the day, apart from me fishing but I fish every day. Anyhow
I caught another Dolphin Fish. Fiona’s favorite so I was happy cause it
means I get to eat fish another day. Why on earth did we provision so much food
when all I have to do is drop in the line and presto a big fish jumps on the
end of it. Lucky Fiona saw another
whale this time a big black one. Special
comments by Fiona: These light winds are becoming
very frustrating. I just want to get to the other side and quickly!
I am starting to get a little “cabin fever”. I enjoy the
mornings and find I keep myself busy up until lunch time. The
afternoon’s seem to drag and there are only so many books one can
read. I miss running, ha, actually I also miss walking! I’ve
stopped asking how far to go now and just take each day as it comes. Oh, I was also
“lucky” enough to see another whale this morning. Ben and I
were both in the cabin and as I came up, to our port side I saw this huge black
whale surface. I gave a little scream and by the time Ben came up he went
down deep below not to be seen again. Thank god! Day 146 Traveling Direction
– West Wind Direction – South
East East – light to none Swell – Moderate Average Speed
– 4.4 Top Speed – 6.4
Knots Through the water Distance Covered –
106.0 Nautical Miles |