3/6/08  12:00

I had an e-mail this morning from The Capitania de Puerto De Juan Fernandez  enquiring as to our ETA in Juan Fernandez.  I’ve been sending position reports twice dailey to the Valdivia office which issued our “Zarpe.”  When we decided not to stop at Juan Fernandez, I informed them on May 26^th but they obviously didn’t tell anyone.  Just had a telephone call on the Iridium from the Chilean Navy in Valpariaso wondering where we are.  As we hadn’t turned up in Juan Fernandez they were concerned.  The system is actually quite comforting.

14:45  There have been two more telephone calls from the Chilean Navy.  We now have a new address to send our positions to.  We have just spotted the first ship we’ve seen since the first night when we pulled away from the Chilean coast.  He will pass a few miles North of us.

20:00 Dorado for Dinner. Very Nice.  Sunset tonight produced the “green flash” as the tip of the sun drops below the horizon. This only happens when the horizon is clear of clouds so the sunset was pretty tame.

We are still sailing nearly on course.

The Southerly Winds had brought clear skies and the temperature has dropped several degrees. Thursday arrival still looking good.

Just to give Steve something to do, the fan belt on the AC generator (as opposed to the DC generator) broke which is easier to change that the pump impellor which is what usually goes.  Actually he wound up changing the impellor as well which doesn’t seem fair.

The wind instruments are playing up something rotten.  They keep dropping out.  It might be a connection at the top of the mast.   They’re off more than they are on.

The system loses the GPS several times a day for a minute or so at a time, and then finds it again.  Boring. 

3/6/08  00:30

Clear moonless starry night.  The wind has held S and even SSE Force 3. Boat speed down but still respectable, although it moves our ETA to the 6^th.

With the more gentle motion, the wind instruments are not dropping out as often. 

The AC genset is still sulking.  Steve will look at it again tomorrow.

We are passing 8 miles North of Isla Sala Y Gomez, even smaller than Easter Island.   If it were daylight it would be tempting to stop for a few hours.

3/6/08  11:00

After an hour or so of 3 knot sailing I turned on the motor at 1:30 last night.  Steve managed 20 minutes of 7 knot sailing at dawn but it died away again almost as soon as it had arrived.  The barometer is rising and the skies are clear. We will change the clocks again later today to GMT -7.

We had another e-mail from the Chilean Navy acknowledging our position report and thanking us.