We’ve finally (touch wood) arrived into a zone of more settled weather. The wind had been steadily blowing from 8-12 knots from the SSE now for nearly 18 hours. We’ve used the opportunity to sail close to the wind and close in on the equator rather than take the quicker route sailing directly to our destination. The rationale is two fold. First, it is unlikely we’ll make landfall during daylight Thursday so by taking a longer slower route we’ll more likely arrive during the day on Friday. Secondly, if the wind does shift again, our more southerly position will give us a better chance to sail on in.
Our three sea birds left us this morning not without leaving us a deck load of deposits which I hosed off. The decks needs some soaping and scrubbing to remove the ‘lasting stains’. Despite the pleasure of having and watching the antics of such passengers I have decided they are no longer welcome.
To create some change of scene over the last couple of days I have been occasionally hailing nearby vessels in case we have ‘neighbours’. Today we struck lucky and ended up in conversation with the folks on ‘Sea Mist’ who are en route from Panama to St Cristobal in a faster Oyster 56. We both had the feeling we’d met before and after some discussion it turned out we’d had a radio chat back in The Saintes in February last year. When I checked my notes (which I was a bit more diligent with back then) I pinned the conversation down to February the 8th. Our British accents from New Jersey stand out. It will be nice to meet up with John and his crew when they move to Santa Cruz before we leave.
So, the equator lies a mere 22nm to our South. Us three pollywogs will soon be Shellbacks. It’s worth noting we’ve traveled nearly 10 degrees south since leaving Puntarenas a week ago. As the crow flies (which they don’t round here) that 605nm. Over the ground we’ve sailed 692 which gives a measure of the efforts we’ve made to find our way past the winds. The sea temperature, as a result of closing in on the Antarctic sourced Umboldt current, is now 86F and dropping. This may seem warm but will be shock for us as we’ve got used to 95F over the last few months. Based on our current course and speed we’ll cross the equator around 9am, perhaps a little later if we turn to our destination before then. We have some bubbly in the fridge which will, no doubt, go to our heads.
As well as the sea temperature falling, so has the air temperature and humidity. I’ve had to wear a tee-shirt for my night shift for the first time this passage. Everything is feeling a little more fresh. With the end of our passage close and the weather sharpening up spirits aboard are good. I’ll get this message off then go back outside and look at the stars while listening to Pink Floyd.
Leave a Reply