Hi everyone,
At noon today we were at 13 38N 033 55W steering 260M, sailing under 2 reefs and 2 furls at 6 knots. The wind was 17G20 from the NE. Our noon to noon run by the log was 116nm.
At noon today we were at 13 38N 033 55W steering 260M, sailing under 2 reefs and 2 furls at 6 knots. The wind was 17G20 from the NE. Our noon to noon run by the log was 116nm.
Yesterday afternoon the winds were light and progress slow. And we were still zigzagging down our route in the ENE wind. The Saharan dust was further diminishing and in the evening we could see the stars. By 2100 our course was approaching SSW so it was time to gybe. Happily our new course was 270 and the wind direction had backed to NE.
Last night we gave up on the 6 hour night watches. We gave them a good hard go, but they were doing me in! So we're back to our 3 hour watches 24/7 which have stood the test of time for us.
The moon has now waned to half so it rises at midnight. It's nice having half a night with the milky way and half with moon light. Except that for much of last night we had clouds passing overhead, some delivering drizzle. Just enough to turn dust to mud! Oh, and we rescued two flying fish overnight!
The morning the wind filled in nicely and 'rescued' our noon-to-noon run. Best of all our gybe S seems to have put us in some positive current. Nice!
Overnight I did some more trials of JS8Call, software which controls our HF/SSB to 'chat' boat to boat or coast station. It also provides position reporting. I chatted with a ham operator in Cape Cod in the US, about 2500nm away. Very clean signal and we chatted for 10 minutes or so. More on JS8Call in a technical post soon.
Trust all's well where you are!
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