And the closest point of land isâ¦.?
04 December 2017
We have been trying to work out two things. What is currently our nearest point of land? We think it is South America at 830 miles. Also, when are we absolutely half way across, taken from any land on the east side (the Cape Verde Islands) to the most easterly point of the Windward Islands? We think that is probably about now.
A fast and moonlit night last night, followed by a fast but overcast and grey morning. As always there is something to celebrate â�" less than 1,100 miles to go â�" and as we had run out of bread G made pancakes and bacon to celebrate. The only bacon we could find in Las Palmas was that very unpromising looking partially cooked long-life streaky stuff but not surprisingly we found it delicious. Especially with golden syrup.
G was on a mission yesterday to fill the water tank while we were on port tack; it never fills completely when we are on starboard, so itâs hard to be really accurate in judging how much water we have/have used. So we had the engine running, charging in order to run the water-maker, for most of the afternoon until finally we had proof positive that it was full.
Still expecting a gybe later in the week but we will keep you posted. Might come as soon as tomorrow but watching for the wind backing slightly to the NE.
Since we got down to the Trades and turned right it has become a bit of a drag race to St Lucia. Everyone will have made different choices as to where to enter the Trades and how far south to go before turning right. It looks like we made some good choices earlier in our routing and got to the Trades ahead of quite a few of the bigger, faster boats, but now they are on a down wind leg; waterline length really counts in terms of boat speed, so the larger boats are moving through the pack. We are in the bottom 20% in terms of waterline length and this is when it shows. But rest assured, Barracuda is doing her best :-). We think the front runners may be starting to finish about now but the fleet seems to be spread out over quite a wide area. We can start to see on the forecast the wind that will blow us most of the way to St Lucia, but there is a large soft area of calm filling in behind us in a few days, so weâre hoping we can stay ahead it and not get becalmed at the end.
In the meantime, bread-making and yoghurt making are underway and the fishing lines are out â�" business as usual.
Distance run in the last 24 hours: 142 nautical miles
Cumulative distance run since ARC start: 1,930 nautical miles