04/Dec/2011, 576M to Grenada: 1,624M from Cape Verdes
A fantastic night's progress with a fair current and 6.5 to 7.0 knots of boat speed. It all added up to good miles under the keel until about midnight. Then the convection caught up with us; hot moist air rising rapidly from the sea. Forty degree wind-shifts and winds between 8 knots and 30 knots. At first light the poles came down and we went to course close reaching on port tack in light airs, not too bad with speeds of up to 5 knots. During the morning the main convection mass arrived and we were reduced to motoring in gusty and fickle conditions, sometimes the wind from dead ahead, others from astern and wind strength from nothing to 20 knots. Quite tiring doing frequent changes in sail plan hence the motor until things settled down. And settled down they did to winds back in the east but only 5-8 knots and a foul current to boot. We now continue to motor at economical engine revs waiting for better conditions to prevail while we avoid slopping around aimlessly in the residual swell and waves from a variety of directions.
The positive aspects, and yes there are some. A chance for a thoroughly good shower for the Sprucettes. Tropical downpours come fast and furious, sit out with soap and shampoo and enjoy a short period without constant perspiration. When the rain came the scuppers ran coloured with the dust from the Cape Verdes. The rigging, the sails, ropes, everything covered in a red dust blown from the dry islands during the windy month spent in those waters; until this morning.
As we continue plodding slowly on our way another brooding grey air mass lies to the south. We'll probably be making its acquaintance later this evening for another good soaking.
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03/Dec/2011, 698M to Grenada: 1,500M from Cape Verdes
Yesterday evening and overnight the wind was up and down with a dreaded counter current delaying our progress. However, this morning the wind increased and during the afternoon the seas have smoothed out and a wonderful current of 0.8 knots has come to our assistance. Will it last is the unanswered question. So far we should have enjoyed an overall 130M of positive help from the Equatorial Current, as of noon today we measured a total push towards our destination of only 3M. Maybe this will now change for the remainder of our passage.
Another day of grey and overcast skies with some rain. A low pressure area is passing to the south of us and is predicted to dissipate and come north across our route tomorrow and Monday. At some point we'll be down to 5 knots of wind, hopefully this good breeze and 6.8 knots progress will be maintained well into Sunday.
A Brown Booby flew a few circuits this morning, occasionally flopping into the sea to eat something we could not see. The fishing line we towed at lunch time received a big bite an hour later. After much hauling a one-metre long male Mahi-Mahi (Dorade) was pulled alongside. Andy fluffed the bringing aboard, should have used the gaff, and he dropped off to rapidly swim away into the beautiful ultramarine depths. The line is back out but will be retrieved before nightfall; a big fish wrapping itself into the towed water generator line and propeller during the hours of darkness is not a happy thought.
Tentatively we think we might arrive some time on Friday or Saturday. A night time entry to Prickly Bay won't be attempted so we may need to slow down at the end of the passage and delay our arrival if the timing is wrong.
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02/Dec/2011, 845M to Grenada: 1,351M from Cape Verdes
A slower night and day with winds down to 10-12knots, the swells are much larger, probably from a distant weather system, and coupled with less wind is making the motion more rolly and less comfortable. Never the less, today was planned for baking so two loaves and two banana cakes have been produced. The the gimbals on the stove working over-time. The sponges are a little lop-sided but a miracle that we can classify them as cakes under the prevailing conditions.
The external visual sights have remained fairly constant. A brief glimpse of a different type of Shearwater, very much greater amounts of weed floating with an occasional glistening of flying fish skimming the waves. No sightings of whales so far; but that could be because they haven't reached this far south after their summer sojourn in northern latitudes where the days were long and the food bountiful.
The first vessel of our radio-net group, The Magellan Net, has reached the Caribbean. "Adagio II" arrived in Les Iles de Saintes, just to the south of Guadalupe, yesterday evening. They were so distant from the net controller back in the Canary Islands that we relayed their check-in. Boat number two, "Bright Eyes", was 468 miles from Barbados this morning and should be arriving in 3-4 days. Following them are "Ocean Lady" (40 miles ahead of us) and ourselves, both heading for Grenada and likely to arrive in 6-7 days. The morning reports are taking more than half an hour to record with vessels spread all the way from the Canaries to Caribbean, and some in the Cape Verdes. Another 3-4 weeks and everybody should have arrived in the Antilles at one or other of the East Caribbean islands.
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01/Dec/2011, 960M to Grenada: 1,229M from Cape Verdes
December started with an excellent windy night and 20-22 knots of breeze through until breakfast time this morning. Our noon-noon run was 161 Miles in 24 hours, the best yet on this passage. It has been lighter this morning and still looks like the decent strength of winds won't last past Saturday. Probably cased by the trade winds being disrupted by the tropical weather some 500 miles north of here.
Yesterday evening, just before dusk, a pod of Rough Toothed Dolphins swam by, pinkish underbellies, 2-3 metres long and under jaw colouring that looked liked Batman's Joker's grin... or maybe they were just chuckling at our sluggish seven-knots as they powered ahead with the flick of a tail. Still seeing Shearwaters soaring in the troughs and our first visit by a pure white Tropic Bird this morning, its long tail feather trailing astern like an afterthought.
A bright sunny day today, much more cheerful after yesterday's grey skies masking the deep blue of the ocean. The wind is now more east, even with a touch of south sometimes. This is bringing more equatorial weather our way and the humidity has increased tremendously. Whole squadrons of flying fish are heading skywards as our bow crashes into their world, the shoals parting either side of us and skimming off across the waves for a hundred metres or more each side. Lots of Sargasso like weed is floating around, light brown and rather like the wrack found on the UK coastal margins but much lighter coloured. These patches of weed endlessly circulate on the ocean currents orbiting the Azores High Pressure zone, with a larger density allegedly conglomerating in the centre. That's where the winds don't blow so we won't be checking it out any time soon:-)
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30/Nov/2011, 1,116M to Grenada: 1,079M from Cape Verdes
Less wind in the small hours last night, along with a bit of foul current, and a consequential reduction in the days 24 hour run at noon; only 144 miles ticked off today. Just starting to brighten up after a rather humid, muggy, grey and overcast morning. It has got very choppy so the hatches are now closed, after water coming onto the deck and some spashing below, which exacerbates the high humidity. Still hoping to keep around 16-20 knots of wind from the ENE until about the 4-5 December, if we do get a large hole in the wind we should be able to motor from there if needed, expensive but a possibility.
Our fishing lure was trailing well astern this morning at first light. We use the bungy cord and peg technique; that is a 3 metre length of bungy cord is attached to the line and pegged on the guard-rail, if a fish takes the lure then the peg releases long enough for the lure to be taken and then the bungy progressively tensions the line. Well, this morning the peg released, a false signal and was quickly re-pegged. Wham! The bungy paid out with an enormous crack and the snapped fishing line sprang back onto the pulpit rail. Something much too large for the pan we thought, but another valuable lure gone. The second one in a week and still no fish brought on board.
Onwards we cruise with a slow rolling motion (usually) down wind and with the waves and swell in harmony, mostly quite a soporific movement. Long may it last.
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29/Nov/2011, 1,260M to Grenada: 934M from Cape Verdes
Encore an equal best day's run on this passage with 156 Miles more past the keel. The slightly lighter patches of wind in the afternoon and early morning seem determined to stop us breaking the elusive 160 Miles per day barrier. The swell and the waves from the trade winds are generously staying pretty much from the same direction which means the rolling is less than experienced 2-years ago...but can it last so good?
Today's bird life seems mainly restricted to Shearwaters and Stormy petrels. The Brown Boobies have vanished, maybe too far from Cape Verdes for their range of travel. Although we are now closer to South America than the Cape Verdes at only some 880 Miles from Cabo Orange on the Brazilian/French Guyana border. On the last trip we started seeing Tropic Birds after another 400 Miles; perhaps they'll make an appearance in another 3 days or so.
A third vessel from South east Asia passing close (500 metres) and the second without any AIS signal. Maybe a fishing boat but looks more like what the Russians used to euphemistically call trawlers during the cold-war. Antennae sprouting around the superstructure to the extent normally found on a warship. The latest the closest and named the Chung I No 116 (IMO 8943753), maybe there are another 113 of them lurking in these waters. They don't answer calls on VHF Channel 16 when asked their intentions while on constant bearings.
Our fishing lure is trailing well astern just below the surface, skipping out of the water as we accelerate down larger waves and the speed increases. Not sure if our water towed generator will be seen by any fish as a large teaser or just scary. The propeller being towed is designed for up to 7-knot speeds but spins out of the sea when we get up to more than 7.5 knots. The batteries are almost fully charged again, so we'll haul in the water towed generator at dusk and gain a little extra speed over night.
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