Saturday 17 August 2019

Don't know how this happened, but wind has remained good, 20 to 25 off starboard quarter then port as we rounded northeast coast. Current, going our way just off the continental shelf, has been a consistent two knots. Thirty miles added (775NM total) to stay offshore will be easily made up. Twenty winds have kicked up a bit of sea, but angle has made the ride tolerable. At anything like our current rate we'll be anchored off Lencoise (different state, different Lencoise, same pronunciation) sometime Wednesday and complete our longest passage in Anthem for the foreseeable future. This cruising thing is fun.

Working on the boat underway, not to put too fine a point on it, sucks. Boat speed, required for set/drift plus true wind speed/direction was inoperative on departure. Casual attitude of maintenance crew when arriving Jacare resulted in speed impeller not being replaced by plug. It was completely encrusted in hard growth. Can hardly wait to see propeller and shaft. Boat speed now working. Aft head began filling between uses, which meant siphon break was plugged. Fix required moving safely stored items to get behind cabinetry during which glass normally secured there jumped onto sole and smashed itself into a massive number of small shards when a rogue wave decided to play tricks. Toilet no longer overflowing. Autopilot and chart plotter began losing interest when voltage dropped to 10.8. Four year old batteries, having shown some sign of weakening going into Jacare, were equalized just before departure. No help. Cranked generator for charging and it promptly quit. Although engine and generator had been running fine on tank four, it was the one with most sludge during cleaning in Rodrigues where half of it was inaccessible. Racor and engine mounted filters as well as supply tank changed. Batteries now charged; autopilot and plotter happy. This cruising thing is a lot of work.

Land out of sight, but this is still coastwise with attendant shipping and fishing. Crew actually has to stay awake and pay attention. What an inconvenience. Thought it was either palm trees, toddies as the sun sets and looking for the green flash or fighting through a gale in six meter seas. I was misinformed. This cruising thing is fun, work, misunderstood, peculiar.

Jack & Jan