L'Eau Commotion Westabout

6:00pm Wednesday 29th November 2017 ( UTC-2 ) I had noticed the combined Port/Starboard light on the pulpit give the odd flicker but last night it gave up the ghost. Opening up the lens revealed a sorry state of affairs with lots of corrosion and electrolysis and a gentle tug to test the integrity of the lamp holder resulted in its complete disintegration. With some trepidation I rummaged around and found a slightly corroded bulb and soldered a plus and minus wire to each end and to my relief it did not damage the LED's. I then used a few spare plastic fittings to hold the array in the Red/Green lens and tied a clear plastic lid to the lens back with zippy ties, applied copious silicon sealant and put it in place on the Meerkat Mansion with Supa Velcro. Bright and shiny like new and hopefully a little more weathertight. The shower light just had a corroded connection and easy peasy. Last night I headed a bit South to dodge any wind shadow from the high Ihla Santiago and this morning poled out the jib to Port. After stud ying the prognosis I am heading for a point 6 degrees, ( 360 miles ) North of Penedas. It will add 60 miles to the direct distance but if I can avoid being becalmed it will be well worth it. The sun again was very weak through the dust haze and there is a lot of sargassum weed in clumps and streaks. It's as if the weed is using the dust as a hydroponic fertiliser. Some got caught up in the wind vane paddle which threw everything out of sync for a bit, but otherwise the sailing has been quiet and relaxing with moderate mileage.