Time Warp
23 December 2017 | 2030 Miles to Cape Horn
5:00pm Saturday 23rd December 2017 ( UTC-3 ) After 52 consecutive days inhabiting the one time zone of UTC-2 it feels like I have broken free of some inescapable force such as typically surrounds even the smallest of Black Holes. Just before lunch the longitude ticked past 37 30.0'W and I have turned back time by adding minus one hour to the wall clock and all the other electronics with which we modern mariners are blessed so they are now synchronous with those in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is probable that some of my sluggish progress could be attributed to a swirl in the ocean currents. Most of the West going Equatorial Current flows past North Eastern Brazil, flows into the Gulf of Mexico and then becomes the Gulf Stream, but some is deflected South along the East Coast of Brazil. This current is much weaker and swirls can break off and head back Northwards, which my weather program infers, but are pretty erratic at best. This breakout has been assisted by a gentle increase in the wind which is also swinging a bit more to the North. An occasional misty shower has delivered no useful water for doing the washing but in the cooler cabin am enjoying The Old Breed, a factual account by E.B. Sledge of his time with the US Marines and the invasion of Palilu and Okinawa.