Week 1 and week 2
22.03.19 to 29.03.19
That is it we are off... Again beautiful clear sunny day, but not so much wind. We have to motor for 4 hours before we get out of the shadow of the islands. We pass the anchorage where Quo Vadis and Loco spent the night, called in on the VHF to say hello. They'll be setting off later in the afternoon no doubt they will catch up. Last view of land for a long while. The wind finally picks up and we are soon making good progress under sails... 6/7 knots that will do us. We are followed by a pod of dolphins for a little while.
We soon get back to our passage routine. First night at sea, my shift is 8pm to midnight, and despite feeling cold, would you believe I had to get the fleece out, so close to the equator, is beautiful. A big friendly full moon is in attendance and it is as clear as daylight.
There is still quite a bit of traffic, we are on the way to Panama after all, so the first week we still see loads of tankers. We have also got into talking to both Vagabond and Quo Vadis by email every day and that proves to be a fun and entertaining break in the day to share news. Off course it is not long before Vagabond is so far ahead that the wind and sea conditions they are encountering is of no value to us but it is nice for Ian to be able to share his woes. Same with Tibby on Quo Vadis. And as per our Atlantic crossing, the first week was the one when stuff either stopped working or broke. Which does not help with the skipper"s tendencies to worry and not go to sleep... At least he had 2 blokes to click the worry beads with and both Tibby and Hans are full of good ideas!
The first thing to go wrong barely 2 days in, the main whinch in the cockpit starts making grinding noises and operating it is not so smooth. When dismantled, it turns out that the bearing sitting in a little plastic cages have come out. The cage is completely destroyed. And we have not got a spare one of those. Only one thing for it, put it back without the bearings, not sure what the effect of this will have long term. Next, the windex at the top of the mast disappeared in a small gust, barely 25 knots. Not so much impact except on the skipper who likes to do it the old-fashioned way looking where the wind is coming from at the top of the mast. It's like he's lost a limb... He'll be looking up the mast for it for the rest of the passage.
3 days in and the wind dies completely as the sun goes down, we are not moving at all. Actually it is worse than that we are doing figures of eight in the water... The moon chases us one minute on the port side, the next on the starboard side, then it is up the front or right at the back! No steering, the windwane has given up and I have been trying to keep up going in any direction for an hour or two... I also give up and put the engine on. Skipper is not happy, we can't burn fuel so early in the crossing, so the engine goes off after 10mn. We'll when I say it goes off, not without a bit of a drama. The fuel cut off control is stuck and it takes bit of work in the engine compartment. Another worry bead, added.
Still not so bad we bob around for the rest of the night and we get some wind back by daybreak, the dolphins have brought it with them. The light winds finally gave way to a more respectable speed and we settle for a few days with very little sail adjustment. We have the friendly moon for a few days and visits from the ghost birds. There are also a lot of phosphorescent trailing us and all around, some of it made by some kind of creature, aiming straight for us then diving under the hull and reappearing on the other side. Some nights it feels like we are in life of pi movie! The stars and the milky way are just spectacular.
We are counting down the miles to the equator now. At 23:00 on the 28th march we finally crossed the equator, as is traditional, Neptune must be bribed so we can have a fairly benign passage through its kingdom. We have half a bottle of champagne in the fridge and we make sure that he gets a full glass! I know not like me at all to chuck bubbles anywhere else than my gullet, especially not overboard... But I do want a nice crossing, needs must. It is actually a beautiful night and we spent an hour just having a quiet chat under the magnificent sky, which is not often. When one of us is up the other one is asleep...
Week 2
30.03.19 to 05.04.19
Still good steady winds for the most part of the week. We are eating the miles up at the rate of 110/120 miles a day, which is nice. The ghost birds are around keeping pace with us but only at night we never see them during the day. Actually in the main there is nothing to see at sea! And then, 3 fishing boats. We spot the first one late afternoon, huge brand new thing bobbing in the swell. As we get closer, we realise that 6 smaller vessels, with mast are tethered at its stern, like a row of ducklings following their mother. Out comes the binoculars. We watch them for a long while until dusk stole the light. We came close enough to make out the men lounging at the back until they started getting in their little squiffs, going fishing.
The day after, we had 2 fishing boats.... crossing our stern. Both of them real rust buckets, both of them flying Chinese flag... Makes you wonder. These boats really did not look seaworthy... Like Frankenstein they look made up of many different boats cobbled together, seam showing in rusty colour. Both were flying a black sail at their stern.
Rain, rain rain has caught us ip. The morning was glorious but by the time I came up for my midday shift it has clouded over. We got the rain just after lunch. And it bucketted down! Lasted barely an hour or so but it stayed overcast for the rest of the day. It sure pleased the fishes around here... They were leaping for joy... Never seen so many having so much fun... You could have learnt over the sideband grabbed them. They did look the right size for a meal for 2... Guess they were jumping jacks tuna..? Or at least they ought to have been! Guess you would be pleased if the water you live in went from 28 degrees to a more reasonable 26!
Later in the night, the horizon and the AIS lit up like a Christmas tree.... at least 8 vessels glowing in the dark. It very much looked like the previous setting we encountered, mothership, big light and static, little lights moving at some distance around it. Although looking at the AIS, they were not so little, 50 metres in length and all Chinese, with names like Julong Mai, Chen hai and mah Jong. There you are, the Chinese are obviously taking over... Need to find out about fishing rights in international waters... And why isn't there any south American vessels fishing here, on their door steps?
By the end of the week, the moon is gone and we are in the dark... All the better to appreciate the stars, getting better at identifying some constellation, well I know that when that particular cluster disappear in the sea, Ian will be there shortly. I do recognise the southern cross however. The wind is steady and the boat speed is around 6/7 knots with peaks higher 8/9. Making good progress.
We have not had anything breaking for a while, well until now... The pulley holding the wind steering system is coming apart. Ian manages to lash it up together and it seams to hold. Next thing the wind instruments are playing up... Apparently not enough sun?! Really!!! So this one as goes, it usually packs up at night on my watch and you are really sailing in the dark then.... Blind to any wind shift or increase/decrease. As with no windex, no Idea of the direction. We have tied a bit of fabric to the shroud, we'll do it the old-fashioned way!
The wind is steadily decreasing, we are not on course and we are playing with the idea of putting up the wing so we can go downwind. This is a bit of a faff, getting the Genoa down and then the wings up, especially in a rolly sea. Both are huge sails, the down bit is not too bad but whinching it back up takes a load of efforts. Still it is worthwhile. By the time we finished, we can aim at our destination better and the rolling motion is subdued, and we are going faster.
Unfortunately, the halyard for the Genoa is chafed, it will be alright with the wings, he point of friction is different from the Genoa, may not be able to sail the Genoa again until we get it fixed.
Since we have the wings up, the main will have a rest now. Just as well, the pulley on the vang is shattered,... another breakage, Ian improvise a fix that should last until we get something more permanent.