Day 4 (2023-01-07)
Back on autopilot since late yesterday. With so much sargassum around us, we are finding it hard to be using the hydrovane as it’s collecting considerable amounts of the stuff. Which I decide to blame on my newly found difficulty to trim the bloody thing to pilot us to the desired wind angle. That may be some tiredness and crankiness on my part.
The sun has managed to occasionally pierce through the clouds and give us good power, with the return to autopilot use, there’s a return to the concern of power generation and also, the return of that annoying noise.
At any chance, Ella hogs the entire starboard seat to sleep comfortably like the Admiral in chief she must think she is.
Bored as hell, with restricted use of technology due to the challenges of charging with 240v we realise how addicted we have become to our iPads for entertainment and I’m not referring to the internet. All books that could potentially feel like reading are there, all my blog writing is there…
Since we lost the 240v on the first day the menu consisted of room-temperature seafood paella twice, room-temperature seafood feijoada (stew) yesterday, and for lunch and dinner, we had a version of my Mum's amazing roasted potatoes with roasted capsicum salad. Glad these are all meals that go quite well just at room temperature. Already defrosting a box of bean curry that should also go ok without being heated.
So much for the Spanish-style tortillas I had planned for.
We checked the forecast again, and to our satisfaction, an area that had shown up previously marked as a warning for thunderstorms and high seas had already dissipated. The latest forecast seems to suggest we will be able to pass the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Conversion Zone) with some wind and maybe avoid squalls altogether.
That would be very cool, we do still have however a warning for gusts ahead of us. Our interpretation of the forecast suggests it is best to keep this pace neither too slow nor too fast so we can avoid some stronger winds and at the same time not get caught in the doldrums. Let’s see if the strategy works.
Eventually, the sun managed to show its face in the afternoon to much of our delight, and wow, it was quite hot! We are truly approaching the equator. Although at night the humidity combined with the breeze still has us wearing jackets and long pants.
The nights have been quite easy in the sense there’s no one else out here, making night watches simpler and more conducive to longish snoozes. This, is helping with the level of tiredness, the motion of the boat, however, makes for a very light sleep full of tossing and turning.
24h daily run 129 nautical miles.
A slightly slow day it seems.
***For anyone that is curious regarding our Atlantic crossing and wants to know a bit more about the problems and challenges of the Sargassum sea weed bloom, the link below 👇🏼 is a good reading.
***In the spirit of sharing our dreams and experiences we have shared this blog post in the NOFOREIGNLAND.COM website sailors community.