Sunday at sea and thoughts are turning to the Caribbean in our near future – maybe in just a week! The Captain gave us an introductory West Indies talk this afternoon to whet our appetites for small boat sailing and wonderful islands, with more in-depth orientation to follow over the next few days.
SHIPS WORK: There was large rip in the old fore upper topsail this morning, so we sent the sail down and bent a replacement before lunch. It seems like we’re getting through sails pretty quickly on this passage, but that’s really what’s supposed to happen when you have 15 or 20-year-old cotton sails bent: get the last little bit of use out of them in fair weather and when they finally fall apart you can dismantle them for parts and chafe gear, and make space to stow the collection of brand new sails and those in progress. Good seamanship sending them up and down, and pretty fun too.
No other ship’s work on Sunday apart from standing watches and basic domestic routines. Elvira was cook today, with Dkembe assisting; they did a great job with the limited ingredients you’d expect after more than a month at sea.
BOUND FROM: James Bay, St Helena, South Atlantic Ocean
TOWARDS: Grenada, Windward Islands, Caribbean Sea
TIME ZONE: GMT -3
NOON POSITION: 06°16.1’N /048°11.3’W
DAYS RUN: 130 nm
PASSAGE DISTANCE RUN: 3,000 nm
DISTANCE REMAINING: 861 nm
COURSE AND SPEED: North West 1/2 West, Course made good 292° true, 4.6 knots
WIND: Wind Force 3-4, North East by East
WEATHER: Fair, 6/8 cloud, barometer 1017.5 millibars and steady, visibility very good
SWELL HEIGHT & DIRECTION: East North East 1-2 m
SAILS SET: All sails set
Fore upper topsail ready to bend on (minus the cat)