We just passed the mouth of the Amazon and Para Rivers, which pump huge quantities of fresh water into the Atlantic here. A strong adverse current is slowing us down at the moment but in just a few miles it should come fair and give us a boost of nearly two knots most of the way up the coast of Brazil. The currents are interesting here: there’s a big swirling eddy in the Guyana Basin to our north and west, the whole thing more than 200 miles across. I wonder if it’s something to do with the out flow from the mighty Amazon? We saw a large sailing yacht pass us by to starboard yesterday evening, they overhauled us slowly, passing close by on the horizon at sunset. Shame they didn’t come close enough to take photos!
SHIPS WORK: Send down fore lower topsail and bent on a replacement. Lots of work on the boats to get them ready to sail in the Caribbean: sanding and painting thwarts, finishing making the rudder and tiller for Sydney and fixing them up for the long boat and Sea Never Dry (all were made aboard over the years). Some of the watch are cleaning and painting the shroud seizings shiny white where the recent slushing of the stays and tarring of the ratlines had left the inevitable grubby marks.
BOUND FROM: James Bay, St Helena, South Atlantic Ocean
TOWARDS: Grenada, Windward Islands, Caribbean Sea
TIME ZONE: GMT -3
NOON POSITION: 06°48.5’N /049°49.0’W
DAYS RUN: 104 nm
PASSAGE DISTANCE RUN: 3,104 nm
DISTANCE REMAINING: 757 nm
COURSE AND SPEED: North West by North 1/2 North, Course made good 272° true, 3.4 knots
WIND: Wind Force 3, East by South
WEATHER: Fair, 2/8 cloud, barometer 1018 millibars and steady,
visibility very good
SWELL HEIGHT & DIRECTION: East 2 m
SAILS SET: All sails set including all three studdingsails, braced up slightly to starboard and with plenty of screw in the yards
Anne-Mette aloft on the lower stuns’l boom