We are still enjoying bright warm weather and fair winds as we sail ever south towards Dakar, skirting the coast of Mauritania and the Western Sahara. There’s still heaps of shipping around, so the lookout, helmsman and officer of the watch have to be even more alert than usual, ready to call a passing ship on the radio or alter our course if necessary.
SHIP’S WORK: Freshen the nips in sheets, halyards and bunts, served main topmast staysail sheet pennants, spot paint skiff, continue with headrig ratlines, paint red on windlass, white on focsle bulkhead, lash shear-pole in starboard main shrouds, slush headrig, port bunt fair-leader board re-lashed. Sailmakers continue repairs to the topsail and seaming up the new main t’gallant staysail. Carpenters work on small repairs to the Monomoy and the well deck dutchman. Sail drill in watches at night: taking and setting royals and location of all running rigging
TOWARDS: Dakar, Senegal
TIME ZONE: GMT – 1/2 hour
NOON POSITION: 23°17.2’N /017°32.2’W
DAYS RUN: 118nm
PASSAGE LOG: 388nm
DISTANCE REMAINING: 525nm
COURSE AND SPEED: South, 1/4 West (CMGT 187°T)
WIND: Force 3, North East by East
WEATHER: 4/8 cloud (cirrus and cumulous), air temp 68F (20°C), barometer reading 1021 millibars, visibility good
SWELL HEIGHT & DIRECTION: approx 2 feet, NExN
SAILS SET: Everything set: square sails to the royals, inner jib, outer jib, main t’gallant staysail, fore and mizzen topmast staysails, and the spanker.