Another sweet day of easy, trade wind sailing: blue seas, big blue skies and a fair breeze filling the white sails. The captain held an all-hands discussion this afternoon about the Caribbean Islands we may visit in the next month or so. He did a great job of whetting our appetite: amazing history and culture, delightful variety, much small boat adventures in warm, turquoise waters; expeditions to palm-fringed sandy beaches or jungle and waterfalls in the higher islands; snorkelling and scuba diving; visits to sugar plantations or to see wooden boats being built on the sand; but most of all exploring and soaking up the vibe of these wonderful islands. I’m sure most of the crew would rather be back home in the snow, but someone’s gotta sail this barque around the Caribbean 🙂
SHIP’S WORK: Move the stu’n’s’l gear to the starboard side so we can set the sails on the other tack; varnish galley house trim, varnish quarterdeck rails; scrape and paint bottom of our Lunenburg Dory SEA NEVER DRY; The bottom planks are now all installed in KARL so they were faired off and given a coat of primer – just the topsides to plank now! KARL spar and sail making also continued; assembly of the new pilot ladder continues; installed upper spanker crane-line; installed newly varnished helm grates. The watches drilled in st’n’s’ls overnight. Celestial practice continues with sun lines.
FROM: Mindelo, Sāo Vicente, Cape Verde
TOWARDS: The West Indies
TIME ZONE: ZD+3
NOON POSITION: 15°05.6’N /056°42.0’W
DAYS RUN: 98nm
PASSAGE LOG: 1,946nm
DISTANCE REMAINING: 226nm
COURSE AND SPEED: West by North (CMGT 284°T)
WIND: Force 5, East by South
WEATHER: 4/8 cloud cover (cumulus), air temp 80F (27°C), barometer reading 1020 millibars, visibility good
SWELL HEIGHT & DIRECTION: approx 3-5 feet, East x North
SAILS SET: All square sails to the royals, fore topmast and t’gallant studdingsails, fore topmast staysail, inner jib, outer jib, braced up a point on the starboard tack.