A great day for marine wildlife: there was a small shark swimming dead astern for a while this morning (you can just see it in the photo), and then spinning dolphins off the port bow in the afternoon. There’s been heaps of shipping too, mainly big commercial ships bound transatlantic and a handful of yachts. My favourite so far was named MV WOOLOOMOOLOO.
SHIP’S WORK: Paint green starboard aft corner of galley house, buff on forward galley house, white on headrig seizings, buff on foreyard stunsail irons, varnish starboard charthouse railing, re-lead spanker gaskets, install shear-poles and worm turnbuckles on fore t’gallant and royal backstays, ratlines in headrig, ratlines in main t’gallant shrouds, clean skiff and spot paint white, mousings on fore lower topsail sheets. Sailmakers (Vai and Vicky joining John this week) are making repairs to an upper topsail, a t’gallant and awning. Tim and Kevin are working on a small repair to the well deck. Ty is helping Jas in the engine room.
TOWARDS: Dakar, Senegal
TIME ZONE: GMT – 1/2 hour
NOON POSITION: 25°03.1’N /017°05’W
DAYS RUN: 142nm
PASSAGE LOG: 187nm
DISTANCE REMAINING: 634nm
COURSE AND SPEED: S (CMGT 185°T)
WIND: Force 3, ExS
WEATHER: 1/8 cloud and light haze, air temp 70F (21°C), barometer reading 1024 millibars, visibility good
SWELL HEIGHT & DIRECTION: approx 2 feet, ExN
SAILS SET: The wind picked up again overnight so we set sail at midnight: all fore and aft sail and square sails to the t’gallants, braced half way to sharp on the port tack with a heavy fan.