50) 1,207 nm ENE of Barbados

Wednesday 12.14.05 1009am

15° 03.736 N 38° 55.396 W

1,207 nm ENE of Barbados

792 nm WSW of The Cape Verde Islands off Africa

Sunrise looking east and west.

Last night at 7pm we caught the edge of a squall and got some wind.  We had been motoring all day and it was a blessing.  The initial gust-front hit and the wind speed was about 15-18 knots.  Soon after the sprinkles started and then the rain.  We ran around closing all the portholes and hatches and prepared for the sleigh ride.  It was fantastic!  The rain was the cleansing that we so badly needed.  The wind only lasted for about 1-3 hours and then we were back to motoring. 

During a squall it's easier and probably safer to just go with the wind and not adjust the sails.

Message in a bottle.

I came on watch at 6am and the wind was too low to sail so we kept motoring.  Around 7am the wind was up to 12-14 and I put up the Genoa.  John got up and put up the main and shut off the motor and we have been sailing since.  For some reason the autopilot is not working properly again so we must hand steer.  We are very close to latitude 15° and our final destination is at 13°.  So, we have about 120nm more to the south and then that’s it for going south.  We don’t want to cross that line.  It’s amazing to see that we left Italy at latitude 41° N and are now at 15° N.  We’ve gone south approximately 1,560nm so far.  All told we will have gone south about 1,680nm.  Where we left Italy the longitude was 12°E and we are now at 15° W.  We have gone west about 1,620nm.  But, since we’ve been turning left and right all over the place our actual miles through the water are much higher. 

The days are very warm now.  We all want to swim but something has changed my mind as of yet.  While on watch this morning I happened to see a very large splash off to port about 1000’ and looked that way.  I then saw 2 or 3 sharp snouts rise out of the water with lots of splashing and then it was over.  My impression is that it was not a whale and it was sharks.  Off the top of my head I know that oceanic white-tips, mako’s and blue sharks are the scavengers on the high seas and are a threat to people and everything else.  They will eat anything and are very aggressive.  Science learned about this particular issue when the USS Indianapolis sunk in the south Pacific in WW2 and sharks picked off most of the survivors.

   

324pm, 15° 08.384 N 39° 18.706 W, 1,185 nm ENE of Barbados

Today is one of the frustrating days.  Due to the wind direction we are forced to sail northwest and if you look at the coordinates in the heading you can see that we are heading north and not west: 10:09 am is 15° 03.736 and 3:24pm is 15° 08.384.  Since we are trying to get south to 13° when this number increases we are going the wrong way. 

 

John just got off the phone with Nancy and she said that the wind is supposed to steadily increase and in 5 days it will be better.  Five Days!?  I asked him if she realized that we were not going to be in Barbados when she is.  He said she gets it.  

Wednesday 12.14.05 510pm

15° 10.420 N 39° 27.861 W

1,176nm ENE of Barbados

We just had 2 or 3 Orca’s come up behind us, parallel us, ride the bow and then depart.  While on the side of us they were within about 5’ of the boat and you could really see them.  It was pretty exciting.  There was a small one with the large one that I saw.  The large one was about 15’ or so.