Day-10
24hr.Run=176NM. Our third best day’s run ever aboard sailors Run.
Position=Latitude 12*52’S Longitude 98*02’W.
Weather=Wind=15-25+kts.SE.
Seas=6-9ft.
Cabin Temp. 72*-76*. Squalls 50% of the time with sunny and clear patches.
Barometer-1012 mb
Day-11
24hr.Run=160 NM.
Position -Latitude 14*57’S. Longitude 99*39’W.
Weather=Wind 12-25 kts.
Seas=6-9ft.
Cabin Temp=71*-74*. Squalls 50% with sunny periods.
Barometer-1012 mb
Day12
24hr.Run=170 NM.
Position.= Latitude-17*12’S. Longitude-101*22’W.
Weather=Wind=12-25 kts.
Seas=6-9ft
Cabin Temp=71*-74*.
Barometer=1012 mb
Miles sailed last 3-days=506 NM
Total miles sailed so far=1762 NM
Distance left to go to turning point for cape Horn=1468NM.
Top speed so far=9.9kts.
The Rest of the Story.
Day-10
In the morning as I gazed out upon the rugged seas it was wonderful to see a small pod of black dolphins frolicking in Sailors Run’s bow wake; there commotion was putting hundreds of flying fish into flight. I had to wonder does the school of fish suddenly become a flock of fish during those 100 yards of flight.
It makes one wonder if the fish have evolved to flight status, to avoid predators from the deep. What might it be like sailing a million years into the future after the dolphins might have accomplished the same thing, as I know just how much it hurts to be hit by one of those flying fish?
Today was laundry day and it was accomplished by using a bucket and several lines strung up in behind the dodger. This all seemed well and good until a squall sought us out, and pounced upon us. Things were suddenly chaotic in the cockpit as I struggled to roll in the head sail while being slapped in the face with a wet T-shirt.
Later in the morning I peeled the not so good leaves off of 6-cabbages and got them re wrapped in fresh newspaper.
I learned from my Cape Horn trip six years ago to bring lots of cameras along, and they have to be able to endure getting washed down, to capture some of the best footage. I also learned where to burn lots of film and less film, as a result this video will have considerably less “nude shots”.
The shower experience at sea entails taking the planned every third day shower and the many unplanned showers that materialize either salty from the sea or fresh and cold from the sky above, all just part of the sailing experience.
Day-11
We are now just south of Lima Peru and over 1200 miles off shore of South America. Out here a long ways from help you are forced to balance the forces of nature and the desire to go further faster. You might think 7-9 kts. is not that fast, but when you are heeled over 20 plus degrees and the water is raging along the side of the boat’s hull and then you are suddenly struck broadside by a very steep 9-foot wave that explodes into one of those unexpected “showers, you suddenly feel “extremely alive”, and pray that things stay that way.
Heading for Easter Island
So far we are sailing great with good speed as I attempt to nearly circumnavigate the South Pacific High, using it much like a giant pinwheel to sling shot us into the “Roaring Forty’s”. The transition from the winds on the outside of the high to the “Westerly Winds” in the Southern Ocean is one of the key parts to me having a fast Circumnavigation. “Let’s see how this works out”???
Two days ago I found out I’m not solo on this voyage as it seems I have a stow away.”What”!!
Yes, the cockroach must have got on in Ecuador and of course the question is there only one, or maybe now none as that one met a horrible end to his life. Now I’m not sure but should there be more I have taken special precautions, placed poison everywhere except in the fresh produce, and I’m “packing” a can of Raid where ever I go. Oh yea! and I placed a huge tarantula looking rubber spider left over from Halloween by my birth in hopes to “scare” them away. I just hate waking up to the feeling of a big cockroach crawling across my face, as I usually give myself a bloody nose and the thing disappears before I can get a light on.
Day-12
Yesterday I seen a ship on the A.I.S. its closet point of approach was 31NM. And that is the first one I have seen since the encounter with the fishing boat at night a week ago.
I think I have narrowed down the problem with the wind generator. I was out in the cockpit adjusting the wind vain steering and got the wind coming in over the stern and while looking at the wind hawk at the top of the mast I noticed the wind generator facing aft and thought what the hell lets turn it on and see what happens, much to my surprise it started generating properly. Now it seems almost for certain the problem is dirty slip rings in the unit that I will clean once the seas lay down. Even if I never get up there the thing should work in much of the southern Ocean.
I have struggled a bit trying to get my head around this great adventure. The planning took a year and a half and for over 5-months I had not sailed before embarking on this voyage. Once at Sea it all felt somewhat overwhelming for the first week, and my sailing skills rusty and my movements methodically thought out and revalued continually. Now I’m happy to say that things just come to me naturally once again and Sailors Run and I are one with “nature”. The one thing that will never be right until I return is the yearning to once again hold Debbie in my arms.
“Ripping across the South Pacific”, El Jefe’
Sharing a picture of many friends family who came to see my talk show at the Corinthian Yacht Club-Tiburon,Ca