YAHOO,YIPPEE!!
SAILORS RUN AND JEFF GETTING CLOSER TO BAHIA CARAQUEZ, ECUADOR
Total Miles sailed so far=24,069nm.
Miles sailed last three days=200nm.
Distance left to go to finish off Bahia=975nm.
Top Speed so far= 14.1kts.
The rest of the Story.
Day-193 24hr.Run=58nm. Pos. Lat.16*56′. Long.87*58’W. Weather=Wind=W 4-8kts. Seas=W. 4-8ft. Cabin Temp=75*-80* Bar=1010mb
Sailing once again is slow as we try to get clear of the center of the high.
We had a close encounter with a 120-ft. Ecuadorian fishing vessel “Bandana” that set off the A.I.S.-Alarm. I tried contacting the vessel on VHF-radio, as it appeared the 120 ft. fishing vessel was bearing down on me.
After several attempts the skipper came back to me in Broken English, assuring me that there was no problem and he was altering course. I used my best broken Spanish to let him know all was “muy bueno” with that he chuckled into the microphone and passed ½ mile off my stern.
What seemed pretty funny is that as he passed behind me there was a large school of tuna jumping out of the water off my port bow happily frolicking about, swimming clear of both vessels.
Day-194 24hr.Run=63nm. Pos. Lat.16*08’S. Long.88*09′ W. Weather=Bar=1010mb. Wind=NE-SE. 0-12kts. Seas= S. 4-6ft. Cabin Temp=75*-81*.
In the early morning hour’s, the winds remained light as I slowly moved forward hoping to find the SE-Trades.
Today was the day I had hoped to avoid, as both water tanks were exhausted of all water and only a fine “fog” ushered forth from the spigot in the galley sink.
My next attempt at water recovery was to retrieve the water from the hot water tank. I pulled the high pressure blow off valve off of an upper portion of the tank, and water began to bubble forth. I was using a funnel and a two litter bottle to collect the water, and after a while I had used many old 2-liter pop bottles from my recycled plastic waste department.
Once the water was below the level of the whole created by removing the blow off valve I resorted to using the 06-Pur water-maker as a pump to get at the remaining water down in the tank. Towards the bottom the water appeared rusty and I left that in the tank.
The 6-gallon water tank gave me 5-gallons of salt tainted water with readings of 1480 ppm to 1800 ppm. readings on the salinity tester.
It was pointed out by friends of mine in the medical field that the law in the US requires drinking water to be less than 500 ppm and in Mexico it is required to be less than 750 ppm possibly because of all the Tequila they drink their kidneys can handle more salt.
They also “recommended” that I drink my “urine” rather than the salty water, as it would be safer. I just have to say if I was worried about safety I would “never” circumnavigate via the “5-great capes”.
So after not too much deliberating about this I have come to the conclusion that since I have drunk no “Rum” for over two months my kidneys need a little adventure and I hope for a week or so they will see me through “urine free”.
As dinner time rolled around I figured I would combine one of the water recovery ideas with cooking. When I steamed the whole grained brown rice I had a cup placed in the center of the 4-quart pan and the lid turned upside down on the top so the steam would be diverted into the cup off the knob on the pot lid. After 40-minutes of steaming the 1-cup of rice in 2.5 cups of water my yield in the cup was 1.5 ounces of salt free water. That was not much but I dumped it into the coffee pot to reduce the salinity on my next batch of coffee.
Day-195.
24hr.Run=79nm.Pos. Lat.15*00’S. Long.88*18’W. Weather=Bar=1010mb.NE-SE. 4-12kts. Seas=4-6ft. S. Cabin Temp=75*-80*.
Still no trades even though for about 4-hrs the winds were up a little and we were moving pretty well.
Last night some showers came our way and I set about trapping water on deck, but by the time I was set up the rains stopped. At least now I have clean decks and sails for the next shower if it comes.
The past two mornings I have found flying fish on deck, usually a good sign for improved fishing. I have had little luck fishing I believe mainly because the boat is seldom moving fast enough to cause the lures to be effective.
I saw another Cargo Ship on the A.I.S. last evening but it never came any closer than 25-miles and appeared to be headed in the direction of Callao,Peru the largest port on the west side of South America.
This evening I watched as the sun dipped below the horizon, and was treated to the most magnificent “green flash” I have yet to see. I believe because I stepped up on to the coming around the cockpit just as it started to happen and then the boat rose up on a wave that caused the green flash to last for a full 3-seconds and it was a real “ooh-ahhh-ooh” event, followed by a beautiful sunset.
I guess there are still more wonderful things for me to experience on this voyage and possibly “King Neptune” and the Mayan Wind God “Quetzalcoatl” [most likely misspelled] have teamed up to keep Sailors Run and crew out here just a little longer.
Still “ghosting along” in the Pacific the Jefe’.