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Starblazer - 10/02/2014 – Doldrums



This area has two names: the doldrums and the horse latitudes though the
latter is a little more specific. One story is that the ‘horse latitudes’
are so called because, in the days of sailing ships, the lack of wind meant
food supplies ran low and the sailors were forced to eat the horses they had
on board. The vegetarian option is that they threw them overboard to swim
away when fodder or water ran out. Take your pick! This lack of wind is
caused by the ITCZ (inter tropical convergence zone) where the weather
systems of the two hemispheres meet. It does move about and doesn’t just
sit neatly above the equator so the doldrums also shift a bit further north
or a bit further south. All I can say for certain is that we have found
them and have been motoring steadily for about 36 hours.

Two very unusual things occurred on Sunday afternoon, almost simultaneously.
We were about 200 miles from land with 3000 metres of water beneath us when
John suddenly spotted a very large, hazy mass sticking up out of the water
and a yacht somewhat closer! I rushed down to the chart table and found the
mass, a spot so small it barely showed on the chart but it had a name, Ile
Malpelo, and belongs to Columbia. John, meanwhile, had found it on the
charts we have on the i-pads and confirmed it was 850 metres tall and 12
miles away. We altered course. Shortly after, on the ssb radio net, Avocet
said they were close to Ile Malpelo so we had an identification of the yacht
as well. Unfortunately we were not at the leg briefing on Contadora because
it was on one of the days John spent at the airport, trying to get our
generator parts from customs. In the briefing the fleet had been warned
about the rock. I can’t see any other specks on the chart though we have
turned the chart plotter and radar on while we are motoring and watch
keeping has become far more careful!

Dinner was BBQ style steaks with mash and grilled veg, all cooked in the
galley. Barbecuing underway would probably be possible in these benign
conditions but an unexpected roll at the wrong moment could send the dinner
to Neptune. On the fishing front, John had three fish on the line but lost
them all, at least we know why. The hook was old and a bit rusty. After
the first bite we discovered that one prong of the triple hook had broken
off. When he put the rod away in the evening he found the ‘hook’ was no
longer, all three points had broken! Three fish have a bit of hook in their
lips but it won’t kill them and they’ll soon rust away, nor feed us come to
that.

Joyce


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