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American Spirit II - Day 392; Three Months Exactly Until We're Home; Still Sailing; We Reach the Half Way Point to Salvador; & See Green Flash No. 38; Monday, February 2, 2015



Starting today I'm adding a 'back in time' synopsis of the log on the same date a year ago. In this instance, on February 2, 2014, exactly a year ago today, we "Day 30; Departed Panama City at 9:35 AM today, en route to the Las Perlas Islands." Wow! What a difference a year makes!

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Today marks 3 months until we'll be home. We're scheduled to arrive at the Boca Ciega Yacht Club T-Dock at 12 noon on Saturday, May 2nd. Janet is throwing a welcome home party for us, like the one she threw when we left. Mike Mogavaro will be helping her, along with others.

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At 5:55 AM the almost full moon sets on the starboard bow horizon. Large and orange, according to Jeanine.

I relieve Jeanine at 6:15 AM. The wind is 13/14 knots and we're sailing at 5.4 knots thru the water and 5.8 knots over the land. Still sailing wing on wing, with the whisker pole on the port side and the mainsail and boom on the starboard. The stars are still out. Its pitch black out; and there are no clouds over us. The clouds are 360 degrees around the horizon, like they are almost every day in the trade winds.

At 7:00 AM the wind is 13 knots and we're sailing at 5.6 knots thru the water and 5.9 knots over the land.

The sun rises at 7:20 AM (6:20 AM local time) behind a large black cloud with rain showers around it. Obviously there is no green flash this morning. At 7:33 AM the sun rises above the clouds, 5 degrees up from the horizon.

At 8:32 AM the wind is 11/15 knots and we're sailing at 5.7 knots thru the water and 6.1 knots over the land. An hour later the wind is 13/16 knots and we're sailing at 6.1 knots thru the water and 6.3 knots over the land. Our COG is 253 degrees.

Charlie from Celebrate hosts the 10:00 AM net.

Breakfast at 10:20 AM consists of super sized refrigerated eggs; cut up potato; chilled pineapple slices; and brown bread...for Joel and me. Jeanine has oat meal and honey with her tea.

Our noon position is 13 degrees, 54 minutes South; 21 degrees, 50 minutes West; and we're 968 miles from Salvador. We traveled 130 miles since noon yesterday, at an average speed of 5.4 knots. Actually, we sailed more than 130 miles since noon yesterday; however, the 130 miles sailed is based on our distance closer to Salvador. Since we're not usually sailing a straight line to Salvador but zigzagging (jibing down wind) across the Atlantic Ocean, we're sailing more miles than I've indicated.

We take down the whisker pole, jibe the boom and put the spinnaker up on port. The wind is 11/13 knots and we're sailing at 4.6 knots thru the water and 5.5 knots over the land.

From 12:30 PM to 2:20 PM I type one log and some emails.

Today was 'shower day,' as all of us took a shower. If you've never taken a shower in a space 1/2 the size of a phone booth, you should try it.

The generator was turned on at 2:30 PM as was the water maker for two hours. We make 6.6 gallons of water per hour.

I defrost the freezer in 9 minutes, from 2:42 PM to 2:51 PM. A record time. When I defrost it, I transfer all the frozen foods and ice trays to the refrigerator; then pour hot water over the freezer plates; and finally drain the freezer compartment by pulling the (rubber wine bottle stopper) plug and activating the electric drain motor.

Joel cooks some popcorn at 3:15 PM and each of us gets our own small bowl to eat. That way, all shares are equal.

At 3:30 PM the wind is 11 knots and we're sailing at 5.1 knots thru the water and 5.6 knots over the land.

At 3:15 PM we're half way, 950 nautical miles, to Salvador, Brazil from St. Helena. Our ETA is Tuesday, February 10.

I nap from 4:00 PM to 5:25 PM and Joel naps from ? to 5:35 PM.

Dinner at 6:10 PM is minced meat (hamburger) patties cooked in the skillet instead of on the propane grill because the meat doesn't hold together well; Spanish rice; our last corn on the cob (1/2 cob each); and grapefruit slices for dessert.

I turn the generator off at 6:35 PM after running it for 4 hours. We burn 3 gallons of diesel per hour when we run the generator.

At 6:35 PM we jibe the spinnaker and boom from port to starboard.

At 6:50 PM I see two Portuguese Man O' War jelly fish float by on starboard.

Charlie from Celebrate hosts the 7:00 PM net. Eleven boats out of 18 check in that I can hear. There are probably some others I didn't hear due to distance and propagation problems. NDS Darwin says they're 520 nautical miles from Salvador; and Ghost is a similar distance away. Alpheratz is flying a spinnaker only, no mainsail, and making 5.5 knots thru the water. Alpheratz is a Swan 51 with a mast that is 81 feet above the water line. They're flying a BIG spinnaker.

Another Portuguese Man O' Way floats by at 7:33 AM.

At 7:47 PM I can't believe it, but I see a bird flying around just above the water, looking for fish. Amazing. Over 900 nautical miles from land. I'm sure when the bird gets tired or sleeps, it'll just do so by resting on the ocean.

The sun sets at 8:04 PM St. Helena Start Time (7:04 PM local time), and Jeanine and Joel see green flash number 38. I don't see it, but I do get it on video and can see it on the video when I replay it. When the sun sets, it is a BIG sun set; magnified by the angle thru the atmosphere.

At 9:00 PM the wind is 12 knots and we're sailing at 5.6 knots thru the water and 5.9 knots over the land. Venus is setting on the bow and Jupiter is rising on the transom. The moon is directly above and behind us, also; and almost full. The air temperature is very pleasant. A very beautiful night.

At 10:00 PM the wind is 12/15 knots and we're sailing at 5.7 knots thru the water and 6.1 knots over the land. Our COG (Course Over Ground) is 245 degrees, about 15 degrees off from our destination.

At 8:56 PM I reel in our 2 hand lines, and notice that the port hand line with a silver spoon on the end is gone. The leader wire is broken. I'm surprised that our coke can alarm didn't alert us when the big fish hit. I say big fish because that wire was rated to over 100 pounds.

I have an AIS (Automatic Identification System) contact at 10:26 PM, only the 2nd time this leg we've had any contacts. Its a ship called the Berge Vik, a cargo ship measuring 1,086 feet in length and headed for PDM. Not sure what port or country PDM is. It crosses our bow left to right at 15.25 miles awauy.

At 11:00 PM the wind is 10/11 knots and we're sailing at 5.2 knots thru the water and 5.6 knots over the land. Our COG is 249 degrees.

Joel relieves me at midnight; and we discuss whether to drop the spinnaker or not. We agree that if we need to drop it during Joel's watch that he'll wake me up to do so. At 2:15 AM Joel wakes me up and we drop the spinnaker and go wing-on-wing with the whisker pole. The winds had increased to 18 knots and we don't want to risk a knock down or blow the spinnaker up. Little did we know that February 3rd would bring disaster for the whisker pole. Stay tuned!

Brian Fox




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