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Voyageur - Log day 259 - Down in the Doldrums.....



13 March 2011

There is no mistaking it. We are in the doldrums geographically and emotionally. There has been no wind and rain, lots of it. Low cumulous clouds hang over us and seem as if to squeeze the very air from our lungs. The Doldrums begin north of 5 degrees south. The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, its correct name, thickens as it gets towards the Brazilian coast and manifests itself by calms and squalls. What little wind there is, always contrives to prevent us from going in the direction in which we want to go. The prevailing wind is predominantly southeast to east gradually becoming more north easterly as you leave the South Atlantic, but the winds come from north to northwest.
 
Consequently many of the boats are recording high engine hours but we are endeavouring to sail whenever possible. We have still a very long way to go on this trip and must conserve our fuel. The forecast for the next two days is for no wind at all so we could be finding ourselves forced to motor for many hours.

And now my computer has packed up and I find myself staring at a blank screen. For the first time I have to resort to a handwritten log. I lost the piece I had prepared for posting to the blog. This is the third time this has happened to me. I give myself a day to get over it and then begin all over again. Of course I can never remember how exactly it was written so the second version is quite different from the original. I think the humidity was to blame. The pilot book says that humidity as high as 95% has been recorded in this sea area. It is said that the life of a computer is one year in the salt water environment so I guess that year is up. David's is also playing up but we are just keeping our fingers crossed that it lasts until we get to St, Lucia. We feel a permanent blob at the moment. If I am not sitting in a puddle of rain, then I sit in a pool of perspiration.

Now just one day away from the Equator I cannot wait to get there. Neptune has received an early unexpected present. In a squall the wind snatched away my sun hat. I can't think what he could possibly want with it for it will be far too small for him and could hardly compare with his mighty crown.

Susan Mackay


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