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Firefly - Chugging along



We have been making great progress towards Galapagos, albeit using the engine to motor sail for about 40 hours since the wind shut down. On Monday morning we managed to start sailing again and had several hours close hauled beating achieving a reasonable speed despite heading into some waves. The current remains reasonably favorable running at about 1.5 knots in a Westerly direction but is increasingly swinging North. Therefore as well as pushing us in the right direction our best close hauled course was gradually getting worse so the engine has had to come back on to help out.

For this leg in particular Firefly is carrying a lot of extra fuel. In addition to the relatively small 150 litre fuel tank we have 30 x 5 litre jerry cans all individually strapped in place under the floorboards in the main saloon and 2 x 20 litres cans giving us another 190 litres and increasing our motoring range to about 5 days if we keep the engine running at medium revs.

During the 0600 watch Paul did some refueling which is not as simple as it may sound when its choppy. The smaller jerry cans (Americans call them jugs) in this case are more manageable and the fuel filler location on Firefly on the sole of the cockpit drainer just behind the wheel is ideal, probably the part of the boat that bounces around the least.

All of this detail on fuel is all part of planning a long distance passage and may be of interest to those planning similar trips- otherwise skip this bit. Coincidentally we heard over the radio net yesterday that one boat was concerned they did not have enough fuel on board and was looking for extra from yachts close by. We are as confident as we can be that we won't be in this situation but it is comforting to know there are other yachts close by. Clementina skippered by our fishing adviser Augusto has been in sight for most of the trip. We have not had the line out for a couple of days now as there is plenty of meat to eat up in the fridge but we should be out with our lucky lure again tomorrow.

We are three nights into this passage and over half way. The night watches have been a delight (Peter's favorite time of the day) they are not like those sailing across the channel when you dread the graveyard shift (usually midnight till 3 ish) Every evening we have enjoyed clear skies and cooling breeze (if there has been any, and we do need cooling!)Its been a star gazers heaven; we can see both the Southern Cross and the Great Bear/ Pole Star, also there is always the trusty Orion who has been watching over us since the Atlantic.

Paul and Peter's radio capabilities will be tested tomorrow (and our radio) as we volunteered to act as Radio Net Controllers for the day gathering positions and news from all the other yachts in the rally.

Shortly we will be crossing the Equator ( currently 02 deg 33 minutes North) it will be a first for us all so must pay our respects to Neptune in an appropriate way; the amount of bubbly we pour over the side is the subject of some debate, to quote Architect Meis Van de Rohe- Less is
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Paul, Susie and Peter

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