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American Spirit II - Day 373; A Good Day of Sailing; the Auto Pilot Turns Itself Off Again; & Green Flash No. 27; Monday, January 12, 2015



Up at 5:15 AM. Black clouds on the horizon, so no green flash this morning at sun rise at 6:05 AM. The wind is 16 knots and we're moving at 5.8 knots thru the water and 6.2 knots over the land. We're on the rumb line to St. Helena; and the wind is 183 degrees.

At 7:45 AM we jibed from port to starboard as we were going 20 degrees to the left of St. Helena.

At 8:25 AM I found a 6 inch squid just outside of the cockpit on starboard. Took a picture and buried it at sea.

The wind is 10/11 knots at 8:30 AM and we're moving at 5.5 knots thru the water and 4.7 knots over the land; an .8 knot of current against us.

I put the dodger/bimini insert back in at 8:35 AM. Hard to do by yourself, and fraught with danger as one slip while standing up and you're overboard.

Breakfast at 9:20 AM consists of scrambled eggs; cut up potato; chilled pear slices; and brown bread with butter, jelly and/or peanut butter.

The frying pan is ruined; as its gone from 'non stick' to 'everything stick.' It got cooked at too high a temperature while I was away in Florida. We have a spare, but its without a lid. Bummer. I'll have to pick up a new pan and lid in St. Helena.

Joel did the 10 AM net as Free & BrEasy was supposed to do it but didn't show up.

We put the spinnaker up at 11:20 AM on the port side.

Our noon position was 30 degrees, 17 minutes South; 14 degrees, 29 minutes East; and we're 1,387 miles from St. Helena. Even though St. Helena is 1,700 miles from Cape Town, we're going to have to sail further than that to get there because we can't head straight there due to the wind directions we're dealing with. We're actually jibing downwind, as you really can't sail dead downwind.

We went to jibe the spinnaker at 12:30 PM and got a minor wrap. It took until 12:53 PM to fix it and get it flying again.

At 1:35 PM the wind is still on the light side at 13/14 knots; and we're moving at 6.7 knots thru the water and 7.3 knots over the land. Later our speed is averaging 8.3 and 8.4 knots while flying the spinnaker.

At 2:40 PM while I'm napping Joel wakes me as the wind is up to 17 knots and we need to drop the spinnaker. We do so without incident; and then the wind increases to 21 knots. 'Reef early and often' is something we do a lot of. If you wait to reef or drop a spinnaker when the wind is already too high to do so easily, its not fun.

At 3:00 PM the wind is 18/19 knots and we're doing 7.2 knots thru the water and 7.3 knots over the land. Slower than with the spinnaker, but still plenty fast. A short while later the wind is 18/20 knots and we're moving at 7.4 knots thru the water and 7.7 knots over the land. Its sunny and the sky is crystal clear. We're on a broad reach, with the wind on the aft, port quarter. According to a cruising guide I have, we're in the shipping lanes between New York and Cape Town. We're seen a lot of ships so far, which is good, because if any boats have a serious problem, like sinking, ships nearby will be a plus.

Around 5:00 PM the auto pilot shuts itself off. First time its done this in a long time. Irritating. Potentially troubling when we're flying a spinnaker or going wing-on-wing with a pole out.

Dinner at 6:00 PM is pan fried minced meat (hamburger) patties; garlic rice (the 90 second micro wave variety); and white asparagus. The hamburger patties are cooked in the galley on a skillet because its too windy to cook them on the outdoor propane grill at the back of the boat. The flame keeps going out. Why can't a manufacturer make a grill for a sailboat that is wind proof?

After dinner we put a half reef in the mainsail; and a short while later another half reef.

I did the 7:00 PM net. Most of the boats didn't answer, I think because historically we've done 6:00 PM nets and people haven't gotten used to the later net. Some of the boats may have been eating dinner then, also.

The sun set at 8:15 PM and I saw a triple Green Flash; Joel saw a double; and Jeanine saw one. This is green flash number 27 on our trip. I took a video of the sunset, but couldn't hold the camera steady enough or zoom in enough to see the green flashes. This is best done on land or on a boat at anchor. During the sunset, Joel has a half glass of red wine, and I have a glass of white wine. Jeanine is 'wineless.'

I napped from 8:15 PM to 9:20 PM, and then went on watch at 9:30 PM. Joel gave me an extra half hour to nap as I didn't get a good one earlier in the day. I shook out the last 1/2 reef. The wind was down to 12 knots and we're moving at 5.5 knots thru the water and 7.2 knots over the land. There are a lot of stars out.

At 10:23 PM the wind is 12 knots and we're moving at 5.8 knots thru the water and 6.7 knots over the land. You have to love currents when they're with you. There is a lot of phosphorescence in the water. The wind is a litter stronger at 11:35 PM, at 14/15 knots; and we're moving thru the water at 5.7 knots and 6.6 knots over the land.

I turn on the SSB radio at 11:57 PM, connect to Africa 752 miles away at a heading of 85 degree True; and get disconnected twice. It takes an hour to send and receive a log and emails. Last night it took 10 minutes. Joel requests a GRIB weather file, but what we get isn't what we're looking for. A project for tomorrow.

During the day Joel enlightened Jeanine and me to what I have come to call, 'the world according to Joel;' or a 'Joel witticism.' Joel asked the question: "Do you know where the term 'hat trick' comes from in hockey?" The answer is that a shop owner in Vancouver, Canada said to a hockey team there that anyone scoring 3 goals in a game would get a free hat. Hence the term 'hat trick.' Who knew?! I know brother David in Chicago goes to a lot of Chicago Black Hawk hockey games, so if Joel's wrong he'll let me know.

Brian Fox


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