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American Spirit II - Day 70; Kon-Tiki Lure, Joel Radio Transmission Techniques & Low Side Pole Explained; Friday, March 14, 2014



Sunrise consisted of scattered trade wind clouds. A small rain cloud drifted by and dropped a mist of rain. Came and went in 5 minutes. Not enough of a rain shower to even wet your clothes, but had to close up boat main cabin hatch and zipper the dodger window to prepare for the worst.

Three flying fish on deck, forward of the dodger. Even though I could see them, I did not go forward to retrieve them until someone else on the boat was up and in the cockpit. A rule on the boat, no one goes forward, even when wearing a harness and hooked to the boat, when they are alone on deck. Why is that? Because if you're harnessed to the boat and fall overboard, if someone doesn't come get you, you could easily drown while being dragged alongside the boat. If that were to happen, you may have to even pull your harness release and untether yourself from the boat to keep from drowning. In the movie All is Lost, Robert Redford climbed back on board after falling overboard. Possible, but not likely. Later, once I got the flying fish, I used one and put it on a silver spoon as bait. I call this a 'Kon-Tiki Lure,' as I got the idea while reading the book Kon-Tiki.

Exercise at 8:05 AM. Best time of the day to do this as no one else is up yet and I have the whole cockpit to myself.

While eating breakfast (scrambled eggs), Joel explained how he gave information on the SSB radio during the morning net, and that some of the other boats may be starting to copy his technique. In giving our boat's position,instead of saying 9 degrees, thirty-one minutes; he says, 9 degrees, three, one minutes. Its a subtle difference, but with all the noise going on during an SSB transmission, its easier to decipher three and one than thirty-one.

"Low Side Pole" is a sailing technique that Joel has used in sailboat races for years. And its a technique that many sailors either don't know about or don't use. Put simply, you use a whisker pole, or in our case, a tri-reacher pole, on the clew of the leeward jib to keep the jib full, to improve the air slot between the jib and the mainsail behind it, and to keep the jib from flopping and popping a lot when sailing downwind. With the southeast trade winds now coming more from the east, and with our destination just south of west, in order to try to lay the mark, Hiva Hoa, the low side pole makes it easier and faster to do so. We actually are going one knot faster with the pole than without it. To keep the sail in place, we also use a topping lift and we use the lazy sheet (the opposite side jib sheet) to pull the pole forward. It is then cleated off so the pole stays in place, not going forward or backward or upward. The low side pole technique is used in downwind and reaching situations.

At 10:00 AM we crossed 120 degrees of West longitude, so we had to move our clocks another hour earlier. So our 'local' time is now two hours before Tampa/St. Pete time.

Noon position: 8 degrees, 54 minutes South; 120 degrees, 5 minutes West. Distance from Hiva Hoa 1,117. Miles we've gone since the Galapagos, 1,863.

With the air lightening, we put the spinnaker up at 10:30 AM. It took 26 minutes to get everything rigged, set, lifted and the spinnaker rolled out on its roller furling.

Next we 'fueled the boat.' By that I mean we transferred 6, 5 gallons jerry cans of diesel into our main boat fuel tank. It takes two people to do this in a rolling and rocking boat, with one holding and tilting the jerry can, and the other using a siphon with a check valve to transfer the fuel. It takes 5 minutes or so to transfer the 5 gallons of diesel from each tank. After the transfers are complete, we have to use soap and water to wash down the cockpit floor because you inevitably spill a few drops of diesel, which is very, very slippery.

We took the spinnaker down at 4:30 PM to get ready for dinner, which was served at 5:15 PM. Dinner tonight consisted of freeze dried Chicken Teriyaki with Rice and Beef Stroganoff and Noodles; and chopped pineapple for dessert.

At 5:47 PM an almost full moon was visible 30 degrees above the horizon just astern the boat - due east. At 6:15 PM the sun set. No big deal. Cloudy. Again.

During the 9:00 PM - 12:00 AM watch the wind was 14-15 knots, and our speed was between 6 and 7 knots. No reef in either sail.

Brian Fox

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