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American Spirit II - Day 195; Wind Forward of Beam, Brian Gets Seasick and a Freewheeling Wind Turbine; Satuday, July 19, 2014



Up at 6:05 AM. Relieved Jeanine who was on watch from 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM. Wind 12 knots, speed 5.5. Wind on the nose. A very rare occurrence in sailing around the world when the wind is from behind you over 90 or 95% of the time. Close reaching. At least we're not beating. We wouldn't beat even if we had to, we'd just sail north of the rumb line and when the low pressure and high pressures passed us the wind would swing around to a favorable direction. You can do things like that when you're crossing a sea or an ocean. We're currently about 32 miles or 6+ hours from our first waypoint, a reef/island called, in French Recifs Entrecasteaux. There are 2 sailboats aft on our starboard quarter; one with a sail up and the other with no sails up and motoring.

I put out 2 fishing lines at 7:04 AM. And continued reading Moby Dick. Two interesting quotes: "Ignorance is the parent of fear." And: "Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian." The latter quote had to do with Ishmael sleeping with Queequeg in the same bed due to the inn being full. Later on I encountered another passage where Ishmael states whaling crews include cannibals from 'Tongatobooarrs and Erromanggoans." Obviously, the former word has to do with crew from Tonga, which we've visited; and the latter from the Vanuatu Islands, which we'd just left. Erromango is an island just north of Tanna. We sailed by that island on our way to Port Resolution, Efate Island.

At 7:43 AM I just noticed another sailboat off our port, aft quarter about 1 mile away. Looks like they're motor sailing, also. At 8:20 AM a large sea bird (tern?) flew over the two fishing lures behind the boat, circling for 5 minutes. Not sure if the bird wanted to grab one of the lures or if it was seeing what I could stir up that it could then strike at.

At 9:00 AM we had the communication's net. NDS Darwin conducted that net.

Breakfast at 9:30 AM consisted of scrambled eggs, Mandarin oranges and French bread.

A cloud line was visible over the islands and reefs of New Caladonia 30 degrees off our port bow. Islands have their own weather systems, and its common to see the clouds over an island even before seeing the island itself.

Joel made the announcement that at 11:00 AM we'd gone 294.6 miles since leaving Vanuatu. An average of 147 miles per day; and a speed just over 6 knots. We started making water on the water maker, getting a reading of 7.1 GPH to start with. That's very good.

Our noon position was 17 degrees, 37 minutes South; 163 degrees, 2 minutes East. The wind was 9-12 knots and our boat speed 5.9 knots.

At 12:06 PM we put a reef into the mainsail and into the jib. A short time later we arrived at our first waypoint off the New Caladonia Islands. These islands are French.

Joel went below for a nap at 1:00 PM. At 1:30 PM the wind increased and I dropped the traveler from high left to the centerline. Doing that depowers the boat and lessens the heel a little bit. Like putting a small reef in the mainsail.

Joel turned on the wind turbine at 2:25 PM because we were going to make some water and having the extra energy that the wind turbine puts out is a big help. I had turned off the wind turbine previously because we were starting to overcharge the batteries. At 2:35 PM I put in the 2nd reef in the mainsail as we sailed into an overcast sky. Remember, clouds usually mean wind.

At 2:50 PM the wind turbine started freewheeling. Meaning it was spinning so fast that it wasn't charging anymore. Even by turning it off it wouldn't stop free wheeling. It sounds like an airplane propeller when it does that. Really loud. It was only when we let the jib out to role some of it up (put in another reef) that the wind turbine finally stopped turning. That slowed the boat and allowed the wind turbine to shut itself off. Thank God!

From 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM I took a nap.

The sunset at 5:39 PM was obstructed by clouds, so no green flash.

The evening communications net occurred at 6:00 PM.

Dinner at 6:15 PM. Freeze dried Sweet and Sour Pork; sweet, creamed corn; chilled pineapple pieces; and chocolate pound cake.

At 6:45 PM I typed one log down below and by 7:15 PM I was seasick. First time in over 35 years I actually threw up. I sometimes feel queasy when we start a leg, but I usually get over it in a few hours. First time on this trip that I also kept skipping out of my navigation seat as I typed the log. Joel seemed to think that the Doxycyline made me nauseous. It is one of its side effects. Angela previously had gotten ill the same way. I was taking Doxycyline as part of our malaria protocol, post island exposure.

During my 9:00 PM to 12:00 AM watch I grabbed the rail 3 times and let dinner fly. Its especially important when you do this that you're harnessed to the boat; and that you aim downwind. If you throw up into a strong wind, you can expect to get something back for your troubles. Just like in tossing toilet paper overboard, down wind not up wind. In case you're wondering why we throw toilet paper overboard its because we never put anything in the head (toilet) that hasn't been eaten first. Marine toilets love toilet paper because the paper will clog us the toilet, making it inoperable, quicker than you can say 'now we're using a bucket.'

Brian Fox


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