We've been checking in with the rally twice a day and are beginning to wonder, have we been left behind? We seem to be quite a bit farther north than most of the other boats. Due to the wind conditions, we've been traveling mostly east, making very little progress south. This afternoon, the long awaited north winds kicked in. So, finally, we're headed south! These winds, according to the weather forecasters, are supposed to be fairly strong, 30 kn with gusts to 35 kn. We're looking forward to being able to make some quick progress southward and catch up with the rest of the gang.
We've had some boat issues come up lately which, luckily, have been minor. Captain Bill found a masthead chalk lying in the salon this afternoon. So we spent several hours pounding blocks of wood into the masthead to firm it up. The bilge pump blew another fuse, the second in two days. Being the electrical officer, I began to get a little suspicious that the fuse was undersized. Sure enough, the fuse size was 10, the nominal running current of the bilge pump is 9.5 amps. We replaced the fuse with a 15 amp and haven't had any more problems.
We've noticed a little mystery water on the galley floor. We haven't been able to locate the source. The problem seems to have gone away since we went on a port tack, but we'll keep an eye on it.
This morning was calm enough that we each got to take a cold shower. As Bob described it, if you spray full blast it's shocking. If you let the water trickle, it's tantalizing. At least that's how they'd describe it in a book. We all had tantalizing showers.
Until tomorrow, yours cruising quickly south,
- the Pajarito crew, Captain Bill, Bob, and Deidre