can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

American Spirit II - Day 270; A Rainy, Squally Day in the Indian Ocean & Another Boobie Visits the 'Poop Deck'; Thursday, October 2, 2014



Slept well, from 12:30 AM to 5:00 AM - 4 1/2 hours. About as good as it gets under.

Relieved Jeremy at 5:50 AM. Cloudy with a little blue sky showing.

The fleet weather forecaster calls for 4 to 8 knots of wind in our weather GRID today. Not good. There appears to be more wind to the south 60 miles away. We'll see what wind the other Rally boats have and where they're at during the morning 10:00 AM net.

Five small dead flying fish are laying in the area just right of the cockpit. All about 1 inch long. We bury them at sea.

At 6:15 AM the sun has already risen, but its obstructed by clouds on the horizon . The wind is 13/15, our speed thru the water is 5.4 knots and over the land 6.6 knots.

I turn the engine off at 7:07 AM. We're sailing again!

I put our silver spoon lure in the water at 7:50 AM. In order to catch fish, catch dinner, you need to do this. Really.

At 8:00 AM a large rain squall is to our starboard and in front of us. No way we're going to miss this monster. Its moving north to south towards us. We're on a port tack with the boom on the starboard side. I'll want to tack before the squall hits.

At 9:30 AM I turn the engine back on. The storm has cut off our wind.

Tommy from NDS Darwin hosts the 10:00 AM net. Charlie from Celebrate has a flux gate auto pilot problem and he solicits advice on how to rectify from boats in the fleet. He gets advice from Joel (American Spirit II), Russ (Nexus), Tim (Ghost) and one other boat. Adela maybe. He will let us know at the 7:00 PM net if he's successful in fixing the problem. Another advantage of being in a Rally. SSB daily nets and advice...for free.

Breakfast at 10:30 AM: scrambled eggs, twice cooked potato cooked in olive oil and spices; chilled pear halves; and bread. Joel says the potatoes are the best; and asks if I can cook them that way...forever. I take it under advisement.

Our noon position is 14 degrees, 29 minutes South; 90 degrees, 31 minutes East; and we're 1,910 miles from Mauritius.

We turn the engine off at 12:20 PM; and go wing on wing, with the boom to starboard and the whisker pole to port.

I nap from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM; and then Joel naps at 2:30 PM. The wind is 18 knots, and we're moving 5.8 knots thru the water and 6.5 knots over the land. Its still overcast with light rain showers passing by. Only one squall in the last two hours.

Dinner is at 5:45 PM. Freeze dried Pasta Primavera, baked beans, chilled apple slices and bread.

At 5:50 PM the wind is up to 20/25 knots, and we put a 2nd reef in the mainsail and jib. We're cruising, not racing.

At 6:07 PM I type the previous day's log.

Tommy from NDS Darwin hosts the 7:00 PM net. Charlie from Celebrate says his flux gate compass problem appears to be fixed. Time will tell. After the net I continue to play Battleship with Polaris. We get one hit; they get none. Because of reception problems, I need a relay to hear their moves.

At 7:10 PM we get hit by a 31 knot squall.

I turn on the SSB radio at 7:22 PM and connect with a station in Brunei in the Philippines, 1,879 miles away on a heading of 53 degrees True. Sending was very slow, at 200 bytes per minutes. Receiving was much quicker at 200/600 and 1,400 bytes per minute. The SSB is capable of 3,200 bytes per minute.

I try to nap before my watch from 8:00 PM to 8:40 PM. No luck.

I relieve Joel at 9:00 PM for my 3 hour watch. The wind is 15/17 knots, with higher winds in squalls. There are two reefs in the main and on one in the jib. With constant squalls we're gun shy to having too much sail up.

At 9:25 PM a large bird, a boobie, tries three times to land on the bimini. It succeeds on the third try. Another bird on the 'poop deck.'

At 9:35 PM I take one reef out of the mainsail. Our speed increases from 5.3 to 6.0 knots.

A big squall hits at 9:55 PM and lasts for 10 minutes until 10:05 PM, with wind speeds up to 29 knots. Our boat speed increases to 8.3 knots. The wind going from 18 knots to 29 knots is always something to get your attention. And I had just put more main out. That was smart.

The boobie that was on our poop deck must have gotten blown off during the squall. I see it trying to land on our whisker pole and the top of the mast. Stop that! If it lands on our mast top it will damage some of our instruments up there. Why is this bird not home for the night? Its 500 or more miles from the nearest land.

From 11:16 PM to 11:34 PM another squall hits the boat. This time the top winds are 24 knots; and the squall comes from the left side of the boat instead of from the right as all the previous ones have been from. Our speed increases to 7.8 knots. A little while later I see my first star of the night. A Foreshadowing of better weather tomorrow?

Joel relieves me at 12:00 AM.

Brian Fox

Following is a story solicited by Charlie from Celebrate, whereby we were tasked to write a story or fable using all the boat names in the fleet. Our entry highlights our previous crew member Jeanine Miami, who will be joining the boat again in Africa.

Once upon a time, in the land of Sirocco of Oz, there was a warrior princess named Jeanine from Miami, AKA the Pop Corn Queen, whose American Spirit was only rivaled by Chika-lu's Germanic resolve and Civetta's dogged determination. She was pursued across the Nexus, as far as Polaris but not quite as far as Alpheratz; by the Ghost of Merlyn. Many said this pursuit was a Folie a Deux; some said it was a false Saphir, but no one doubted that is was a Sweet Pearl of a chase. Once Free&BrEasy, no more could she Celebrate being Boingo Alive; no more was she an Avocet who could fly to Darwin on a whim. But go to Andromeda she went; passing the constellation Festina Lente and saying hello to Lluiton on the way. The one last hurdle to get to her secret home in Adela, the land of steel, was to sneak by the great and awesome Shaya Moya, one of the largest star ships in the fleet. Which she did. Safe at last, she continues on, going where no one from the Marshall Islands has ever gone before. On a 5 month mission....to be continued.

Brought to you by...Brian, Joel and Jeremy from American Spirit II



Previous | Next