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American Spirit II - Day 282; Crisis in the Indian Ocean - Day 10 of 12; & Another Tripple Green Flash (No. 20); Tuesday, October 14, 2014



Ten days down with our mast still up but two more days to go until we get to Mauritius and safety.

I've changed the days of this adventure from 11 to 12, in case you haven't noticed. October 5 thru October 16 is 12 days,not 11. Oops.

I relieved Jeremy, who stood the 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM watch, at 7:10 AM. Jeremy was kind enough to let me 'sleep in' past 6:00 AM. Civetta II is to starboard; and Merlyn of Poole is 1.5 miles astern. The wind is 9/12 and we're moving at 3.9 knots thru the water and 4.8 knots over the land. We're 315 miles from Mauritius.

I notice a movement on the port gunwale. It's still dark, but I see something moving. I move closer and see that it's a 7 inch flying fish. Its lucky day, as I pick it up and flip him into the ocean. A beautiful fish, silver and dark blue, with wings like a bird. Quite a remarkable fish. Bigger and prettier than the flying fish we saw in the Pacific. By far.

Rodriguez island is now behind us off our port stern quarter 23 miles away. I can see its mountains rising out of the sea.

Sunrise is at 7:47 AM. A 'porthole' opens up near the sun before it rises; then closes. No green flash today. There is a lot of blue sky, but a rain shower is moving up behind us and will overtake us in a little while. Its already engulfing Merlyn. Maybe it will rain itself out before getting to us. That happens quite a lot.

Jonathan called at 8:26 AM and mentioned he got the latest GRIB file showing winds light today at 10 knots, then freshening and swinging to the northeast later. He said he was going to jibe and wanted to know if we were OK with that. I said to go ahead and we'll jibe with him.

At 8:29 AM the cargo ship Constantinos G O passes us port to port at 3.6 miles away. It's 751 feet long and on its way to Singapore.

Civetta II called at 9:30 AM and Vlado said his wind instrument is not working and he wanted to know what the wind speed was. I tell him the speed and direction.

At 9:40 AM Jonathan on Merlyn had a conversation with a ship on a collision course with him (and us). The ship agreed to change course and pass port to port at a CPA (Closest Point of Approach) of 2 miles. They talked on VHF channel 6.

Sandra from Sweet Pearl hosted the 10:00 AM net.

Breakfast consisted of 6 pieces of bacon, 5 eggs, chilled pineapple slices, and homemade bread.

Our noon position was 19 degrees, 29 minutes South; 62 degrees, 47 minutes East; and we're 294 miles from Mauritius. From noon yesterday we've traveled 127 miles at an average speed of 5.3 knots. The wind is 11/13 knots and we're moving at 4.5 knots thru the water and 5.5 knots over the land. Its sunny out and Merlyn is .8 of a mile behind us, port side.

We changed the chafe points on the two spinnaker halyards holding up the mast at 12:55 PM.

At 1:00 PM we jibed from port to starboard.

Lunch at 1:25 PM is 8 franks in a can, with each frank rolled in a strip of pita bread. Quite tasty.

After lunch Joel showered; always a happy time on the boat. Thank you Joel. Just kidding. I think Jeremy showered next. A clean crew.

At 1:42 PM the wind is 10/12 and we're moving at 4.5 knots thru the water and 5.3 knots over the land.

The cargo ship Renaissance is heading our way from starboard astern; going to South Africa. Its CPA is 5.4 miles in 37 minutes.

I nap from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

At 3:50 PM the Kota Gembira, 742 feet, is contacted by Merlyn. Another possible collision scenario. They agree to pass port to port. The ship is heading to Lagos.

At 4:40 PM I call Joel with Rally control on my satellite phone. He had talked to the rigger and the rigger keeps insisting that he will not order any parts until he inspects our boat. Too bad, as this will probably delay our leaving Mauritius with the fleet October 23.

We have a late dinner at 6:15 PM. Blackened chicken cooked on the grill by chef Joel; baked potato; black beans; pineapple slices; and bread.

Sandra from Sweet Pearl hosts the 7:00 PM net.

From 6:45 PM to 8:15 PM I type up a log and do emails.

The sun sets at 8:20 PM Cocos Keeling start time (6:20 PM local time), and I see a green flash and Joel sees a triple. Not a spectacular green flash, but a triple is very rare. How do you see 3 green flashes on the same sunset? Simple. Waves. As the waves lift and drop the boat you can see a sunset multiple times. Same thing for a sunrise green flash. Jeremy watches the sunset also, but doesn't see anything. So he's still a green flash virgin. Sorry Jeremy. Your sunset will come! No one on Merlyn, who we called prior to the sunset, sees the green flash either. Maybe Joel and I drink a better quality of wine than anyone else does; and see things others miss as a result!

I'm on watch at 9:00 PM and at 9:44 PM I see a falling star drop straight down to within 10 degrees of the horizon just ahead of the port beam. Its large and square in shape as I think the lower atmosphere is acting as a prism. And I see it for 4 seconds. I yell my approval, and Joel from down below (he's napping) asks me what's going on. Its a very starry night; beautiful and warm out.

The wind is 10/11 knots and we're moving at 4.3 knots thru the water and 6.7 knots over the land. Wow! A 2.4 knot current pushing us along. Cool. The reason soon becomes apparent. We're crossing over a sea mount, where the water depth is 184 feet after being over 13,000 feet before the sea mount. How cool is that?!

At 10:11 AM I see another shooting star, but its faint and not spectacular like the first one I saw tonight. It shoots right to left off the port side; horizontal in flight.

At 10:15 PM I take out the canvas insert connecting the dodger and bimini, so we can see more stars. First time on this leg of 2,350 miles I've done so. I'm betting there won't be any rain showers tonight and before I come on watch again tomorrow at 6:00 AM.

At 11:45 PM the wind is 10/12 and we're moving at 5.0 knots thru the water and 6.5 knots over the land.

Joel relieves me at midnight. He's doing the 12:00 AM to 3:00 AM watch.

At 12:13 AM I'm on the SSB radio sending out a log and emails and receiving some emails. I connect with my favorite frequency to Brunei in the Philippines, 3,442 nautical miles away at a heading of 71 degrees true. Both the send and receive are fast; at 1400 bytes per minute. I'm done at 12:22 AM.

I help Joel jibe at 1:00 AM, and then off to bed at 1:10 AM.

Brian Fox

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