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American Spirit II - Day 387; Still Motoring and We Record Our 5th Green Flash Sunrise (No. 35 Overall); and a Green Flash Sunset (No. 36); Wednesday, January 28,2015



Up at 5:50 AM for my 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM watch. Conditions are good for a sunrise green or blue flash, so Jeanine stays up with me instead of going to bed like she normally does after her 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM watch. I put a fish line in the water; and at 6:20 AM I wake Joel to watch the sunrise. I'm only waking him if I think the conditions for a green or blue sunrise flash are good.

At 6:27 AM we get a hit on the fishing line in the water. A small fish; another Mahi Mahi. Since we're waiting for the sun to rise, we ignore the fish and concentrate on watching the sunrise. At 6:30 AM the sun rises, and Joel sees a large green flash, maybe the best he's seen on this trip. I think I see some blue in the flash, as does Jeanine; but since we can't agree together its green or blue, I'm calling it a green flash. Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow. The sunrise yesterday was definitely a blue one.

At 6:33 AM we reel in the fish. Joel goes back to bed so I filet it. It'll be part of dinner tonight. As I was cleaning up the cockpit one of our 2-gallon buckets goes AWOL. Oops. Somebody was supposed to tie a rope on to it yesterday to keep that from happening; but they didn't.

At 7:15 AM the wind is 6/8 knots and we're motoring at 6.1 knots thu the water and 6.5 knots over the land. Its partly cloudy/partly sunny out.

Tim from Ghost hosts the 10:00 AM net. We can't hear most of the boats because they're too far away on the frequency we're using.

Breakfast at 10:20 AM consists of eggs, potato, chilled fruit cocktail and brown bread for Joel and me; oat meal and fruit cocktail for Jeanine. Actually, Jeanine has honey in her tea, also.

The eggs in the bilge are starting to go bad. For every 4 we eat I have to go thru 6. Once I stop using the 'bilge' eggs I have enough in the refrigerator to last all the way to Brazil. The refrigerated eggs are our reserve. The eggs on the boat were purchased on January 8th, so they're 3 weeks old now. Probably older than that as I don't know how long they were on the store shelf before I bought them. When provisioning the boat the eggs I buy are almost always on a non-refrigerated shelf. Not like Publix.

Our noon position is 14 degrees, 54 minutes South; 11 degrees, 46 minutes East; and we're 1,608 nautical miles from Salvador. We traveled 149 miles from yesterday's noon position at an average speed of 6.2 knots.

I nap from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM; and Jeanine does laundry from 1:00 PM to 3:20 PM. At 3:30 PM Jeanine brings a large bowl of stale cheetos up to the cockpit, and Joel and I help her eat them. Joel goes down for a nap at 3:45 PM.

During the late afternoon I finish Nelson Mandela's book, The Long Walk to Freedom. A short book and a good read. He didn't get out of prison until he was 71 years old.

At 5:25 PM the wind is 6/8 knots and we're motoring at 6.0 knots thru the water and 6.3 knots over the land.

Dinner is at 6:15 PM and we have blackened Mahi Mahi cooked on the propane grill by chef Joel; freeze dried Lasagne with Meat Sauce; instant mashed potatoes; and a Joel favorite, creamed corn.

Joel showers and shaves at 6:55 PM. Though I shave every day when I get up, Joel only shaves after he showers. Must be a boat thing, right Darlene?

The sun sets at 7:22 PM and we see Green Flash No. 36. Two green flashes in one day. That may be a first; I'll have to check.

Joel and I forgot to pull in the 3 fish lines at sunset so we do so in the dark at 8:05 PM. Oops.

There is a little more than a half moon above us; and Venus is off our port bow and Jupiter rises on our starboard aft quarter. As I think I've said before, Jupiter is very, very bright. Maybe 20 times brighter than a regular star.

I take the canvas insert between the dodger and bimini out at 8:15 PM, to see the stars and moon better.

At 9:35 PM the wind is 6/7 knots and we're motoring at 5.9 knots thru the water and 6.0 knots over the land. Its clear out tonight.

At 11:00 PM the wind is still 6/7 knots and we're moving at 6.1 knots thru the water and 6.3 knots over the land.

Joel relieves me at midnight and does the 12:00 AM to 3:00 AM watch. He's wearing shorts and a long sleeved shirt, so you know its not cold out. I think the long underwear is done for the rest of the trip. Thank God!

Brian Fox

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