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

Menu

American Spirit II - Day 276;Crisis in the Indian Ocean - Day 4 of 11; Wednesday, October 8, 2014



Four days down with our mast still up but 7 more days to go until we get to Mauritius and safety.

Up at 7:00 AM. Relieved Jeremy. Blue sky above us, but we're surrounded by squally clouds. Like we're in the middle of a hurricane or cyclone, as they say down here. I see Merlyn 5 or so miles on the port bow. Their white sail is like a beacon of hope. A sight for tired eyes. I turn left 7 degrees and pick up some speed. The wind is 20/22; and we're doing 5.5 thru the water and 6.0 over the land and up to 6.7 knots in the gusts. The seas are a little better now. Before sunrise we were violently rocking with the onset of a new wind direction (SE) and the confused seas which always seem to develop when you get a new wind direction in the Indian Ocean.

At 8:33 AM a big slapper wave hit the port beam and I move forward in my seat to escape the cascade of water approaching the cockpit. I'm hit, but not mortally. Maybe 20% wet. Right arm and right leg. I'll survive.

The seas are building. We're still surfing down the face of some of the waves at 6.7 knots; but our speed is usually 5.5 to 6.0 knots. I roll the mainsail in a foot. There can be too much of a good thing. 'Reef early and reef often,' as the saying goes.

At 9:24 AM I put in another half reef into the mainsail as we're rounding up too much when the large 3 wave sets go by. The reef slows us down a little as you'd exsect. A few minutes later I put some more main out as we're going too slow.

Tim from Ghost hosted the 10:00 AM net; and as usual he does a great job. And his radio is always easy to hear, even from back in the pack.

Breakfast at 10:30 AM consists of scrambled eggs; potato; chilled fruit cocktail; and bread.

Reefs in, reefs out, all day long.

Our noon position is 17 degrees, 29 minutes South; 76 degrees, 54 minutes East; and we're 1,105 nautical miles from Mauritius. We traveled 121 miles from yesterday's noon position, averaging 5 knots.

At 1:00 PM we took the storm sail down and changed the tack location from the left bow cleat to the anchor roller location. This will help us put more downward and forward pressure on the mast, which is what we want.

At 1:50 PM we have lunch, a rarity on the boat. Freeze dried Chicken a la King. Something different to help morale, which is not bad, anyway.

As usual Joel and I each take a nap in the afternoon.

At 4:30 PM the wind is 20-25, and we're moving at 5.0 thru the water and 5.6 over the land. Merlyn is 5.5 miles on our port bow. I'm uncomfortable with then in front of us and that far ahead. I call Jonathan and we discuss the matter. He's been having the same thoughts that I've had. Merlyn will slow down and get abeam of us 2 1/2 to 3 miles. I suggested that being astern of us would be even better.

Dinner at 6:25 PM is freeze dried Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, black beans, garlic bread and chilled pineapple pieces. When I ask Joel and Jeremy how the garlic bread was, Joel says 'Garlic bread is like sex, you never have a bad one.' Who knew!?

Tim from Ghost hosts the 7:00 PM net.

At 8:40 PM the wind is 22-30 and the seas are still very confused and building. We have 2 1/2 reefs in the mainsail and are still flying the storm sail as our stay sail. There is a full moon out and a lot of stars are visible. Merlyn is 2 miles port abeam, just astern. Thank you Jonathan! With a full moon, the good news is that you can see the really large seas approaching us from astern. The mad news is that you can see the really large seas approaching us from astern (like freight trains!).

Joel turns off the wind turbine at 10:05 PM because it will start to freewheel at 25 knots of continuous wind. A light rain hits at 11:00 PM and brings winds of 25/26 knots. Our speed is 5.2 knots. A 15 foot wave blows by the port beam and rolls the boat to starboard 25/30 degrees. It takes a while to get used to those waves. Isn't this fun!? Light rain hits again at 11:36 PM.

At 12:24 AM I advise Merlyn that I'm turning our AIS off as I do SSB emails. I connect with Brunei in the Philippines 2,657 miles away at a heading of 63 degrees. Both the send and receive are fast, at 1400 and up to 3200 bytes per minute.

I get an email from Michael Roberts from Vivo, who's in New Zealand. He offers me help if I need it, for parts and shipments. Its good to hear from Michael, who left the Rally in Australia and may be joining Nexus in Cape Town. Let's hope so!

Bed at 1:40 AM. A long day.

Brian Fox



Previous | Next