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American Spirit II - Day 138; Leaving Suwarrow for Niue, Humpback Whales , the Book Dark Wave & a Marlin Hit; Thursday, May 22, 2014



Up at 7:30 AM. Rain showers passing by. Closed hatches. Free & Breezy was weighing anchor and getting ready to head out to Niue. At 9:08 AM Sweet Pearl departed, followed by Circe at 9:38 AM.

Had our last breakfast for a while in a tranquil anchorage. Bacon, eggs, pear halves and toast. And coffee. Tomorrow we'll be eating breakfast maybe standing on our heads.

After the 9:30 AM net, we put stowed our dingy. This is a laborious process. First the motor is dismantled. The electric motor is reduced to 3 pieces: handle, battery and shaft. Then the seat is removed and the two oars. Then the drain is opened in the back of the dingy at the base of the transom. We then pull the dingy around to the side of the boat and stand it vertically, draining any water in it. Once we have it on deck,the bridal is removed and the inside of the dingy is wiped down. Finally, the generator is turned on and an air pump is used to deflate the dingy. Once this is done the bottom of the dingy is wiped down and then it is rolled up and put into its canvas cover. We then bring it down below and stow it in the forward V-Berth cabin on the floor. The whole process takes about 30 minutes.

At 10:28 AM we started to weigh anchor. Due to a large coral head intimately associated with our chain and anchor, it took until 10:45 AM for us to complete this task. We had to lift over 250 pounds of anchor chain and anchor. Along the way we had an engine throttle problem, in that the red button you depress in the throttle to rev up the engine while using the windless to raise the anchor, would not go back out again, meaning I couldn't get the engine in gear to move the boat. After spraying the button with WD40 and working it in and out, we finally got it to function properly. Once underway I went to write down the engine hours in my log and the engine hours weren't listed on the window on the engine panel. Maybe next time I turn the engine on it will have corrected itself. Boats do that.

At 11:11 AM we exited the pass to Suwarrow and crossed the 'start line' for the 2nd part of this leg. Each boat has to keep tract of its sailing and motoring time and miles so that a competitive result can be formulated.

At 11:59 AM Circe reported that they had sighted 2 or 3 Humpback Whales! Blowing and one jumped. Reminds me of that Star Trek movie where Scotty says "There be whales, Captain!" They were 5 miles off our starboard bow but we couldn't see anything. We headed over that way, but never a whale did we see. The whales are heading south to Australia to calve, and then on to Antarctica. Karl and Anetta watched the whales for 10 to 15 minutes before they were gone.

As we sailed further and further away from Suwarrow, we could hear the other boats on the VHF radio talking about sending down divers to check their anchor chains and to unwrap any that might get stuck when they leave the atoll tomorrow.

At 12:41 PM a Marlin hit one of our two fishing lines, jumped twice and broke the line and took our favorite lure. The 'Brian Ramsey' lure.

At 1:30 PM we went 'wing-on-wing.' Whereby we poled out our jib to port with a whisker pole and had the mainsail out to starboard. Circe was also wing-on-wing, but they had their pole on the starboard side and main on the port side.

By 2:50 PM I could see the last vestiges of Suwarrow Atoll. What a great place to visit, much like the atolls in the Tuomotos we visited over a month ago in French Polynesia. The primary difference is that Suwarrow has no aids to navigation, so you can't enter at night; and there are a whole lot more sharks on Suwarrow than any other place we've visited. Except maybe the Galapagos Islands.

We were moving at 6.0 knots. An acceptable speed. Six knots gets us to Niue in 4 days.

I took a nap from 3:00 PM to 4:15 PM, when we turned on the generator to charge batteries. About this time we stopped going wing-on-wing with the whisker pole and changed to a low side pole (Tri-reacher pole) starboard side.

I'm reading a book titled Black Wave, and I was quite surprised when I saw on page 129 and 224 that Laurent, who was our agent throughout French Polynesia, was the authors of this book's agent, too. What a small world. The book was a gift from my twin brother, David. Thank you David.

Dinner was freeze dried, Rice and Chicken; along with a can of Pork & Beans and chilled pear halves. The Port & Beans were sweetened with sugar. Very tasty.

Joel was the net controller for the 6:30 PM communication's net, but only two boats communicated with us: Sweet Pearl and II Audeacious. The latter was two days ahead of us en route to Niue. A couple of other boats under sail probably forgot to turn their SSB radios on; and the boats in the anchorage at Suwarrow won't join the net until tomorrow.

The 6:30 PM sunset was cloudy, so no green flash.

I tried to take a nap at 6:45 PM before my watch started at 8:00 PM, but I couldn't sleep. So I got up and let Joel go to sleep early. I had the 8:00 PM to 1:00 AM watch and Joel the 1:00 AM to 6:00 AM watch. On watch I removed the canvas insert connecting the dodger and the bimini, so I could see all the stars and the Milky Way. And seeing the Southern Cross on one side of the boat and the Big Dipper on the other is a sight I never tire of. Spectacular! The wind is now 11 knots and we're 'rocketing' along at 6.0 knots. Pleasant.

I saw Sweet Pearl on our port bow at 7:30 PM and called them up on the VHF, talking to Sandra. At 9:05 PM I saw another white light in the distance on our bow. I'm guessing its Free & Breezy. Maybe we can catch up to them during the night. During my watch I alternate between watching the stars, listening to music and reading my Kindle. We passed Sweet Pearl at 10:00 PM; and at 10:15 PM I turned the generator off. Now its quieter.

The wind went more behind the boat, so I had to turn 10 degrees left to keep the jib full. At 11:00 PM I put on a long sleeved cotton shirt as it was getting a little chilly out. Unlike the northern hemisphere where summer is approaching, where we're at winter is approaching. And I like to wear cotton at night when I'm not sweating; and polyester in the daytime when I am.

At 11:13 PM I saw my first shooting star of the evening.

345 Days until home.

Brian Fox


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