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American Spirit II - Day 425; We Cross the Equator and Are Back in the Northern Hemisphere; Saturday, March 7, 2015



One year ago today:

"Day 63; Bread Disaster & Blue Fin Tuna Catch; Friday, March 7, 2014. 6:00 AM. Overcast. Wind light, 6/7 knots from the SE. Speed 5.5 knots over the ground. Two large rain showers ahead, one on our left and one on our right. Not a pleasant sight to wake up to."

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As we were moving across some waves, the hydro generator made a noise I hadn't heard before, waking me up at 4:00 AM. I got up and pulled it out of the water and then went back to bed. I was intermittingly vibrating.

I relieve Heidi at 6:00 AM. Right after that I noticed a short vernicle only rainbow 80 degrees on the starboard bow, with the colors right to left of red, yellow, light green and light blue. It disappeared in a few minutes. I let some more jib out and put the hydro generator back in the water. There are a lot of rain clouds floating around; and a lot of blue sky, too. 50/50 clouds/blue sky. Little did I know now that that wouldn't last long. The 'blue sky' that is.

I feel a little queasy this morning. All the boat pounding last night, I guess. We're close reaching, with the wind and waves forward of the beam. A very rare event in our trip around the world, which is almost always downwind. We're 18 miles from the equator.

The auto pilot shut itself off for the first time in weeks, at 6:30 AM. I think it did so because we had a 'wind shift' alarm that I didn't hear. Joel and I surmise that when the wind shift alarm wasn't acknowledged, the auto pilot is programmed to turn itself off. We're only 3 miles from our cross track, so we know the cross crack error didn't cause it because its set for 9.9 miles, its largest setting.

At 7:00 AM the wind is 11 knots and we're sailing at 5.2 knots thru the water and 5.6 knots over the land.

At 8:08 AM the wind is 11 knots and we're sailing at 5.3 knots thru the water and 5.6 knots over the land.

At 8:35 AM a rain shower/squall hit the boat.

Heidi gets up an hour early at 8:50 AM, saying all the boat bouncing around woke her up.

A 'slapper' wave hit the starboard side of the boat and sent a torrent of water to where I was sitting in the right side of the cockpit. I jumped up and the water only nicked by butt. A close call. Heidi was impressed I could move so fast I think. A water dousing does that to you.

At 9:00 AM we're 13 miles from the equator.

Jack from Civetta II hosts the 10:00 AM net. His first time. He does a good job. All boats report their position, wind speed and direction. We're last. Meaning, we're furthest from Grenada. As we should be, being the smallest boat at 40 feet. The next largest is Civetta II, at 45 feet. A BIG difference.

Breakfast at 10:20 AM consists of 4 large scrambled eggs; cut up and spiced potato cooked in olive oil and mixed in with 2 hamburger patties that taste like breakfast sausage (Who knew?!); and chilled pineapple slices.

At 11:00 AM the wind is 13 knots and we're sailing at 5.9 knots thru the water and 5.9 knots over the land. Because the wind is forward of the beam, the apparent wind is 16 knots. There are a lot of storm cells and squalls around us. We're going to get smacked a lot today! We're now 2 miles from the equator.

At 11:25 AM we put a second reef in the mainsail and 1/2 more reef in the jib. Our worst looking squall line we've seen yet today is almost upon us. 'Reef early and reef often.'

Our noon position is 0 degrees, 2 minutes North; 42 degrees, 13 minutes West; and we're 1,513 miles from Grenada. We traveled 144 miles since noon yesterday at an average speed of 6.0 knots. Oops! I just noticed, we've already passed the equator and we all missed it because of the big rain squall we were dealing with. Crap! So now we're back in the Northern Hemisphere. BCYC is 27 degrees north latitude, or 1,620 miles to our north; and 82 degrees west longitude, or 2,400 miles to our west. So to get home we have to travel more west than north.

Because its so rough, we decide to forgo the crossing the equator Neptune festivities with Heidi. She would have had to take a shower when we were done with her, and it was too rough to do so.

We're 176 miles offshore. We want to be 200 miles offshore when we cross the opening of the Amazon River because there are currents to deal with and we want to be far enough offshore so we don't run into a submerged tree or hit a floating island. Yes, that's correct, a floating island. I saw one on the Amazon River years ago when I was there.

At 12:20 PM I shook 1 of the 2 reefs out of the mainsail. The wind is 12 knots and we're sailing at 5.4 knots thru the water and 5.5 knots over the land. There are rain showers and cells; squalls; and lousy weather everywhere I look. Joel and Heidi are down below napping. When the last big squall hit us, they were driven from the cockpit by the rain. There was only one spot to stand in that was dry, the top of the stairs. Joel didn't sleep well last night so hopefully he'll nap all afternoon and wake up feeling better. It takes 2-3 days to get into the boat routine for a long passage like this one. We consider anything over 1,000 miles to be a long passage.

At 12:45 PM I shook the other reef out of the main; and 10 minutes later I rolled the jib all the way out.

There is no blue sky anywhere and the forecast for Monday is 25 knots. Great.

At 1:10 PM I call the North Sound, a 446 cargo ship headed for Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. They're 6 miles off our port, just astern of us. I ask them for a weather forecast. At 1:24 PM he calls me back and I'm told that the next 24 hours are 'winds force 4 and 5 from the northeast; and 1.5 meter waves from the ENE.' I thank him for the information. 'Force 4 and 5 is a Beaufort designation for wind speed. Force 4 is for winds 11-16 knots and Force 5 is 17-21 knots.

We turn the engine on at 1:27 PM as the wind had dropped to 6 knots. We then turned on the water maker for 2 hours to make us about 14 gallons.

At 2:09 PM we're motor sailing with a 2nd reef in the mainsail. The wind is 5 knots and we're moving at 5.8 knots thru the water and 6.2 knots over the land. We're trying to skirt by a really big rain shower. That's why the mainsail is reefed so much. We're not successful as at 2:18 PM we get pounded by heavy rain and the wind increases to 17 knots.

Joel gets up at 3:00 PM; and I nap from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

We turn the engine off at 4:00 PM.

From 4:08 PM to 5:10 PM I type one log. Its different typing at the navigation station because the boat is tilted to the left, when its been tilted to the right all around the world.

Dinner at 5:30 PM consists of re-heated Mahi Mahi in the micro wave over; Teriyaki Style rice (I'm not sure what the word 'style' has to do with a food name); and Four Bean Mix. I should have heated the Mahi Mahi more as it wasn't hot enough. Oops. Heidi announces during or right after dinner that she's a little sea sick, so Joel puts another 1/4 Transderm patch under her right ear. She already has a patch under her left ear.

We roll the jib up at 5:53 PM and turned the engine on to get thru a rain shower that had snuffed out our wind. We turn the engine off again at 6:18 PM. Joel does the dishes for Heidi tonight.

We turn the engine back on again at 6:40 PM and roll the jib up. Another rain shower is coming.

Jack from Civetta II hosts the 7:00 PM net. Wolf from Chicka-lu says that a GRIB file shows 20 knots of wind tomorrow, clearing and then 13 knots. I must have dreamt that report because tomorrow he gives a different report, with winds of 25 knots and some rain showers. Go figure. We hear what we want to hear.

I napped before my 9:00 PM to midnight watch, from 7:30 PM to 8:45 PM. I relieved Joel at 8:55 PM. The wind is 14 knots and we're sailing at 7.0 knots thru the water and 6.5 knots over the land. Its overcast, with a few stars visible. The moon is like its behind smoked glass. We have a full jib out and 1 reef in the main.

I turn on the wind turbine at 9:20 PM, but it doesn't start. I take a pole and turn it more into the wind, with still no luck to get it going. A rain shower hits at 9:50 PM and forces me to the top of the stairs under the middle of the dodger. The wind is 14 knots and we're sailing at 7.0 knots thru the water and 6.7 knots over the land.

At 10:29 PM the wind is 12 knots and we're moving at 6.0 knots thru the water and 5.7 knots over the land. Its overcast, but no black rain clouds are visible.

The wind turbine starts working, but its making a terrible noise, like a car driving on a flat tire. I turn it off. Maybe its overcharging. We'll see next time we turn it on.

At 11:10 PM the wind is 17 knots, its raining, again, and I see what looks like lightning in the far distance. Great. Isn't this fun?!

Brian Fox



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