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Starblazer - 04/03/2014 – A mixed day in the peaceful Pacfic



The bad news, we motored all day with the wind peaking at no more than 6
knots! We are not following the rhum line, heading instead rather more
southwest in an attempt to find the trade winds. This is ARC 2013
revisited where we seemed to motor more than sail. We have been trying to
economise on our use of diesel by motor sailing, that is setting the sails
to maximise boat speed while minimising the revs, making use of the wind we
are creating by going forward. (Does that mean that the engine is using more
diesel to compensate for the power taken by the sails?)

The morning started with a bit of excitement, more for some boats than
others. Two of the Amels became snared by fishing net lines, one of the
skippers had to dive down to free his boat while the other managed with a
long pole. We marked these two positions on the plotter and cautiously
headed further south. Then another boat called up to say they were
following along a fishing line so we followed in their tracks on the radar!
Eventually we came to a large fishing boat with a number of small craft tied
behind, passed them then returned to our chosen course. That is about all
the excitement we had yesterday.

I did a number of domestic jobs: washing, cooking and gardening! The
ongoing problem with the generator means no water maker so I washed a few
clothes in seawater, it lathered brilliantly, then I used two sea water
rinses and two fresh water rinses. The washing is hanging on the line
strung across the stern from the arch, I’ll see what it feels like when it
is dry. Apart from cooking dinner I also started a one litre pot of yogurt,
hopefully it is set by now and can go in the fridge. The gardening is my
attempt to grow beanshoots for a stir fry at the end of the week, the seeds
soaked for 12 hours and are now in the sprouter. I’ve just got to remember
to rinse them regularly otherwise they go mouldy!

Dinner was chicken paella followed by a butterscotch pudding.

Hopefully we might be able to sail soon. The current, which the chart shows
helping us along, has been stubbornly against us. It’s the same for
everyone, though some boats have managed to sail a lot more than us.
Possibly they are using what wind there is and going further north though
that won’t help them find the trades. We shall see.

Joyce



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