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American Spirit II - Day 386; We See Our First Sunrise Blue Flash; & Our Whale Shark Pictures Are a Big Hit on the Web and Social Media; Tuesday, January 27, 2015



Up at 5:50 AM. Conditions are good for a sunrise green flash; and at 6:15 AM the sun rises and Jeanine and I see something we've never seen before - a magnificent blue flash! Actually, a double flash. The first lasts 3 seconds and the second 1-2 seconds. More like a light bulb going off than a flash. The upper third of the sun is painted blue. Joel is down below sleeping, but hears our elation from the cockpit.

At 6:38 AM the wind is 8 knots and we're moving at 4.4 knots thru the water and 4.7 knots over the land. Not great, but at least we're not motoring...yet.

At 8:00 AM the wind is 8 knots and we're moving at 4.1 knots thru the water and 4.1 knots over the land; and our COG (Course Over Ground) is 269 degrees.

At 8:28 AM I hear St. Helena radio talking to a boat. The island is 128 nautical miles away.

At 9:03 AM the wind is 8/10 knots and we're moving at 4.4 knots thru the water and 4.4 knots over the land. Clouds are aft to port. Maybe they'll bring some more wind when they get to us.

Joel gets up at 9:30 AM; and we turn the generator on and start making water with the water maker. Since we're sailing so slow, our hydro generator doesn't make enough electricity to fully charge our batteries. We need to be moving at 6+ knots for that to happen.

At 11:00 AM we let go of the spinnaker sheet and unwrap 3 small twists from the top of the spinnaker.

Joel points out some 'tunnel clouds' on the horizon at 11:29 AM. They look more like 'donut hole clouds' to me.

At 11:33 AM we roll up the spinnaker and start motoring. The wind had dropped to 6 knots and we were moving at 3.5 knots. With the engine setting at 1,600 RPM's we're moving at 6.1 knots thru the water and 6.2 over the land.

Our noon position is 15 degrees, 46 minutes South; 8 degrees, 17 minutes East; and we're 1,757 miles from Salvador, Brazil. We traveled 125 miles from noon yesterday, at an average speed of 5.2 knots.

At 12:15 PM I put on sun tan lotion for the first time since last June or July. Joel got sunburned Sunday on the whale shark boat, so he's having to wear a shirt for a few days, even though its starting to get hot out again.

I type a log and emails from 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM while Joel is doing his laundry; two loads, in the cockpit.

I nap from 1:55 PM to 4:45 PM and Joel naps also, time unknown. When I go back into the cockpit to sit down in one of our blue recliner chairs I jump up after sitting down because it is too hot to sit in.

Dinner at 6:40 PM is blackened Yellow Fin Tuna and Mahi Mahi; instant mashed potatoes; green peas; and brown bread.

Tim from Ghost hosts the 7:00 PM net. Civetta II announces that they caught a '3 meal' tuna; and that meal number one is being eaten tonight. With 3 big guys and 1 small guy on the boat, the 3 meal tuna must be pretty big. Way to go Vlado!

The sun sets at 7:15 PM. With clouds on the horizon there is no green flash.

Joel and I use the satellite phone to send and receive emails at 8:20 PM. Its takes two of us to do this as one has to hold the phone in the cockpit while the other is on the computer in the main cabin. A cable connects the two. I'll order an antennae and have it sent to Heidi to bring to us in Brazil.

I receive the following email from Rally Control:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Good morning Brian,

Your photographs of swimming with Whale Sharks have been quite a hit on our website and social media.

Elaine Bunting editor of Yachting World has emailed us asking if you would be happy to provide a Hi-Resolution copy of the photographs and if so, does she have your permission to use them.

I understand Hi-Res is probably not possible at the moment, so if you're happy we can send her the copies you sent to the World ARC gallery/log page.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Joel
World ARC Rally Control

*****************************************

I consider Yachting World to be the premier sailing magazine in the world. If they end up printing some of our pictures, I'll let you know what issue they're in. I had bought a Canon Power Shot D30 camera in Cape Town in December and Joel had bought a Canon Power Shot D20 when he was home for Christmas. We used these cameras to take the underwater whale shark pictures; and we're also using them for above water picture taking, also. Because they're submersible, we keep them in the cockpit so they're handy to take pictures without having to go below and find where you left your camera. Its never where its supposed to be. Go figure.

At 10:32 PM the wind is 7/8 nots and we're motoring at 5.9 knots thru the water and 6.4 knots over the land. The wind direction is directly behind us.

Joel relieves me at 12:00 AM.

Brian Fox

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