After motoring all night at a very low RPM (1200 vs. our normal 1500 - 1600), we got a reading on our fuel consumption along with updated weather forecasts... It's a mixed bag!
For the forecasts: The good news is that the main models all seem to be aligning (saying about the same thing) for the balance of our passage, the bad news: they all say no wind! 🤣🤣
We're no longer heading to 14N, 48W to find wind because we don't think there'll be any by the time we get there. Instead we're taking a direct line to St. Lucia on a heading of 275°M 👍
For the fuel consumption, we did much better than we expected at 1200RPM, and extrapolating our consumption rate, boat speed, and remaining fuel, we think we can motor all the way to St. Lucia with about 5% to spare (details below).
This is great news and a big spirit lifter on board, we're now all enjoying some time in the sun, and may even stop for a swim in th
e mid
Atlantic at some point.
In other news:
Harry upgraded his iPad Rumikub game to the physical world with a challenge series against Claudia. It's not going well for him 😛
Lunch was simple and delicious: sashimi Mahi! 😋
Winds did pick up to around 8 knots briefly this morning (with 150-160 TWA) so we decided to give Jeremy a second chance. He's working very hard on his behavior issues, and managed to take us 5~6nm before the winds dropped back and the engine came on.
In terms of the engine RPM, we ran 1400 for a while today as a test, and while the boat speed is higher, the higher fuel consumption rate could leave us short of St. Lucia 😱 (with no sailing miles). We're currently trying 1300RPM, with initial data suggesting this may be the optimum RPM for maximum range plus we're running about 6.5knots which is a bonus. We'll take a checkpoint on this in the overnight hours.
[At risk of Jinxing:] We're projecting
arrival in St. Lucia late Thursday or early Friday.
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