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Luna Quest - Tuesday, 1st March, 2016



Noon Position: 06.26N 51.05W

Daily run: 174 logged miles

Broad reaching in the moderate breeze yesterday, we decided to hoist the staysail on the inner forestay to augment to sail surface area and increase our speed if possible. Luna Quest clearly loved the additional sail as she leaped into sustained speeds of over 7 knots. Before nightfall we put one reef in the mainsail not expecting the wind to increase much, but before long the wind did increase to a fresh breeze sending Luna Quest along her chosen course at over 8 knots. We ought to have put another reef in, but the exhilaration we enjoyed with the new speeds overcame the cautionary approach to put a second reef in. All night she sped along cutting her way through the choppy sea and throwing the brine either side of her.

In the afternoon we were treated to another display of dolphin frolics, a massive school of little and large jumping and diving around the boat. Dolphins are said to be man’s best friend out at sea. Occasionally, flying fish would project from the water at great speeds, upwind and downwind trying to escape the dolphins. It is quite staggering to see them skim the sea for quite a distance and then plunging back into a wave just too high for their tired wings to master. Whether a dolphin in pursuit would succeed in grabbing them is difficult to say, but they do have an amazing ability to develop huge speeds.

In the night we passed the Amazon delta and today we shall leave Brazilian territorial waters to enter French Guyana waters.

Eric

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