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American Spirit II - Day 432; Another Great Day of Sailing; Saturday, March 14, 2015



One year ago today:



"Day 70; Kon-Tiki Lure, Joel Radio Transmission Techniques & Low Side Pole Explained; Friday, March 14, 2014. Sunrise consisted of scattered trade wind clouds. A small rain cloud drifted by and dropped a mist of rain. Came and went in 5 minutes. Not enough of a rain shower to even wet your clothes, but had to close up boat main cabin hatch and zipper the dodger window to prepare for the worst.



Three flying fish on deck, forward of the dodger. Even though I could see them, I did not go forward to retrieve them until someone else on the boat was up and in the cockpit. A rule on the boat, no one goes forward, even when wearing a harness and hooked to the boat, when they are alone on deck. Why is that? Because if you're harnessed to the boat and fall overboard, if someone doesn't come get you, you could easily drown while being dragged alongside the boat. If that were to happen, you may have to even pull your harness release and untether yourself from the boat to keep from drowning. In the movie All is Lost, Robert Redford climbed back on board after falling overboard. Possible, but not likely. Later, once I got the flying fish, I used one and put it on a silver spoon as bait. I call this a 'Kon-Tiki Lure,' as I got the idea while reading the book Kon-Tiki."



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Up at 5:00 AM as the boat motion woke me up. I went to the cockpit at once, where Heidi had been experiencing 30 knot gusts. I put 1/2 more reef in the main and rolled a little jib up, then I went down to get dressed for watch. I relieved Heidi early at 5:22 AM. Two ships were on AIS, but both were far enough away not to be a problem. The closest was 5+ miles off our port beam. The wind was 22 knots.



Heidi related to me that she got drenched, 'Ninja'd,' when she was looking at the chart plotter. A 'sneaker' wave we call a 'Ninja' got her.



The Big Dipper, when I went off watch at midnight, had the handle to the dipper horizontal in line with the boat. This morning the handle was straight up, having rotated counter clockwise 90 degrees in 6 hours. Interesting.



At 5:55 AM I saw a fishing boat light to starboard 40 degrees off the bow. I passed the boat to starboard at 6:18 AM.



At 6:02 AM the wind is 18 knots and we're sailing at 5.3 knots thru the water and 6.1 knots over the land.



At 6:05 AM the auto pilot turned itself off and I did a 360 turn before engaging it again. Dawn is fast approaching.



Someone asked me recently if I ever get anxious on the boat. The short answer is 'yes.' Especially when the wind is increasing and you don't know what the upper limit will be. Increasing wind is especially fun when you have black clouds racing by and its night time. We all know that bad things mostly happen at night, don't they?



At 7:01 AM the wind is 23 knots and we're sailing at 6.4 knots thru the water and 6.7 knots over the land.



There are some black clouds floating by, but it looks promising out. Yesterday started the same way ant turned into a great sailing day.



The sun rises at 7:05 AM Fortaleza start time (6:05 AM local time), rising 3 degrees above the horizon above a cloud bank. It pokes out of the cloud, then 60 seconds later its gone.



At 7:11 AM a BIG slapper wave hit the boat, sending water everywhere.



At 7:51 AM the auto pilot shut off again. Don't know why. I caught it in time so we didn't have to do a 360 turn again.



At 7:59 AM the wind is 22 knots and we're sailing at 5.7 knots thru the water and 6.1 knots over the land.



At 9:01 AM the wind is 20 knots and we're sailing at 6.2 knots thru the water and 6.7 knots over the land.



Joel and I are still working on a list of what 'handle' to give Heidi. The candidates are: Ninja, Mini-Me, Wind Girl, Breezy, Wind Magnate, Windy, and Trooper. A work in progress. Wind is in some of these names because she seems to attack a lot of it on her watch.



Joel hosts the 10:00 AM net with Civetta II answering his SSB call.



Breakfast at 10:30 AM consists of eggs, sausage with potato, and chilled peaches.



Our noon position is 10 degrees, 24 minutes North; 58 degrees, 11 minutes West; and we traveled 158 miles since noon yesterday at an average speed of 6.6 knots.



At 12:06 PM I turned the generator on to charge the boat's batteries and we started making 2 hours of water (about 14 gallons).



Starting at 1:20 PM I type 2 logs and some emails. At 3:50 PM Joel and I used the satellite phone to send and receive our emails and logs.



I relieve Joel in the cockpit at 4:00 PM. We had a full jib out and 1 reef in the main. The wind is 15 knots and we're sailing at 6.2 knots thru the water and 8.1 knots over the land.



At 5:13 PM the wind is 19 knots and we're sailing at 6.7 knots thru the water and 8.7 knots over the land.



I turned the generator off at 5:40 PM after 5 1/2 hours. Heidi and Joel both then got up from naps.



Dinner at 6:00 PM consisted of freeze dried Chicken a la King with Noodles; mashed potatoes; and green peas.



Joel hosted the 7:00 PM net, with Civetta II joining but their transmissions were garbled so we couldn't really talk to them.



Heidi went to bed at 7:30 PM TO read and rest up for her 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM watch. She says she's feeling good; that her bout of sea sickness is gone. Good!



I relieve Joel early at 8:11 PM for the 9:00 PM to midnight watch. The wind is 18 knots and we're sailing at 6.0 knots thru the water and 7.7 knots over the land.



At 8:26 PM the Shimanami Queen, a 653 foot cargo ship, passed our port beam heading SE. They are 5.6 miles away.



At 9:59 PM the wind is 18 knots and we're sailing at 6.9 knots thru the water and 8.0 knots over the land.



At 11:00 PM the wind is 19 knots and we're sailing at 7.5 knots thru the water and 8.1 knots over the land.



Joel relieves me at midnight.



Brian Fox


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