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Agua Dulce - Looking for Wind - in All the Wrong Places (apparently)



When I showed up at my morning watch today, I walked into a very lively debate between Bill and Cap'n Charlie about whether we have ample fuel if we had to motor for rest of this leg (which we won't - it was a theoretical discussion). The captain was under the opinion that we would come within 10 miles of the Azores and then we'd have to all jump in, hold on to the stern, and kick our way into Horta. Bill, on the other hand, felt like we had so much fuel that we could sell some to anyone out here needing it. Clearly, there was a divided opinion. Jim arrived on the scene to add his scientific two-cents worth and answer the question, if we used sails while motoring, would our engine actually use less fuel? Seems a little gray, but the consensus was that we PROBABLY would use less fuel if the sails are helping with propulsion. We ALL agreed that we'd like more wind. We can all say first hand that we have now experienced the Azores High, and while the blue skies and smooth seas are lovely, we want our discussions about fuel to remain theoretical. At the moment, we are sailing with the main, the genoa AND the staysail - trying to catch as much of the breeze that we can. Unfortunately, the wind is coming from the wrong direction for the spinnaker.

Today was a much better day with the sextant. We were able to come within 5 miles on latitude! We haven't attempted longitude yet, but we think we'll start trying to figure that out tomorrow. So, we know that we are on a line somewhere between Charleston, SC and Cape St. Vincent, Portugal. We definitely will need the longitude to zero in on our position a little closer. I understand that that is a little trickier to figure out.

We saw a very large group of dolphins about 200 yards away from the boat today - there must have been a couple of hundred of them. Unfortunately, they were just rolling their dorsal fins in and out of the water - no jumping or exciting displays. And, they didn't seem at all interested in coming to play around the boat. They probably wish we had more wind, too, so we'd go fast and be more fun to play with!

Jim fixed his famous fruit and nut pancakes for us for breakfast today. We're all sad to see that the pancake mix is gone now. Chicken Parmesan was on the menu for dinner. Dessert is "fun size" candy bars from the grab bag. No Twix left - they are always picked out by someone (WRW) and secreted away as soon as the bag is opened. Question: wouldn't the candy bars be more "fun" if they lasted longer than 2 bites?

Gretchen Cunningham
S/V Agua Dulce

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